CFD simulation of thorium extraction in membrane contactors

The extraction of thorium from aqueous solutions in membrane contactors was investigated theoretically. Extraction of Th (IV) using solution containing kerosene and tri-butyl phosphate (TBP) was studied. A new approach based on momentum and mass transfer modeling was developed in this study. Simulations were performed using computational fluid dynamics for solving the governing equations for a circular membrane contactor. The medium considered in this study was a ceramic micro porous membrane contactor, which is hydrophobic in nature. Conservation equations were derived for the extraction of Th (IV) in the membrane contactor and solved numerically based on finite element method (FEM) to obtain velocity and concentration distributions for the solute. The effects of process parameters such as feed flow rate and extractant flow rate on the extraction of thorium were investigated. Simulation results showed high removal efficiency for thorium and confirmed that ceramic membrane contactors are efficient in the removal of thorium from contaminated sites.