Tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb), as rare metal elements, play a key role in the high-tech industry. These two elements have excellent corrosion resistance, superconductivity and ductility and other characteristics, and are indispensable important metal elements in modern aerospace, medical, cutting-edge electronics, new energy and military equipment and other industrial fields. However, tantalum niobium resources in our country are relatively scarce and highly dependent on external resources. Therefore, efficient extraction and utilization of tantalum niobium has become the main direction of technological development in this field.

Tantalum and niobium are very similar in chemical properties. At present, the main methods for separating these two elements are fractional crystallization, distributed distillation, ion exchange and solvent extraction. Among them, the centrifugal solvent extraction method has many advantages, such as high tantalum niobium separation efficiency, low consumption of extractant, large processing capacity, low operating costs, closed automation of equipment and small footprint. Therefore, the centrifugal solvent extraction method is replacing the traditional method of separating tantalum and niobium in the extraction tank currently used in industry.

After the pre-treated ore is acid-leached, the acid leaching solution is formed. The acid leaching solution and high efficiency extractant were combined to form a countercurrent extraction system through the combination of several combined extraction centrifugal extractors, so as to obtain tantalum-niobium co-extraction supported organic phase. After the washing process, the tantalum-niobium supported organic phase is first used as an antiniobium agent to obtain a higher concentration of antiniobium solution. After the niobium is removed, the supported organic phase is separated from the organic phase under the action of the antitantalum agent, so that a higher concentration of antitantalum solution is obtained. After washing and regeneration treatment, the organic phase is returned to the system for reuse.

The multi-stage system of the combined extraction centrifugal extractor can greatly reduce the consumption of the extractant and the retention of each stage extraction tank compared with the traditional extraction tank, thus reducing the operating cost. Especially when the new extractant is used, the technical advantages of its efficient separation and sealing performance are more significant.

Tantalum niobium extraction process is usually carried out under the strong acid system, in order to solve the problem of equipment corrosion, Shandong Lianzhu centrifugal extractor adopts fluorine material integral molding technology. This technology is not only strongly resistant to corrosion, but also able to withstand the polarity of organic solvents, long service life and low energy consumption. In terms of technology and cost, the multistage system of combined extraction centrifugal extractor has become an engineering path to replace the traditional extraction tank.