The invention discloses a process for preparing 5N
erbium by extracting and separating.
Erbium chloride of 2N to 3N grades is taken as feed liquid,
naphthenic acid is taken as an extracting agent for separating
yttrium, and an acidic
phosphine reagent P229 is taken as an extracting agent for separating
erbium,
thulium and
ytterbium. The process comprises twelve steps including four separating steps and eight auxiliary steps, wherein the four separating steps separately comprise a Y / HoErTmYb separating work section, an HoEr / ErTmYb separating work section, an Ho / Er separating work section and an Er / TmYb separating work section; the eight auxiliary steps separately comprise a reverse extraction work section for extracting the
naphthenic acid, an acid extraction work section, a
rare earth saponification work section of the
naphthenic acid, a concentration work section, an acid extraction work section, a P229
rare earth saponification work section, a reverse extraction work section for extracting the P229 and a P229
rare earth saponification work section. Ho / Er separation and Er / TmYb separation are connected in series. According to the process disclosed by the invention, a 5N grade
erbium product with relative purity of 99.9990 percent to 99.9996 percent can be obtained, and the yield of the product is as high as 94.88 to 97.34 percent. The process disclosed by the invention has the advantages of high purity and high yield of erbium products, large production scale, low consumption of chemical reagents, simplicity and convenience in operation, low production cost and the like.