Journal of Membrane Science, Vol.442, 48-56, 2013
Evaluation of DMDOHEMA based supported liquid membrane system for high level waste remediation under simulated conditions
N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-dioctyl-2,(2'-hexyloxyethyl) malonamide (DMDOHEMA) has been proposed as solvent for the partitioning of radiotoxic minor actinides from high-level waste (HLW) solutions. The facilitated transport of Am-241(III), Pu-239(IV), U-233(VI), Np-237(V) across supported liquid membrane (SLM) impregnated with DMDOHEMA solution in n-dodecane was investigated under varying conditions of feed acidity, receiver phase composition, carrier concentration, and membrane thickness. Micro porous PTFE membrane was used as the polymeric support. There was a decrease in the transport of metal ions under the pressurized heavy water reactor simulated HLW (PHWR-SHLW) conditions. The physical stability of the SLM impregnated with the carrier was investigated for similar to 60 days by performing Am(III) permeation studies. Marginal variation in the transport behavior suggested reasonably good stability of the impregnated carrier in the membrane pores. A simple mathematical model has been developed to simulate experimental data and to explain quantitatively the role of different parameters. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.