Separation Science and Technology, Vol.39, No.6, 1295-1319, 2004
Separation of uranium and plutonium from aqueous acidic wastes using a hollow fiber supported liquid membrane
The use of microporous hydrophobic polypropylene, as a hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (RFSLM) was considered for removal of actinides such as uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) from nuclear process effluents. The 1.09 M extractant, tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) diluted with n-dodecane was used as carrier. The study includes the hydrodynamic and chemical parameters, Modeling was performed using chemical parameters and rate controlling steps were identified. It was possible to remove U(VI) and Pu(IV) from process effluent more than 99% in presence of fission products. The optimum effective feed linear flow velocity was found to be 0.88 cm sec(-1). The stripping reagent 0.1 M hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH2OH . HCl) in 0.5 M HNO3 was used. The permeation of metal ions increased with increasing effective surface area and model for higher concentration of metal ion was able to describe the transport mechanism of U(VI).