Separation Science and Technology, Vol.41, No.11, 2575-2579, 2006
Removal of trace concentrations of heavy metals using complexing ion-exchange resins
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is examining potential new technologies for treating radiologically-contaminated process wastewater. The current treatment facility is aging and is optimized to remove Sr-90, but future wastewaters are likely to contain mostly activated metals, such as Cr-51 and Cu-64. Other low-volume wastewaters may contain trace concentrations of Hg and U. Complexing ion-exchange resins and other specialized sorbents were tested for removing trace concentrations of heavy metals. Short-term column tests and batch loading tests were conducted using a surrogate wastewater and various sorbents. These tests showed that metal uptake was very rapid, and that good removal and relatively high loadings could be achieved from a very dilute wastewater surrogate. Forager M-TU (Dynaphore, Inc.) showed the best overall results, removing 91.9% of the Cr, 99.3% of the Cu, > 99.7% of the Hg, and > 99.9% of the U with a contact time of 120 seconds in a short-term column test.