Recovery and pre-concentration of uranium from secondary effluent using novel resin

Abstract

The act of enrichment or improving the quality of product concentration, i.e. 'pre-concentration', has been studied with respect to uranium plant effluent, which contains uranium in 10?30 ppm level intermingled with a huge number of interfering ions, such as magnesium, in percent level. The effects of different operating conditions, such as concentration of uranium in the effluent, pH, the time required for uptake of uranium and the effect of the presence of other elements in the effluent, in batch experiments have been investigated. Using this in-house novel resin for preferential uranium uptake, the sorbed matrix has been eluted with different eluant concentration for further enrichment of radionuclides in the elute. High uptake values for uranium ions prove its selectivity, and fractional elution ensures further reuse of sorbent and significant improvement in uranium enrichment.