pH effect on the separation of uranium fluoride effluents by the reverse osmosis process

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Separation Science and Technology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/01496399208018902· OSTI ID:5182959

Chen, Yun ^[1]; Chu, Min-Lin; Shieh, Mu-Chang ^[2]

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1. National Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan, (Taiwan)
2. Inst. of Nuclear Energy Research (INER), Lung-tan, (Taiwan)

Ammonium fluoride solutions and uranium fluoride effluents (UFE) with solute concentrations from 0.101 to 7,920 kg/m{sup 3}, at pH 2.80 to 9.60, have been treated with a continuous feedback reverse osmosis (RO) process. The solute rejections of NH{sub 4}{sup +}, F{sup {minus}}, and U{sup 6+} depend heavily on the feed pH value. For ammonium fluoride solutions, the rejection ratio of NH{sub 4}{sup +} decreases sharply from ca. 90 to 44.2% with the feed pH increased from 3.30 to 9.60, while that of F{sup {minus}} increases abruptly from 44.8 to 99.9% at the same pH change. For UFE solutions, the rejection ratio of U{sup 6+} remains greater than 90% at pH 2.80-7.13, while that of F{sup {minus}} decreases steadily from 96.4 to 18.8% with decreasing feed pH. Accordingly, the fluoride ions can be separated from UFE solutions under acidic conditions. The changes of solute rejection with feed pH can be explained by the different solubilities of the solutes in the membrane at different pH values. The UFE solutions with {alpha} and {beta} activities at 20.4-53.7 and 8.99-21.3 ({times} 10{sup 5} Baq/m{sup 3}) can be reduced to a level lower than 2.41 and 3.37 ({times}10{sup 5} Baq/m{sup 3}), respectively, by the current RO process.

• OSTI ID: 5182959
• Journal Information: Separation Science and Technology; (United States), Vol. 27:5; ISSN 0149-6395
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
URANIUM
OSMOSIS
ACTIVITY LEVELS
AMMONIUM FLUORIDES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MEMBRANES
PH VALUE
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SOLUBILITY
URANIUM FLUORIDES
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
AMMONIUM HALIDES
DATA
DIFFUSION
ELEMENTS
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
METALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing