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Title: Ion-exchange fibers for uranium recovery. Final report, September 8, 1980-November 6, 1981

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6033343

Development was initiated of ion-exchange fibers that could be used to extract uranium ions from solutions containing 10 ppM uranium or less, such as acid mine waters, leach solutions, various natural groundwaters, and perhaps even seawater. These fibers would ultimately be used to make large, loosely woven mats that could be placed in dilute solutions or uranium. Periodically, the mats would be removed and stripped of uranium with an appropriate solution. Two major approaches to making these fibers were investigated. One involved incorporating conventional amine solvent-extraction reagents into the pores of microporous, polysulfone fibers. This approach was unsuccessful due to a rapid loss of the reagents from the fibers. The second approach was to incorporate water-swollen gels of polymeric amines into the pores of the fibers. These fibers effectively extracted uranium from solutions containing 10 ppM uranium. An economic analysis based on the projected costs of mats made from these fibers and on the value of the uranium recovered by the fibers shows that the mats could be used to economically recover uranium from dilute solutions and that they offer a substantial cost advantage over conventional ion exchange.

Research Organization:
Bend Research, Inc., OR (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-80ER10738
OSTI ID:
6033343
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/10738-1; ON: DE83013634
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English