BARC/PUB/2017/1521

 
 

Removal of radiocesium from low level radioactive effluents by hexacyanoferrate loaded synthetic zeolite: laboratory to pilot plant scale demonstration

 
     
 
Author(s)

Banerjee, D.; Rao, M. A.; Khot, S. A.; Pawaskar, C. S.; Gangadharan, A.; Rao, S. N.; Jain, S.; Shah, J. G.; Banerjee, K.
(NRG)

Source

Radiochimica Acta, 2017. Vol. 105 (4): pp. 341-346

ABSTRACT

Present  paper  reports  removal  of  radiocesium  from  low  level  waste  using  a  modified  sorbent  (13X-CFC)prepared  by  in-situ  precipitation  of  potassium  copper  hexacyanoferrate(II)   inside  the  macropores  of  a  synthetic zeolite. The Cs  exchange  isotherm  of  the  sorbent  is  established  and  it  found  to  follow  Fruendlich  absorption  isotherm  equation.  It  is varified that presence of hexacyanoferrate on zeolite  facilitates rapid Cs uptake performance. This is further confirmed in laboratory scale column  tests,  wherein  excellent  Cs  removal  performance  from low level waste simulant was observed even at higher flow  rates  (40  bed  volumes  per  hour).  The  utility  of  the  sorbent  is  established  through  successful  demonstration  in a pilot scale (50 L) trial with almost complete removal of 137Cs from more than 14,000 bed volumes of actual low level waste. The sorbent, owing to its low cost and excellent 137Cs removal performance, is expected to find application in treatment of very low active waste streams.

 
 
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