Removal of 134Cs and 152+154Eu from liquid radioactive waste using Dowex HCR-S/S

Radionuclides should be separated from the waste streams before their discharge due to their undesired effects on human physiology and ecological systems. In this work, the feasibility of using Dowex-HCRS/S(HCR), a strong acid cation-exchange resin as sorbent for Cs-134 and Eu152+154 ions removal was examined. Sorption experimental data were analyzed by kinetic and isotherm models. The distribution coefficients of Cs-134 and Eu152+154 were studied as a function of pH; 3525.6mL/g and 393.1mL/g were obtained in case of Eu152+154 and Cs-134 at pH 4.1, respectively. Four isotherm models; Fre-undlich, Langmuir, Tempkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich, were used to fit the sorption equilibrium data. The results indicated that the sorption of both Cs-134 and Eu152+154 onto HCR resin is highly fit with the pseudo-second order model. The sorption kinetic for Cs-134 and Eu152+154 onto polymeric resin takes 90 and 120 min to reach equilibrium which is considered as a fast kinetic process. The results of sorption experiments indicate that the maximum sorption capacity of Cs-134 and Eu152+154 are 102.84 and 161.93mg/g. The amount of radionuclides removed increased with increasing temperature, which indicates the endothermic nature of the sorption process. The negative values of Delta G degrees indicated the spontaneity of the sorption process. The proposed procedure has been successfully applied for the removal of Cs-134, Eu152+154 and other radionuclides fromreal liquid radioactivewaste. The present study concludes that the commercial HCR resin used under these conditions, has a considerable potential as an effective sorbent for the removal of Cs-134 and Eu152+154 from real radioactive wastewater. It can therefore have a place in the treatment of cationic radionuclides from radioactive wastewater since it is of a low-cost and commercially available adsorbent.