Ethylenediamine-funtionalized ion exchange resin for uranium recovery from acidic mixed sulphate-chloride media: initial column loading studies

A renewed interest in nuclear power around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emission is going to increase demand for uranium as fuel. This increased demand will result in more uranium being mined, which will in turn increase associated environmental pressures, such as fresh water use. A move to lower quality waters containing impurities such as chloride would help alleviate these pressures. In this work uptake characteristics of weakly basic anion exchange resin Ps-EDA towards uranium from saline solutions in a dynamic flow column have been determined. Breakthrough curves were produced, with suppression of uptake being observed for chloride concentrations above 5 g L-1. Calculated resin saturation capacities at 0 and 5 g L-1 chloride are comparable with literature values for strong base anion exchange resins, and exceed those published for weak base resins up to 20 g L-1 chloride. Data has been fit to multiple breakthrough models, with the Modified Dose-Response model most effectively predicting uranium recovery. The results presented show that the ethylenediamine functionality could be suitable for use in future uranium processing flowsheets where a high saline lixiviant is used.