Research on the removal of radium from uranium effluent by air-aeration hydrated manganese hydroxide adsorption

In the acidic leaching uranium process, pyrolusite or manganese oxide (MnO2) powder is often used as an oxidizer. In the resulting effluent, manganese ion is present as a contaminant in addition to U, Ra, Th, As, Zn, Cu, F-, SO42-, etc. Manganese ion content is about 100∼200 mg/l in effluent. In this case, a new process technique can be developed to treat the effluent using the Mn2+ present in the effluent. The approach is as follows: The effluent is neutralized by lime milk to pH about 11. As a result, most contaminants are precipitated to meet the uranium effluent discharge standards (U, Th, Mn, SO42- etc), but radium is still present in the effluent. In this process, manganese ion forms manganese hydroxide Mn(OH)2. The manganese hydroxide is easily oxidized to form MnO(OH)2 by air aeration. This hydrated manganese hydroxide complex can then be used to adsorb radium in effluent. The experiments show: (1) Effluent pH, manganese concentration in effluent, and aeration strength and time etc. influence the radium removal efficiency. Under the test conditions, when manganese in effluent is between 100∼300 mg/l, and pH is over 10.5, radium can be reduced to lower than 1.11 Bq/l in the processed effluent. Higher contents of impurity elements such as aluminum, silicon and magnesium in the effluent affect the removal efficiency, (2) Under the experimental conditions, the lime precipitation-air aeration formed hydrated manganese hydroxide complex sludge is stable. There is no obvious release of radium from the adsorbed hydrated manganese hydroxide complex sludge, (3) the current experiments show that hydrated manganese hydroxide complex sludge has very good re-adsorption ability for removal of radium from uranium effluent. Some experimental parameters have been measured, (4) Compared with other process methods, such as neutralizing effluent without aeration; or neutralization with barium chloride addition at pH 5, 8, and 11, the removal of radium from uranium effluent by air aeration hydrated manganese hydroxide adsorption can effectively remove radium from effluent. Under the study conditions, air aeration formed hydrated manganese hydroxide pulp needs a longer time for clarification. (author)