Separation and retention of iodine

Caustic and mercuric nitrate scrubbers have been used for iodine recovery from process offgas, but they exhibit low decontamination factors for organic iodide removal and produce liquid wastes that are unsuitable for final storage. The Iodox process gives high decontamination factors for both organic iodides and elemental iodine. The liquid waste can be evaporated to a solid or concentrated and fixed in cement. Efficient separation and retention of gaseous iodine species can be obtained with silver-loaded adsorbents. The waste is a dry solid easily handled and stored. Adsorbents containing cheaper metals appear to have lower iodine-loading capacities and may be unsuitable for bulk iodine removal from process offgas because of the large amounts of solid waste that would be generated. A potential method for regenerationg and recycling silver-loaded adsorbents is being evaluated. In conjunction with the regeneration, lead-exchanged zeolite is used as a secondary adsorbent for the final fixation and storage of the iodine