Development of flow injection analysis technique for uranium estimation

Flow injection analysis is increasingly used as a process control analytical technique in many industries. It involves injection of the sample at a constant rate into a steady flowing stream of reagent and passing this mixture through a suitable detector. This paper describes the development of such a system for the analysis of uranium (VI) and (IV) and its gross gamma activity. It is amenable for on-line or automated off-line monitoring of uranium and its activity in process streams. The sample injection port is suitable for automated injection of radioactive samples. The performance of the system has been tested for the colorimetric response of U(VI) samples at 410 nm in the range of 35 to 360mg/ml in nitric acid medium using Metrohm 662 Photometer and a recorder as detector assembly. The precision of the method is found to be better than +/- 0.5%. This technique with certain modifications is used for the analysis of U(VI) in the range 0.1-3mg/ailq. by alcoholic thiocynate procedure within +/- 1.5% precision. Similarly the precision for the determination of U(IV) in the range 15-120 mg at 650 nm is found to be better than 5%. With NaI well-type detector in the flow line, the gross gamma counting of the solution under flow is found to be within a precision of +/- 5%. (author). 4 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab