Uranium elution

The use of larger particles in the cyclotron, for example carbon, nitrogen or oxygen ions, enabled elements of several units of atomic number beyond uranium to be synthesised. Einsteinium and fermium were obtained by this method and separated by ion-exchange. and indeed first identified by the appearance of their concentration peaks on the elution graph at the places expected for atomic numbers 99 and 100. The concentrations available when this was done were measured not in gcm but in atoms cm. The same elements became available in greater quantity when the first hydrogen bomb was exploded, when they were found in the fission products. Element 101, mendelevium, was made by a-particle bombardment of einsteinium, and nobelium (102) by fusion of curium and the carbon-13 isotope. 

Uranium ores are leached with dilute sulfuric acid or an alkaline carbonate [3812-32-6] solution. Hexavalent uranium forms anionic complexes, such as uranyl sulfate [56959-61-6], U02(S0 3, which are more selectively adsorbed by strong base anion exchangers than are other anions in the leach Hquors. Sulfate complexes are eluted with an acidified NaCl or ammonium nitrate [6484-52-2], NH NO, solution. Carbonate complexes are eluted with a neutral brine solution. Uranium is precipitated from the eluent and shipped to other locations for enrichment. Columnar recovery systems were popular in South Africa and Canada. Continuous resin-in-pulp (RIP) systems gained popularity in the United States since they eliminated a difficult and cosdy ore particle/leach hquor separation step. 

The isotope molybdenum-99 is produced in large quantity as the precursor to technetium-99y, a radionucleide used in numerous medical imaging procedures such as those of bone and the heart (see Medical imaging technology). The molybdenum-99 is either recovered from the fission of uranium or made from lighter Mo isotopes by neutron capture. Typically, a Mo-99 cow consists of MoO adsorbed on a lead-shielded alumina column. The TcO formed upon the decay of Mo-99 by P-decay, = 66 h, has less affinity for the column and is eluted or milked and either used directly or appropriately chemically derivatized for the particular diagnostic test (100). 

Ion Excha.nge, The recovery of uranium from leach solutions using ion exchange is a very important process (42). The uranium(VI) is selectively adsorbed to an anion-exchange resin as either the anionic sulfato or carbonato complexes. In carbonate solutions, the uranyl species is thought to be the tris carbonato complex, U02(C03) 3 [24646-13-7] and from sulfate solutions the anion is likely to be U02(S0 , where nis ) [56959-61-6] or 2 [27190-85-8], The uranium is eluted from the resin with a salt or acid solution of 1 AfMCl or MNO (M = H", Na", The sulfate solution is... 

After adjusting to 2 mol 1 1 in hydrochloric acid, 500 ml of the sample is adsorbed on a column of Dowex 1-XS resin (Cl form) and elution is then effected with 2 M nitric acid. The solution is evaporated to dryness after adding 1M hydrochloric acid, and the tin is again adsorbed on the same column. Tin is eluted with 2 M nitric acid, and determined in the eluate by the spectrophotometric catechol violet method. There is no interference from 0.1 mg of aluminium, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, bismuth, or uranium any titanium, zirconium, or antimony are removed by ion exchange. Filtration of the sample through a Millipore filter does not affect the results, which are in agreement with those obtained by neutron activation analysis. 

The application of the Chelex 100 resin separation and preconcentration, with the direct use of the resin itself as the final sample for analysis, is an extremely useful technique. The elements demonstrated to be analytically determinable from high salinity waters are cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, scandium, thorium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc. The determination of chromium and vanadium by this technique offers significant advantages over methods requiring aqueous final forms, in view of their poor elution reproducibility. The removal of sodium, chloride, and bromide allows the determination of elements with short and intermediate half-lives without radiochemistry, and greatly reduces the radiation dose received by personnel. This procedure was successfully applied in a study of... 

Korkisch and Koch [106,107] determined low concentrations of uranium in seawater by extraction and ion exchange in a solvent system containing trioctyl phosphine oxide. Uranium is extracted from the sample solution (adjusted to be 1 M in hydrochloric acid and to contain 0.5% of ascorbic acid) with 0.1 M trioctylphos-phine oxide in ethyl ether. The extract is treated with sufficient 2-methoxyethanol and 12 M hydrochloric acid to make the solvent composition 2-methoxyethanol-0.1 M ethereal trioctylphosphine acid-12 M hydrochloric acid (9 10 1) this solution is applied to a column of Dowex 1-X8 resin (Cl" form). Excess of trioctylphosphine oxide is removed by washing the column with the same solvent mixture. Molybdenum is removed by elution with 2-methoxyethanol-30% aqueous hydrogen peroxide-12 M hydrochloric... 

For the extraction of Tc from molybdemun irradiated by neutrons or separated from uranium fission products, inorganic sorbents, especially aliuninum oxide have widely been applied. In preparing a Tc generator from irradiated molybdenum , MoOj is dissolved in cone, nitric acid, the solution is diluted and passed through an aluminum oxide column. The column is then eluted by 0.2 N H2SO4 to extract Tc. If molybdenum is adsorbed by AljOj as molybdatophos-phate instead of molybdate, the exchange capacity of molybdenum increases from... 

Radioactivity of uranium can be measured by alpha counters. The metal is digested in nitric acid. Alpha activity is measured by a counting instrument, such as an alpha scintillation counter or gas-flow proportional counter. Uranium may be separated from the other radioactive substances by radiochemical methods. The metal or its compound(s) is first dissolved. Uranium is coprecipitated with ferric hydroxide. Precipitate is dissolved in an acid and the solution passed through an anion exchange column. Uranium is eluted with dilute hydrochloric acid. The solution is evaporated to near dryness. Uranium is converted to its nitrate and alpha activity is counted. Alternatively, uranium is separated and electrodeposited onto a stainless steel disk and alpha particles counted by alpha pulse height analysis using a silicon surface barrier detector, a semiconductor particle-type detector. 

The final answer came from the atomic pile. J. A. Marinsky, L. E. Glendenin, and C. D. Coryell at the Clinton Laboratories at Oak Ridge (20) obtained a mixture of fission products of uranium which contained isotopes of yttrium and the entire group of rare earths from lanthanum through europium. Using a method of ion-exchange on Amberlite resin worked out by E. R. Tompkins, J. X. Khym, and W. E. Cohn (21) they were able to obtain a mixture of praseodymium, neodymium, and element 61, and to separate the latter by fractional elution from the Amberlite column with 5 per cent ammonium citrate at pH 2.75. Neutron irradiation of neodymium also produced 61. 

Fig. 1. Schematic flowsheet of uranium processing (acid leach and ion exchange) operation. Numbers refer to the numbers that appear in the boxes on the flowsheet. Operations (3), (6), (9), and (11) may be done by thickening or filtration. Most often, thickeners are used, followed by filters. The pH of the leach slurry <4) is elevated to reduce its corrosive effect and to improve the ion-exchange operation on the uranium liquor subsequently separated, In tile ion exchange operation (7), resin contained in closed columns is alternately loaded with uranium and then eluted. The resin adsorbs the complex anions, such as UC fSO 4-. in which the uranium is present in the leach solution. Ammonium nitrate is nsed for elution, obtained by recycling the uranium filtrate liquor after pH adjustment. Iron adsoibed with the uranium is eluted with it. Iron separation operation (8) is needed inasmuch as the iron hydroxide slurry is heavily contaminated with calcium sulfate and coprecipitated uranium salts. Therefore, the slurry is recycled to the watering stage (3). Washed solids from 1,6). the waste barren liquor from (7), and the uranium filtrate from (11) are combined. The pH is elevated to 7.5 by adding lime slurry before the mixture is pumped to the tailings disposal area. (Rio Algom Mines Limited, Toronto)...

After leaching, a concentration/pmification is done to get rid of other materials leached from the ore. This can be done by ion exchange or solvent extraction. In the ion exchange method, three steps are employed (a) the absorption of uranium from the leach liquor onto the resin, (b) the selective elution of uranium from the resin, and (c) the regeneration of the resin. Anion exchange is the preferred method of ion exchange with the relevant chemical reactions for acid leach being... 

Weak-base resins have been tested from time to time but have not found wide acceptance in the uranium industry, The main reason for this is that the major advantage of weak- over strong-base resins, viz. elution by neutralization, cannot be utilized in uranium processing since it is not possible for the weak-base resin to be converted to the free-base form without diuranate precipitating within the pores of the resin (unless a complexing agent such as carbonate is added to the eluate). In the presence of carbonate, uranium remains in solution as the uranyl carbonate anion, even in very alkaline solution, so is readily eluted from a weak-base resin in the free-base form. This eluate would then be treated as depicted in equations (105) and (106) for the recovery of uranium. Alternatively, weak-base resins can be eluted by ion-exchange mass action. 

In 1994, Dadfarnia and McLeod described the analysis of uranium in surface waters and sea water using a simple FI system with an alumina column for preconcentration.77 Species eluted from this column were delivered to an ICP-MS as the detector. Also in 1994, Hollenbach et al. described the automation of extraction chromatographic methods based on TRU-Resin and TEVA-Resin to separate and preconcentrate U, Th, and Tc from soil samples, using ICP-MS for detection.49125 In 1996, Aldstadt et al. described the use of FI and extraction chromatography using TRU-Resin to determine U in environmental samples by ICP-MS.78... 

We observed from the column data that uranium in solution is not very mobile when the solution contacts the sediments used in the experiment. We expected that the oxidized uranium [U(VI)] in the pregnant lixiviant would be reduced and immobilized by solu-tion/sediment interactions, and this is what happened in the experiments after two to three pore volumes were eluted. The actual removal of uranium from solution may occur by adsorption onto mineral surfaces, which produces localized high concentra-... 

The other metal ions that exhibited an appreciable reaction with Arsenazo(III) at 650nm under the separation and detection conditions used, were iron(III), zirconium(IV), thorium(IV) and the lanthanides. The lanthanides, iron(III) and zirconium(IV) were eluted at or near the solvent front before uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) was eluted after uranium(VI). 

Ethyleneimine has been also copolymerized in the absence of an initiator by zwitterion copolymerization with maleic anhydride [79] and methacrylic acid [80]. Both copolymers were checked following the batch method for copper(II), uranium(VI) and iron(III) and did not adsorb iron(HI), but copper(II) and uranium(VI) at pH 2. Poly (ethyleneimine-co-methacrylic acid) adsorbed more than 95% UO +. The ions were almost quantitatively eluted by contact of the loaded resin with 1 M aq. H2S04 [79, 80]. 

In third separation, thorium is retained on a cation-exchange resin while uranium is eluted from the resin column. Thorium is then eluted as an oxalate complex and evaporated on a planchet for counting. The planchet is flamed to volatilize the oxalic acid and then counted. 

Step 4. Remove the uranium-eluent collection beaker and place a clean 50-mL beaker beneath the column to collect the thorium eluent. Elute the thorium with 10 mL of 0.5 M H2C204 at the rate of about 1 ml per minute. 

The activity was transported to ARCA II with a He(KCl) gas-jet within about 3 s. After deposition on a titanium slider it was dissolved and washed through the 1.6x8 mm column (filled with the cation-exchange resin Aminex A6, 17.5 2 pm) a flow rate of 1 mL/min with 0.1 M HNOj/5-10 4 M HF. 85% of the W elute within 10 s. Neither divalent or trivalent metal ions nor group-4 ions are eluted within the first 15 s. Also the pseudo-homologue uranium, in the form of U022+, is completely retained on the column. 

After irradiation of the uranium target, it is dissolved in nitric acid and the final solution adsorbed on an alumina column that is washed with nitric acid to remove uranium (and other fission products). Molybdenum is finally eluted with ammonium hydroxide and further purified by absorption on an anion exchange column from which ammonium molibdate is eluted with dilute hydrochloric acid after washing the resin with concentrated HC1. The "Mo is obtained in no-carrier-added conditions, and the most common contaminants can be 131I and 103Ru. 

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