Wet oxidative destruction of spent ion-exchange resins using hydrogen peroxide

摘要

Spent organic ion exchange resins are generated in large quantities during the operation of nuclear facilities. Wet oxidation as a mode of treatment of these gel-type ion exchange resins was investigated using H(sub 2)O(sub 2) as oxidant in the presence of CuSO(sub 4) as catalyst. Experiments using commercial samples were conducted at 95-100 deg C under reflux conditions at atmospheric pressure. It was found that the reaction of cation resin with H(sub 2)O(sub 2) was instantaneous whereas with anion resin, there was a lag time. For efficient utilization of the oxidant, low rate of addition of H(sub 2)O(sub 2), 0.01M concentration of CuSO(sub 4) and neutral pH in mixed resin reactions, were found to be useful. Foaming was noted during reactions involving anion resins. This could be controlled by silicone-based agents. The residual solution left after resin oxidation is aqueous in nature and is expected to contain all the radioactivity originally present in the resin. Preliminary experiments showed that it could be efficiently trapped using available inorganic sorbents. Wet oxidation system offers a simple method of converting organic waste into environmentally acceptable inorganic products. (author). 8 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs. (Atomindex citation 26:074278)