Economic Evaluation for the Production of Sorbents and Catalysts Derived fromHydrous Titanium Oxide Microspheres Prepared by the HMTA Internal Gelation Process

摘要

Hydrous metal oxides of Zr, Ti, Hf, Fe, Al, etc. are inorganic ion exchangersthat have high selectivities and efficiencies for separating and removing fission products, actinides, and other undesirable elements from aqueous waste streams. In most cases, these ion exchangers are commercially available only as fine powders or as unstable granular particles that are not readily adaptable to continuous processing techniques such as column chromatography. Hydrous metal oxides can be prepared as microspheres by the internal gelation process. This process is unique in that it provides a means of making a usable engineered form of inorganic ion exchanger that can be used in large-scale column separations. With such material, the flow dynamics in column operations would be greatly enhanced. In addition, the microspheres are in a stable form that has little or no tendency to degrade under dynamic conditions. Another advantage of the process is that the gelation time and size of the microspheres can be controlled. Also, microspheres can be reproducibly prepared on either a small or a large scale-which is not always J true for batch preparation of the powdered or granular forms. The use of these materials can be expanded in a number of ways. The process allows for the microspheres to be homogeneously embedded with fine particles of other selective ion exchangers, and for the microspheres (undried)