A Biosorption Approach to Removal of Trace Concentrations of Uranium and Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions

McNew, E. B. ; Barnes, J. M. ; Torma, A. E.
Organization: Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
Pages: 6
Publication Date: Jan 1, 1992
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The applicability of biosorbent materials for the removal of uranium and other heavy metals from synthetic and actual uranium mil 1 tailing (UMT) solutions has been investigated. The biosorbent materials used in this study were barium loaded beads of alginate, alginate-dextran sulfate, alginate-carrageenan, and alginate-xanthan gum. These studies were performed in stirred vessels and packed columns. It was observed that 100 percent of the uranium could be removed from a synthetic solution following 2 hours of contact time in a stirred vessel, and 80-100% of U, V, Mo, Mn, Sr, and Zn could be removed from a UMT effluent solution with a packed column. Kinetic evaluations were performed, using a generalized rate equation, on the biosorption of uranium with these barium loaded beads.
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