S. Graillon et al., DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRODIALYSIS WITH BIPOLAR MEMBRANE FOR THE TREATMENT OF CONCENTRATED NITRATE EFFLUENTS, Desalination, 107(2), 1996, pp. 159-169
The reprocessing of nuclear combustibles results in the generation of
concentrated liquid wastes, An important effluent produced is ammonium
nitrate solution. The treatment of this solution by electrodialysis u
sing bipolar membranes is complicated by the leakage of ammonia throug
h the membranes. The treatment involves a two-step process: ammonia st
ripping after neutralization of NH4NO3 by NaOH (or KOH) followed by a
regeneration of NaOH (or KOH) by electrodialysis with a bipolar membra
ne, which also produces HNO3. This process allows the regeneration of
nitric acid and base which can be recycled in the industrial process a
nd is an example of a clean technology with zero effluent production (
zero nitrate rejection).