DYNAMIC REMOVAL OF URANIUM BY CHITOSAN - INFLUENCE OF OPERATING PARAMETERS

New wastewater treatments involving biosorption processes are being de veloped This work focuses on the dynamic removal of uranium using chit osan in fixed-bed reactors and investigates the main operating paramet ers: particle size, column size, flow velocity and metal ion concentra tion. The results confirm the predominant effect of diffusion on the c ontrol rate. The optimization of the process should take into account both sorption performances and hydrodynamic behaviour. The process is successfully applied to the treatment of leachates at an abandoned min e site. This study shows that chitosan is an effective sorbent for the treatment and recovery of uranium from dilute effluents. Copyright (C ) 1996 IAWQ.