Recovery of uranium by CFBA using a granular organic adsorbent

Recovery of uranium from natural seawater by a circulating fluidized-bed adsorber (CFBA) was carried out using an organic adsorbent-a granular amidoxime resin (AOR). In the adsorption experiments, stability of the circulating fluidized stab of adsorbent and uranium uptake were measured as a function of adsorption time. Results were compared with those obtained for a typical inorganic adsorbent-hydrous titanium oxide granulated with polyacrylonitrile (PAN-HTO). The circulating fluidized state of AOR was very stable. The total amount of carried-over adsorbent was small enough for an adsorption period of 216 hours. The uranium adsorption rates of AOR increased linearly up to the adsorption time of 100 hours, but the increase rate decreased slightly after this time. The uranium amount adsorbed per unit weight of AOR was larger than that of PAN-HTO. The effect of contacting section height of the CFBA on the uranium uptake was also discussed.