The Uranium Removal in Groundwater by Using the Bamboo Charcoal as the Adsorbent

Batch sorption experiments were performed to remove the uranium (U) in groundwater by using the bamboo charcoal. For 2 kinds of commercialized bamboo charcoals in Korea, the U removal efficiency at various initial U concentrations in water were investigated and the optimal sorption conditions to apply the bamboo charcoal were determined by the batch experiments with replicate at different pH, temperature, and reaction time conditions. From results of adsorption batch experiments, the U removal efficiency of the bamboo charcoal ranged from 70 % to 97 % and the U removal efficiency for the genuine groundwater of which U concentration was 0.14 mg/L was 84 %. The high U removal efficiency of the bamboo charcoal maintained in a relatively wide range of temperatures (10 similar to 20 degrees C) and pHs (5 similar to 9), supporting that the usage of the bamboo charcoal is available for U contaminated groundwater without additional treatment process in field. Two typical sorption isotherms were plotted by using the experimental results and the bamboo charcoal for U complied with the Langmuir adsorption property. The maximum adsorption concentration (q(m): mg/g) of A type and C type bamboo charcoal in the Langmuir isotherm model were 200.0 mg/g and 16.9 mg/g, respectively. When 2 g of bamboo charcoal was added into 100 mL of U contaminated groundwater (0.04 similar to 10.8 mg/L of initial U concentration), the separation factor (R-L) and the surface coverage (theta) maintained lower than 1, suggesting that the U contaminated groundwater can be cleaned up with a small amount of the bamboo charcoal.