Study of Local Mass Transfer Resistances in Uranium Transport Using Hollow Fiber Liquid Membranes and Evaluation of Its Separation from Leaching Solutions

Zahakifar, Fazel; Charkhi, Amir; Torab-Mostaedi, Meisam; Davarkhah, Reza; Khanramaki, Fereshte

doi:10.24200/nst.2025.1861.2119

Study of Local Mass Transfer Resistances in Uranium Transport Using Hollow Fiber Liquid Membranes and Evaluation of Its Separation from Leaching Solutions

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Fazel Zahakifar ¹

Amir Charkhi ²

Meisam Torab-Mostaedi ²

Reza Davarkhah ²

Fereshte Khanramaki ²

¹ Nuclear Fuel Cycle Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute

² Nuclear Fuel Cycle Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.Box: 11365-8486, Tehran – Iran

10.24200/nst.2025.1861.2119

Abstract

In this study, uranium transport from a sulfate aqueous solution to an ammonium chloride solution was investigated using a hollow fiber liquid membrane (HFLM) unit containing Alamine 336. By applying different flow rates to the fiber lumen and the shell side of the hollow fiber liquid membrane module, uranium transport was examined, and the local mass transfer coefficients and resistances were calculated using the proposed empirical correlations. Through the simultaneous fitting of the obtained experimental data, the mass transfer equation coefficients were determined in terms of dimensionless numbers. The results indicated that the data fitting error was less than 6%. A comparison of the mass transfer resistances in the renewal layer, liquid membrane, and shell side revealed that uranium transport through the renewal layer is the rate-limiting step in the renewal-type hollow fiber liquid membrane system. The effect of the lumen flow rate on uranium separation from a real sample was also examined. Due to the reduction in the renewal layer thickness with increasing flow rate, uranium transport was enhanced. The results demonstrated that the hollow fiber liquid membrane consistently exhibited an efficient performance for uranium separation from real solutions. Moreover, with increasing flow rate, uranium separation from iron improves due to kinetic effects.

Keywords

Mass transfer resistance

Liquid membrane

Uranium

Separation, Flow rate

Main Subjects