The use of electro-electrodialysis for the removal of sulphuric acid from decontamination effluents

The decontamination of reactor compounds and the treatment of the decontamination effluents are an inherent part of reactordismantling studies. In this context we investigated the recovery of sulphuric acid from decontamination effluents by means electro-electrodialysis (EED). To use EED, we needed to find out, at the highest suitable temperature, (1) which is the limiting membrane current density and maximum cathode current density for the separation, and (2) how the choice of the membrane influences these values, and the electric yield. Using a laboratory-scale EED set-up, we compared four anionic membranes: Neosepta AMH and ACM, Selemion AAV, and Solvayʹs AW. The limiting current density at 323 K for each membrane varied between im,lim = [0.16 A cm-2 and 0.17 A cm-2], the maximum cathode current density ic,max = 0.08 A cm-2. For AMH, AAV and AW at a membrane current density of im = 0.14 A cm-2, average proton leaks varied between 17% and 25%, and the specific energy necessary for 90% displacement of the acid varied between E=[22.6 and 25.3]×105 JL-1. For the ACM membrane, a negligible apparent proton leak resulted in a specific energy of only 16.8×105 JL-1. Yet for this particular separation, in our laboratory-scale experiments, AMH possessed the best combination of electrochemical and mechanical properties.