Abstract
Uranium adsorption was evaluated on rice straw-based carbon (RSK carbon) that had been KOH-oxidized and impregnated with ionic-liquid. Experiments were performed in fixed bed mode using 100 mg/L uranium solution at 3 different bed depths (12, 6, and 3 cm). Uranium adsorption decreased with increasing bed depth. Agreement between column and batch values was judged to be acceptable in light of inherent differences in continuous versus batch operations. Batch mode reaches equilibrium without continuous solution feeding. However, the solution in fixed bed mode was fed constantly without equilibrium. The bed depth service time (BDST) model was used to investigate uranium adsorption. BDST plots were linear, with a high correlation coefficient (R > 0.97), representing its validity when used for fixed bed of RSK carbon. The failure of the 50% breakthrough BDST curve to pass through the origin point may be due to the complex mechanism of uranium removal by RSK carbon. The calculated BDST slopes were in good agreement with the experimental values, while the values of their intercept slightly varied within certain limit of experimental error. These results support the validity of BDST model for designing a fixed bed column for uranium adsorption onto RSK carbon.