Uranium Recuperation from Aqueous Effluents Using Algerian Bentonite

The use of uranium produces radioactive waste which presents a real danger to the mankind and source of environmental degradation, due to its activity. Uranium-bearing effluents must be checked and treated beforehand, in order to meet radiation protection standards (acceptable standards). The objective of our study is to highlight the effectiveness of the process of adsorption of uranium by bentonite in the treatment of uranium effluents. The choice of this clay is motivated by its availability in large quantities and by its advantageous cost, on the one hand, and the properties that its affinity with aqueous uranium gives it, on the other hand. From the adsorption tests, carried out in batch mode, and their experimental planning, it turns out that the adsorption follows a pseudo-second order kinetics and responds to the Langmuir model. In addition, the analysis of the design of experiments by the JMP PRO 16 software, made it possible to identify the influence of the following parameters: the pH of the solution, the initial concentration of uranium and the proportion of the adsorbent in the system adsorbent-adsorbate.