Date of Award

5-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Legacy Department

Environmental Engineering and Science

Committee Chair/Advisor

DeVol, Timothy

Abstract

Characterization of the IBC Advanced Technologies SuperLig¨ 620 solid phase extraction resin was performed in order to develop an automated strontium-90 process monitor. The main focus was on strontium separation from barium, with the goal of developing an automated separation process for strontium-90 in Hanford high-level tank wastes. High-level waste tanks contain significant cesium-137 activities, of which barium daughters are of great concern as interferences to strontium quantification. A number of complexants were studied in a series of batch distribution coefficient experiments, as SuperLig¨ 620 was not previously known to elute strontium in typical mineral acids. The optimal separation was found using a 2M nitric acid load solution with a strontium elution step of ~0.49M ammonium citrate and a barium elution step of ~1.8M ammonium citrate. Strontium quantification in Hanford AN-105 tank simulant was performed on a sequential injection analysis microfluidics system with a glass scintillation flow-cell detector.

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