Effect of surfactants on the performance of hollow fiber renewal liquid membrane (HFRLM): a case study of uranium transfer

In this study the application of various surfactant agents on the performance of HFRLM for uranium transfer was investigated. Using Taguchi experimental design in recycling mode of HFRLM, maximum uranium recovery of 63.17% was obtained at 0.15 mol L−1 H2SO4, 0.0125 mol L−1 Alamine 336 and 0.25 mol L−1 NH4Cl in the donor, liquid membrane and acceptor phase, respectively. Also, the continuous mode experiments were conducted and HFRLM stability was compared with HFSLM. The uranium transfer would be improved by adding 0.05 mmol L−1 of SDS, CTAB and LAE-7 to the donor phase and 10 mmol L−1 of CTAB and LAE-7 to the acceptor phase.