Ammonium nitrate wastewater treatment by coupled membrane electrolysis and electrodialysis

E. Gain (1) , S. Laborie (1) , Ph. Viers (1) , M. Rakib (1) , Geoffroy Durand (1) , D. Hartmann (2)

1 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038
2 COGEMA

A process coupling membrane electrolysis and electrodialysis is implemented to treat ammonium nitrate wastewater. Membrane electrolysis produces ammonia and nitric acid while electrodialysis reconcentrates the depleted salt solution. Ammonia is removed continuously by in situ stripping; thus allowing gas production with a constant current efficiency (about 70%). Nitric acid up to 8 mol L-1 is obtained. The current efficiency of acid production depends on nitric acid concentration. When this concentration varies from 1 to 8 mol L-1 the average current efficiency is about 58%. Electrodialysis produces a rejected stream containing less than 3 x 10(-3) mol L-1 of ammonium nitrate.

Mots clés: membrane electrolysis; stripping; electrodialysis; electrochemical splitting; ammonium nitrate

Domaines: Chimie

E. Gain, S. Laborie, Ph. Viers, M. Rakib, Geoffroy Durand, et al.. Ammonium nitrate wastewater treatment by coupled membrane electrolysis and electrodialysis. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 2002, 32 (9), pp.969-975. ⟨10.1023/A:1020908702406⟩. ⟨hal-01253648⟩