Influence of Magnesium on Radium Removal by Barium Chloride in Aqueous Solution

This study examines the influence of magnesium on removal of radium (Ra) ions by barium chloride in aqueous solution. The removal behaviours of Ra ions were investigated in the series of batch mode experiments. The effects of various experimental conditions such as pH, contact time, precipitant dosage and initial concentration of Ra ions have been studied. The results revealed that the presence of magnesium in aqueous solution reduced the removal of Ra ions by co-precipitation. The removal results showed that the percentage of Ra removed was increased with an increase in the pH and precipitant dose of aqueous solutions. Time dependence of the batch studies showed that a contact time of 30 min. was sufficient to reach equilibrium. The result also showed that treatment operation under optimum conditions is sufficient to remove about 99.6% of the radium from the effluent.