Study on response surface method to optimize radioactive resin degradation by microwave-assisted Fenton reaction

A large amount of radioactive waste resin will be produced in the production and operation of the nuclear industry, which needs to be treated and disposed safely. The microwave-assisted Fenton reaction is used in this study for the degradation of radioactive waste resin, and the response surface method is adopted to optimize and establish the high-efficiency degradation process. The four-factor (pH value, the dosage of FeSO4 and H2O2 reagents, and the microwave power) and three-level response surface method was used to analyze the influence degree of various factors on the experimental results, screening the key factors affecting the degradation effect, and exploring the best process conditions for the experiment. The research results show that based on the response surface optimization scheme, the optimal process conditions for degrading cationic resin are: pH = 1.637, 41.3 mL of 0.02 mol/L FeSO4, 116.1 mL of (30%) H2O2, 438.31 W of microwave power. Under the optimal condition, the cation exchange resin is rapidly degraded within 1 hour, and the COD of degradation solution is as low as 1.04 g/L. The findings indicate that the microwave-assisted Fenton reaction is an effective method to treat the cation exchange resin, and the response surface optimization method is reliable to the research of cationic resin degradation, which is conducive to design the treatment process of radioactive waste resin.