Frontiers in Science 2012, 2(6): 235-242 DOI: 10.5923/j.fs.20120206.17 Comparative Study of Indion-AGR and Duolite A-638 Anion Exchange Resins by Application of 131 I and 82 Br as a Tracer Isotopes Pravin U. Singare Department of Chemistry, Bhavan’s College, Munshi Nagar, Andheri (West), Mumbai, 400 058, India Abstract The present study deals with modeling of ion-isotopic exchange reaction kinetics by application of radioactive tracer isotopes 82Br and 131I. The bromide and iodide ion-isotopic exchange reactions was carried out by using weak base anion exchange resins Indion-AGR and Duolite A-638. It was observed that for both the resins, reaction rate decreases with rise in temperature and increases with increase in ionic concentration. The study was extended further for characterization of these resins based on their performance under different operational parameters. It was observed that the percentage/amount of ions exchanged and distribution coefficient values calculated for Duolite A-638 was higher than Indion-AGR resins under identical operational parameters, indicating superior performance of Duolite A-638 over Indion-AGR resins. Keywords Indion-AGR, Duolite A-638, Tracer Applications, Reaction Kinetics, Ion-Isotopic Exchange Reactions, 131 I, 82 Br, Distribution Coefficient, Reaction Rate 1. Introduction Radioisotopes find applications in several fields of which industrial applications constitute a major portion with respect to the quantum of activity used and the economic benefits accrued. Industrial applications of radioisotopes can be mainly categorized into two. The first one being the use of radiation from sealed sources of radioisotopes or from electron beam accelerators for industrial processing, non-destructive testing. The second major group of applications is the use of radiotracers in inventory control, study of process parameters, trouble shooting in industrial systems, flow measurements, leakage studies etc. The economic benefits that may be derived from the use of the radioisotope technology are great, a fact that is recognized by the governments of developing countries. Though radioisotopes have been applied to the solution of problems in industry for over 50 years, research and development of the technology continues unabated. There are two main reasons for the continuing interest. Firstly, it is industry driven. Because of their unique properties, radioactive isotopes can be used to obtain information about plants and processes that cannot be obtained in any other way. Often, the information is obtained with the plant on-stream and * Corresponding author: pravinsingare@gmail.com (Pravin U. Singare) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/fs Copyright © 2012 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved without disrupting the process in any way. This can lead to substantial economic benefits, from shutdown avoidance to process optimization. Secondly, the methodology is derived from many fields of science and technology including radioisotope production, radiation detection, data acquisition, treatment and analysis, and mathematical modeling. The fundamental principle in radiochemical investigations is that the chemical properties of a radioisotope of an element are almost the same as those of the other stable/radioactive isotopes of the element. When radioisotope is present in a chemical form identical to that of the bulk of the element in a chemical process, then any reaction the element undergoes can be directly traced by monitoring the radioisotope. Radiochemical work involves two main steps first is the sampling of chemical species to be studied and second is quantitative determination of the radiation emitted by the radioisotope in the sample[1]. In radiotracer study, a short lived radioisotope in a physico-chemical form similar to that of the process material is used to trace the material under study. The radioisotopes in suitable physical and chemical forms are introduced in systems under study. By monitoring the radioactivity both continuously or after sampling (depending on the nature of study), the movement, adsorption, retention etc. of the tracer and in turn, of the bulk matter under investigation, can be followed. The tracer concentration recorded at various locations also helps to draw information about the dynamic behavior of the system under study. The radioisotopes preferred for such studies are gamma emitters having half-life compatible with the