APPLICATION OF VACUUM SALT DISTILLATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE AND CHLORIDE FROM LEGACY FISSILE MATERIALS

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange

OSTI ID:1028808

Pierce, R; Peters, T

Between September 2009 and January 2011, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the Savannah River Site (SRS) HB-Line Facility designed, developed, tested, and successfully deployed a production-scale system for the distillation of sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) from plutonium oxide (PuO{sub 2}). Subsequent efforts adapted the vacuum salt distillation (VSD) technology for the removal of chloride and fluoride from less-volatile halide salts at the same process temperature and vacuum. Calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}), calcium fluoride (CaF{sub 2}), and plutonium fluoride (PuF{sub 3}) were of particular concern. To enable the use of the same operating conditions for the distillation process, SRNL employed in situ exchange reactions to convert the less-volatile halide salts to compounds that facilitated the distillation of halide without removal of plutonium. SRNL demonstrated the removal of halide from CaCl{sub 2}, CaF{sub 2} and PuF{sub 3} below 1000 C using VSD technology.

• Research Organization: SRS
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1028808
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI-2011-00675
• Journal Information: Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, Journal Name: Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange; ISSN 0736-6299; ISSN SEIEDB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CALCIUM CHLORIDES
CALCIUM FLUORIDES
CHLORIDES
DISTILLATION
FISSILE MATERIALS
FLUORIDES
HALIDES
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM FLUORIDES
PLUTONIUM OXIDES
POTASSIUM CHLORIDES
REMOVAL
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SODIUM CHLORIDES
VACUUM DISTILLATION