PROCESS DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY REPORT. PART II. PILOT PLANT WORK

Technical Report · Sun Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1959

OSTI ID:4163574

Fain, P ed

Experimental pilot plant studies of the air-deficient combustion of propane showed that the available burner produced an atmosphere of 13 to 14% CO + H/sub 2/. Comparison of the performance of pilot plant and refinery extrac tion and re-extraction equipment established the scale-up relationship between the two systems. Experiments with the pilot plant pumper-decanters showed that a substantial improvement in efficiency results from the maintenance of interfaces in the decanters. Suspension of solvent treatment for one week in the refinery caused a 20% capacity loss in the re-extraction column. Sulfuric acid treatment of solvent in the pilot plant pulse column reduced the uranium concentration in the solvent below 0.05 g uranium per liter. Several experimental runs in the pilot plant fluid-bed denitrator have shown that particle growth by agglomeration is the prevailing mechanism. Stable particle size distribution results over a wide range of operating conditions. A correlation was developed between initial and final average particle size and the grinding rate for Destrehan Street UO/sub 2/ and UF/sub 4/ in a micronizer. Dingots produced using experimental grades of magnesium were equal in firing time, yield, and level of the chemical impurities tested to dingots produced using standard magnesium. The variation of hydrogen results from dingots produced using individually blended ingredients is significantly lower than from dingots produced from unblended materials. Control of dingot hydrogen at levels below 2.0 ppm appears feasible by heating the green salt-magnesium blend (either in the bomb or separately) to temperatures of 600 to 700 deg F before firing. Vacuum outgassing of dingot uranium to remove hydrogen appears possible either in a direct pour of liquid metal from the bomb or as 7- inch-diameter rounds in the gamma phase temperature range after extrusion. (auth)

• Research Organization: Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, St. Louis
• NSA Number: NSA-14-021548
• OSTI ID: 4163574
• Report Number(s): MCW-1426
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CARBON MONOXIDE
CHEMISTRY
COMBUSTION
DEGASSING
DISTRIBUTION
EXTRUSION
FLUIDIZATION
GRAIN SIZE
HYDROGEN
IMPURITIES
LIQUID METALS
MAGNESIUM
PERFORMANCE
PROPANE
REDUCTION
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SOLVENTS
SULFURIC ACID
TEMPERATURE
URANIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANIUM TETRAFLUORIDE
VACUUM