GRAPHITE FUEL STUDIES. PART 2. FINE GRINDING OF ARTIFICIAL GRAPHITE

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

OSTI ID:4199306

May, J R; Warner, R K

Homogeneous dispersions of fissile and fertile material in graphite are being currently considered as fuel for hightemperature, gas-cooled nuclear reactors. A possible method of fuel preparation involves compartion of finely ground artificial graphite with U and Th metal powders. Size reduction of antificial graphite is therefore of interest in the preparation of graphite-fuel compacts. Reactor graphite was successively size reduced in a jaw crusher, pin disk mill and ball mill to give a material 50% finer than a microns, and with a B.E.T. nitrogen adsorption surface area ranging up to 18.4 m/sup 2//g. The variables in ball milling were studied, and in particular it was found that Ni- hard balls gave a faster grinding rate, but a higher contamination than was obtained with steel balls. Leaching with boiling HCI was effective in removing contamination introduced by these grinding media. The Rosin-Rammler function, R = 100e/sup -/ (x/x-bar)/sup n/ applied to the size distributions of the ground graphite. In the size range 70 to 1000 microns, the distribution constant n equalled 1. However, above and below this size range, the distribution constant approximated 2. This high value of n for the sub-sieve range was not previously reported, but is not peculiar to artificial graphite. Other materials were found to have a similar value of n. (auth)

• Research Organization: Australia. Atomic Energy Commission Research Establishment, Lucas Heights, New South Wales
• NSA Number: NSA-14-005558
• OSTI ID: 4199306
• Report Number(s): AAEC/E-41
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ADSORPTION
COMPACTING
DISPERSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
FERTILE MATERIALS
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
FUEL ELEMENTS
GAS COOLANT
GATING CIRCUITS
GRAIN SIZE
GRAPHITE
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
LEACHING
METALS, CERAMICS, AND MATERIALS
NITROGEN
POWDERS
PREPARATION
REACTORS
SPHERES
STEELS
SURFACES
THORIUM
URANIUM