A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF PRE-SOLVENT EXTRACTION TREATMENT OF STAINLESS STEEL- URANIUM FUELS WITH DILUTE AQUA REGIA
The continuous dissolution of 304 stainless steel and stainless steel - UO/sub 2/ alloy in dilute aqua regia was studied with subsequent stripping of the dissolver product to remove chloride ion. The process has the advantage of producing, by means of a simple head end treatment, a solvent extract feed in a conventional nitric acid medium so that existing solvent extraction processes, materials of construction and waste disposal methods can be used. The purposes of this study were to investigate the the variables affecting the dissolution process and to obtain dissolver scale-up data, and to investigate the removal of chloride from the dissolver product and the variables affecting the stripping operation. A continuous flooded pot dissolver was used. It has the advantages of stability of operation and ease of control in comparison with column dissolvers and requires a minimum of mechanical processing prior to dissolution. Stripping of the dissolver prcduct to remove chloride ion was studied in a 4-in. diameter Pyrek bubblecap column containing 12 single babble cap plates. Continuous dissolution rates and dissolver product stainiess steel loadings were correlatsd with aqua regla feed composition, acid feed rats and surface area exposed to reaction. Profiles of chloride concentration down the stripping column were obtained for various vapor to liquid mole ratios and for several nitric acid stripping vapor concentrations. Noncondensable off-gas compositions and rates were also measured. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-12-016297
- OSTI ID:
- 4300132
- Report Number(s):
- CF-57-6-125(Rev.)
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-58
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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