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http://dx.doi.org/10.7733/jnfcwt.2014.12.1.7

Performance Evaluation to Develop an Engineering Scale Cathode Processor by Multiphase Numerical Analysis  

Yoo, Bung Uk (Chungnam National University)
Park, Sung Bin (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Kwon, Sang Woon (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Kim, Jeong Guck (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Lee, Han Soo (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Kim, In Tae (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Lee, Jong Hyeon (Chungnam National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT) / v.12, no.1, 2014 , pp. 7-17 More about this Journal
Abstract
Molten salt electrorefining process achieves uranium deposits at cathode using an electrochemical processing of spent nuclear fuel. In order to recover pure uranium from cathode deposit containing about 30wt% salt, the adhered salt should be removed by cathode process (CP). The CP has been regarded as one of the bottle-neck of the pyroprocess as the large amount of uranium is treated in this step and the operation parameters are crucial to determine the final purity of the product. Currently, related research activities are mainly based on experiments consequently it is hard to observe processing variables such as temperature, pressure and salt gas behavior during the operation of the cathode process. Hence, in this study operation procedure of cathode process is numerically described by using appropriate mathematical model. The key parameters of this research are the amount of evaporation at the distillation part, diffusion coefficient of gas phase salt in cathode processor and phase change rate at condensation part. Each of these conditions were composed by Hertz-Langmuir equation, Chapman-Enskog theory, and interphase mass flow application in ANSYS-CFX. And physical properties of salt were taken from the data base in HSC Chemistry. In this study, calculation results on the salt gas behavior and optimal operating condition are discussed. The numerical analysis results could be used to closely understand the physical phenomenon during CP and for further scale up to commercial level.
Keywords
Cathode process; Ansys-CFX; Hertz-Langmuir eq.; Pyroprocess; Numerical analysis;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 2  (Citation Analysis)
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