• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.767-772
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• 2012

In support of optimizing electrorefining technology for treating spent nuclear fuel, lithium drawdown has been investigated for separating actinides from molten salt electrolyte. Drawdown reaction selectivity is a major issue that requires investigation, since the goal is to remove actinides while leaving the fission products and other components in the salt. A series of lithium drawdown tests with surrogate fission product chlorides was run to obtain selectivity data with non-radioactive salts, develop a predictive model, and draw conclusions about the viability of using this process with actinide-loaded salt. Results of tests with CsCl, $LaCl_3$, $CeCl_3$, and $NdCl_3$ are reported here. Equilibrium was typically achieved in less than 10 hours of contact between lithium metal and molten salt under well-stirred conditions. Maintaining low oxygen and water impurity concentrations (<10 ppm) in the atmosphere was observed to be critical to minimize side reactions and maintain stable salt compositions. An equilibrium model has been formulated and fit to the experimental data. Good fits to the data were achieved. Based on analysis and results obtained to date, it is concluded that clean separation between minor actinides and lanthanides will be difficult to achieve using lithium drawdown.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2018

Steel crucible used for molten Al has a problem of very limited lifetime because of the interaction between Fe and molten Al. This study was performed to improve the lifetime of steel crucible for molten Al by coating metallic Al and by further anodizing treatment to form thick and uniform anodic oxide films. The lifetime of the steel crucible was improved slightly by Al coating from 30 to 40 hours by metallic Al coating and largely to 120 hours by coating the surface with anodic oxide film. The improved lifetime was attributed to blocking of the reaction between Fe and molten Al with the help of anodic oxide layer with more than 20 um thickness on the crucible surface. The failure of the steel crucible arises from the formation of intermetallic compounds and pores at the steel/Al interface.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2015

Variations of nickel contents and microstructures in molten magnesium alloys on the addition of aluminum, zirconium, and manganese have been investigated. Specimens were prepared by melting under $SF_6$ and $CO_2$ atmosphere and casting into a disc of 29 mm diameter with 7~10 mm thickness from the melt acquired at the top of crucible. Before casting, the molten metal was stirred for 3 minutes after each addition of alloying elements and maintained for 30 minutes for settling down. Results showed that zirconium did not significantly affect the content of nickel while aluminum remarkably reduced it by forming $Al_3Ni_2$ phase. When manganese are added to Mg-1wt%Ni alloy along with aluminum, both elements remarkably reduced the content of nickel. The addition of 1.5 wt% manganese to Mg-1wt%Ni alloy containing aluminum further reduced the content of nickel by more than 30%, during which an additional intermetallic phase $Al_{10}Mn_3Ni$ was precipitated in the molten magnesium.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.514-520
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• 2000

The mechanism of corrosion behavior has to be understood clearly to select an optimum material for handling molten salts to be used in the oxide reduction process of PWR spent fuel. In this study, the oxidation states of corrosion products on the surface of Inconel 600 and 800H as well as their chemical compositions and structural informations were determined by using XPS, ICP-AES, AAS, EPMA and XRD after the corrosion experiment with lithium molten salts at 75$0^{\circ}C$ for 25 hours. Nickel and oxygen were detected from the corrosion products on the surface of Inconel plates and chromium was found to be dissolved out into lithium molten salts leaving cracks on the surface. The corrosion products were identified as metal oxides such as Fe$_2$O$_3$, Cr$_2$O$_3$, NiO, NiFe$_2$O$_4$and MnO by using XPS and XRD.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1339-1346
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• 2024

Electrorefining in molten salts is used for purifying actinides. Optimizing electrorefining is key to minimizing processing time and radiological waste. One possible way of improving electrorefining efficiency is using an AC superimposed DC waveform. This waveform has demonstrated potential benefits in aqueous solutions but has never been utilized in a molten metal, molten salt application. This work investigates the effects of using an AC superimposed DC waveform on molten bismuth electrorefining in a molten LiCl-KCl-CaCl2 eutectic. Bismuth has been identified as a potential surrogate for plutonium electrorefining and a potential cathode in electrorefining used nuclear fuel (UNF). All electrorefining runs resulted in a high purity cathode ring and high yield with exception of the run using a low-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC waveform, which experienced some contamination and a lower yield. The other three AC superimposed DC runs experienced an average yield 6.7 % higher than the average yield of the DC runs. The electrorefining run using the high-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC signal had the highest yield. It is recommended in future studies to investigate the statistical variability of electrorefining yield and current efficiency and the impact of AC superimposed DC waveforms on solidified bismuth anodes.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1993.05a
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• pp.132-134
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• 1993

The conventional way of molten nugget size measurement in welding process have utilized the metal-microscope by examining the micro sectioned weld specimen after micro-etching procedure. This paper proposes a new method for exact measurement of molten nugget size with the aid of the digital image processing unit and some developed software. This method proved to be convenient and precise in that resulting resolution and accuracy are as good as that of the conventional method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2022

In accordance with the growing trend of decommissioning nuclear facilities, research on the cutting process is actively proceeding worldwide. In general, a thermal cutting process, such as plasma cutting is applied to decommissioning a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Plasma cutting has the advantage of removing the radioactive materials and being able to cut thick materials. However, when operating under water, the molten metal remains in the cut plane and re-solidifies. Hence, cutting is not entirely accomplished. For these environmental reasons, it is difficult to cut thick metal. The contact arc metal cutting (CAMC) process can be used to cut thick metal under water. CAMC is a process that cuts metal using a plate-shaped electrode based on a high-current arc plasma heat source. During the cutting process, high-pressure water is sprayed from the electrode to remove the molten metal, known as rinsing. As the CAMC is conducted without using a shielding gas, such as Argon, the electrode is consumed during the process. In this study, CAMC is introduced as a method for dismantling nuclear vessels and the relationship between the metal removal and electrode consumption is investigated according to the cutting conditions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2018

As an approach for estimation of the droplet size in the molten salt-liquid metal extraction process, a droplet formation experiment at room temperature was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the Scheele-Meister model with water-mercury system as a surrogate that is similar to the molten salt-liquid metal system. In the experiment, droplets were formed through the nozzle and the droplet size was measured using a digital camera and image analysis software. As nozzles, commercially available needles with inner diameters (ID) of 0.018 cm and 0.025 cm and self-fabricated nozzles with 3-holes (ID: 0.0135 cm), 4-holes (ID: 0.0135 cm), and 2-holes (ID: 0.0148 cm) were used. The mercury penetration lengths in the nozzles were 1.3 cm for the needles and 0.5 cm for the self-fabricated nozzles. The droplets formed from each nozzle maintained stable spherical shape up to 20 cm below the nozzle. The droplet size measurements were within a 10% error range when compared to the Scheele-Meister model estimates. The experimental results show that the Scheele-Meister model for droplet size estimation can be applied to nozzles that stably form droplets in a water-mercury system.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.791-796
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• 2001

Welding using lasers can be mass-produced in high speed. In the laser welding, performing real-time evaluation of the welding quality is very important in enhancing the efficiency of welding. In this study, the plasma and molten metal which are generated during laser welding were measured using the UV sensor and IR sensor. The results of laser welding were classified into five categories such as optimal heat input, little low heat input, low heat input, focus off, and nozzle change. Also, a system was formulated which uses the measured signals with a fuzzy pattern recognition method which is used to perform real-time evaluation of the welding quality and the defects which can occur in laser welding. Weld quality prediction program was developed using previous weld results and statistical program which could show the trend of weld quality and signal was developed.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2010

This article aims to introduce the synchrotron radiation for its utilization in the casting and solidification fields as an unique tool for observation of real time phenomena of molten metal during solidification. General features of the synchrotron radiation were briefly introduced for readers in the casting and solidification fields, with no background regarding to synchrotron radiation. And basic principles of imaging technologies using synchrotron light for in-situ observation of molten metal were explained together with exemplary research works, which were reported on the casting and solidification fields in recent years. As a practical guide, real time observation of Al-Si casting alloy was introduced with experimental facilities, image acquisition, and processing together with representative results.