• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.1866-1870
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• 2019

Residual salt separation is an essential step in pyroprocessing because its reaction products, as prepared by electrochemical unit processes, contain frozen residual electrolyte species, which are generally composed of alkali-metal chloride salts (e.g., LiCl, KCl). In this study, a simple technique that utilizes high-temperature gas flux as a driving force to melt and push out the residual salt in the reaction products was developed. This technique is simple as it only requires the use of a heating gun in combination with a gas injection system. Consequently, $LiNO_3-ZrO_2$ and $LiCl-ZrO_2$ mixtures were successfully separated by the high-temperature gas injection (separation efficiency > 93%), thereby demonstrating the viability of this simple technique for residual salt separation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2010

An electrochemical reduction of a mixture of metal oxides was conducted in a LiCl molten salt containing 3 wt% $Li_2O$ at $650^{\circ}C$. The oxide reduction was carried out by applying a current to an electrolysis cell, and the $Li_2O$ concentration was analyzed during each run. The concentration of $Li_2O$ in the electrolyte bulk phase gradually decreases according to Faraday's law due to a slow diffusion of the $O^{2-}$ ions. A hindrance effect of the unreduced metal oxides was observed for the reduction of the uranium oxide. Cs, Sr, and Ba of high heat-load fission products were diffused into and accumulated in the salt phase as predicted with thermodynamic consideration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.116-123
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• 2019

Thermal batteries are also called molten-salt batteries as the electrolyte is mainly composed of molten salt. The molten-salt electrolyte is a solid that does not conduct electricity at room temperature, but when it is melted by a pyrotechnic heat source, it becomes an excellent ionic conductor. Thermal batteries are a kind of pyrotechnic battery because they operate only when the solid electrolyte is melted by the heat energy provided by pyrotechnic materials. Pyrotechnic components used in a thermal battery include heat sources, fuse strips, and an igniter. The reliability of these pyrotechnic components critically affects the reliability and performance of the battery that must supply electricity stably to guided munitions even under extreme environmental conditions. Different igniter types offer different advantages: notch-type igniters offer improved ignition probability, whereas film-type igniters offer improved safety. The addition of metal oxides to the heat paper could improve the burn rate, and the ignition reliability could be greatly improved by using it with a flame igniter at the same time. Using a two-step reduction process, high-purity Fe particles in coral form can be safely obtained.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.647-652
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• 2004

A new ionic liquid, 1-vinyl-3-heptylimidazolium iodide (VHpII), was synthesized and applied as a redox electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells. The chemical structure of the synthesized VHpII was confirmed using $^1H$ NMR. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the VHpII was stable for thermal stress of up to $250^{\circ}C$. The energy conversion efficiencies of the VHpII-based dye-sensitized solar cells were investigated in terms of the effect of a lithium iodide addition. A solar cell containing the redox couple of VHpII and iodine showed a conversion efficiency of 2.63% under 1 sun light intensity at AM 1.5. Adding 0.4 M LiI results in a conversion efficiency of 3.63%, which was an improvement of about 40%. The increased conversion efficiency was ascribed to an increase in external quantum efficiency.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.672-678
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• 2017

In the production of zirconium cladding tube, a pickling acid solution is used to remove surface contaminants, which generates tons of pickling acid waste. The waste pickling solution is a valuable resource of Hf-free Zr. Many studies have investigated separating the Hf-free Zr source from the waste pickling acid. The results showed that $Ba_2ZrF_8$ precipitates prepared from the waste pickling acid were useful as an electrolyte for the electrorefining of Zr in molten salt. In the present work, electrorefining was performed in a $Ba_2ZrF_8-LiF$ binary electrolyte to recover Zr from a Hf-free CuZr ingot anode prepared by electroreduction. Before electrorefining, two pretreatments are performed. First, electrolyte melting was carried out to determine the eutectic temperature, and second, the electrolyte was treated to eliminate impurities, mainly hydride. After electrorefining, the cathode deposits were analyzed by $O_2$ gas analyzer and SEM-EDX to explore the possibility of recovering nuclear-grade Zr metal. Moreover, the anode was analyzed by SEM-EDX to determine the Zr dissolution depth.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.549-562
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• 2020

Deionized water, methanol, and ethanol were investigated for their effectiveness at dissolving LiCl-KCl-UCl3 at 25, 35, and 50℃ using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to study the concentration evolution of uranium and mass ratio evolutions of lithium and potassium in these solvents. A visualization experiment of the dissolution of the ternary salt in solvents was performed at 25℃ for 2 min to gain further understanding of the reactions. Aforementioned solvents were evaluated for their performance on removing the adhered ternary salt from uranium dendrites that were electrochemically separated in a molten LiCl-KCl-UCl3 electrolyte (500℃) using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Findings indicate that deionized water is best suited for dissolving the ternary salt and removing adhered salt from electrodeposits. The maximum uranium concentrations detected in deionized water, methanol, and ethanol for the different temperature conditions were 8.33, 5.67, 2.79 μg·L-1 for 25℃, 10.62, 5.73, 2.50 μg·L-1 for 35℃, and 11.55, 6.75, and 4.73 μg·L-1 for 50℃. ICP-MS analysis indicates that ethanol did not take up any KCl during dissolutions investigated. SEM-EDS analysis of ethanol washed uranium dendrites confirmed that KCl was still adhered to the surface. Saturation criteria is also proposed and utilized to approximate the state of saturation of the solvents used in the dissolution trials.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2024

The electrochemical extraction of uranium in ternary low melting LiCl-KCl-CsCl eutectic on inert and reactive electrodes via different electrochemical techniques was investigated. It was established that the electrochemical reduction process of U(III) ions on the inert W electrode was irreversible and proceeded in one stage. On reactive liquid Ga and liquid Cd electrodes the reduction of uranium ions took place with the considerable depolarization with the formation of UGa₂, UGa₃ and UCd₁₁ intermetallic compounds. Thermodynamic characteristics of uranium compounds and alloys were calculated. The conditions for the extraction of uranium from the electrolyte in the form of alloys on both liquid reactive electrodes via potentiostatic electrolysis were found.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.3033-3038
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• 2013

Nanoscale Chevrel $Mo_6S_8$ powders are synthesized by molten salt synthesis. Synthesized $Mo_6S_8$ powders have different mean particle sizes which are dependent on a ratio of salt to precursor. The particle sizes of $Mo_6S_8$ powders changes along with the ratio increase. $Mo_6S_8$ (6:1) demonstrates the best electrochemical characteristics among the synthesized $Mo_6S_8$ powders although the $Mo_6S_8$ (4:1) has the smallest particle size. $Mo_6S_8$ (6:1) shows a reversible capacity of 83.9 $mAhg^{-1}$, which is 27.5% and 33% improved value over $Mo_6S_8$ (2:1) and $Mo_6S_8$ (4:1) at a current density of 0.2C, respectively. The superior electrochemical properties of $Mo_6S_8$ (6:1) are attributed to the balanced particle size which provides proper contact area with electrolyte and the shortened $Mg^{2+}$ diffusion length. The $Mo_6S_8$ (4:1) has the smallest particle size but further reduction of particle size from $Mo_6S_8$ (6:1) is not advantageous.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.694-702
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• 2015

Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets have been used in a wide variety of applications because of their high magnetic flux density. So, demand for neodymium has been increasing in worldwide. In this study, an electrowinning process was performed in $LiF-NdF_3-Nd_2O_3$ high temperature molten salts. However, a corrosion resistant material for use in the molten salt must be found for stable operation because of the harsh corrosion environment of the electrowinning process. Therefore, for this paper, boron nitride(BN), aluminum nitride(AlN), and silicon nitride($Si_3N_4$) were selected as protective and structural materials in the high temperature electrolyte. To investigate the characteristics of BN, AlN, and $Si_3N_4$, in molten salts, materials were immersed in the molten salts for 24, 72, 120, and 192 hours. Also, surface condition and stability were investigated by SEM and EDS and corrosion products were calculated by HSC chemistry. As a result, among BN, AlN, and $Si_3N_4$, AlN was found to show the best protective material properties.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.179-189
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• 2014

Pyroprocessing has been developed for the purpose of resolving the current spent nuclear fuel management issue and enhancing the recycle of valuable resources. An electrolytic reduction of the pyroprocessing is a process to reduce oxides into metals using LiCl as an electrolyte and requires a post-treatment process due to the inclusion of residual salt in porous metal products. A vacuum distillation has been adopted for various molten salt systems and could be applied to the post-treatment process of the electrolytic reduction. The residual salt in the metal products includes LiCl, alkali chlorides, and alkaline earth chlorides. In this paper, vapor pressures of chlorides have been estimated and the composition changes on the residual liquid during the vacuum distillation process have been calculated. A model combining a material balance and vapor-liquid equilibrium relations has been proposed under a constant vapor discharging flow rate and liquid composition changes have been calculated using the vapor pressures with respect to a dimensionless time. The behaviors have been compared with temperature and molten salt composition changes to simulate the process condition variation. The distillation of the residual salt has been dominated by LiCl which is the main component of the salt and CsCl of which vapor pressure is higher than that of LiCl would be readily removed. RbCl exhibits similar vapor pressure with LiCl and maintains its composition. However, $SrCl_2$ and $BaCl_2$ of which vapor pressures are much lower than that of LiCl are concentrated with time and expected to be possibly precipitated during the distillation when the initial compositions are increased.