Poster (EARTH)

[PE1-026] Electrorefining behavior of CuZr alloy by using Ba₂ZrF₈-LiF electrolyte

○Seong Hun - Lee¹, Jeong Hun - Choi¹, Bung Uk - Yoo³, Jong Hyeon - Lee^1,2,3 (1. Graduate School of Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Chungnam National University, 2. Rapidly Solidified Materials Research Ceter(RASOM), Chungnam National University, 3. Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University)

Keywords:Hf free electrolyte, Zirconium, Ba2ZrF8, electrorefining

In the production of Zirconium cladding tube, pickling acid solution is used to remove surface contaminants. Tons of waste pickling acid are generated during this process. Waste pickling solution also remained Hf free Zr source. Studies have been performed to utilize Hf free Zr source. The result showed that Ba₂ZrF₈ precipitates was made from wasted pickling acid. In the present work, electrorefining was performed in Ba₂ZrF₈-LiF electrolyte to recover Zr from the Hf free CuZr ingot made by electroreduction as an anode. Before electrorefining, two kinds of pretest were performed. First, electrolyte melting was carried out to confirm process temperature. Second, pretreatment was performed to eliminate hydride. After electrorefining, the cathode deposits were analyzed by O₂ gas analyzer, SEM to confirm the possibility of recovering nuclear grade Zirconium metal. The anode was analyzed by SEM, EDS to check Zirconium dissolved length.