Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology

In the present work, an electrowinning process in the LiCl-KCVCd system is considered to model and analyze the electrotransport of the actinide and rare-earth elements. A simple dynamic modeling of this process was performed by taking into account the material balances and diffusion-controlled electrochemical reactions in a diffusion boundary layer at an electrode interface between the molten salt electrolyte and liquid cadmium cathode. The proposed modeling approach was based on the half-cell reduction reactions of metal chloride occurring on the cathode. This model demonstrated a capability for the prediction of the concentration behaviors, a faradic current of each element and an electrochemical potential as function of the time up to the corresponding electrotransport satisψing a given applied current based on a galvanostatic electrolysis. The results of selected case studies including five elements (U, Pu, Am, La, Nd) system are shown, and a preliminary simulation is carried out to show how themodel can be used to understand the electrochemical characteristics and provide betler information for developing an advanced electrowinner.

Keywords

Electrowinner,LiCI-KCl,Liquid cadmium cathode,Diffusion-controlled electrotransport,Actinide elements,Rare-earth elements