The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----

Uranyl Nitrate Drying

I am working on a project that requires drying uranyl nitrate and producing U308. I am working with a solution consisting of 300-500 g/l uranium metal. Is there a preferred drying method. Rotary kiln or Spray dryer to produce a dry powder?

Please help!

Steve Sarten
- Oak Ridge, Tennessee
2001

Hi Steve;

Dehydration and dissociation of a uranyl nitrate solution to U3O8 will require sustained temperatures around 700* C - 800* C. This will of course produce a considerable volume of highly corrosive N2O and NO gases at high temperatures. These hot gases will be very damaging to a kiln or spray dryer. You could dissociate this material to UO3 at a much lower temperature if desired.

If you need to completely dissociate to U3O8 and are working with a small (1 Kg) amount of material you should consider using a quartz tube furnace. In this kind of equipment 'disposable' refractory boats can be conveniently loaded and the corrosive off-gases are easily contained and sent to a simple scrubber. You could setup a small bench pilot test for feasibility evaluation if you wished to explore this option before going out looking for larger equipment.

Jim Darwin
Process Control - Portland, Oregon, USA
2004