First principles optimization of plutonium electrorefining

This work presents a means of controlling plutonium electrorefining at a maximum rate regardless of equipment setup through the derivation of power supply current and potential governing equations for normal and off-normal operations. The governing equations are demonstrated by electrorefining surro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nuclear materials 2023-04, Vol.577 (C), p.154327, Article 154327
Main Authors: Zhang, Chao, Parkes, Alistair M, Holliday, Kiel S
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:This work presents a means of controlling plutonium electrorefining at a maximum rate regardless of equipment setup through the derivation of power supply current and potential governing equations for normal and off-normal operations. The governing equations are demonstrated by electrorefining surrogate materials. A simple linear current sweeping method was used to determine the maximum electrorefining current for the surrogate system. This method can be used to develop autonomous process optimization, real-time online processing monitoring, and real-time process endpoint detection. Ultimately, this research provides the foundation to optimize the liquid metal electrorefining rate to decrease the time needed to the physical limit for the process.
ISSN:0022-3115
1873-4820
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154327