Design of an Extractive Distillation Column for the Environmentally Benign Separation of Zirconium and Hafnium Tetrachloride for Nuclear Power Reactor Applications

Le Quang Minh, Nguyen Van Duc Long, Pham Luu Trung Duong, Youngmi Jung, Alireza Bahadori and Moonyong Lee
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Le Quang Minh: School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Nguyen Van Duc Long: School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Pham Luu Trung Duong: School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Youngmi Jung: School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Alireza Bahadori: School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore 2480, New South Wales, Australia
Moonyong Lee: School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Nuclear power with strengthened safety regulations continues to be used as an important resource in the world for managing atmospheric greenhouse gases and associated climate change. This study examined the environmentally benign separation of zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl 4 ) and hafnium tetrachloride (HfCl 4 ) for nuclear power reactor applications through extractive distillation using a NaCl-KCl molten salt mixture. The vapor–liquid equilibrium behavior of ZrCl 4 and HfCl 4 over the molten salt system was correlated with Raoult’s law. The molten salt-based extractive distillation column was designed optimally using a rigorous commercial simulator for the feasible separation of ZrCl 4 and HfCl 4 . The molten salt-based extractive distillation approach has many potential advantages for the commercial separation of ZrCl 4 and HfCl 4 compared to the conventional distillation because of its milder temperatures and pressure conditions, smaller number of required separation trays in the column, and lower energy requirement for separation, while still taking the advantage of environmentally benign feature by distillation. A heat-pump-assisted configuration was also explored to improve the energy efficiency of the extractive distillation process. The proposed enhanced configuration reduced the energy requirement drastically. Extractive distillation can be a promising option competing with the existing extraction-based separation process for zirconium purification for nuclear power reactor applications.

Keywords: zirconium tetrachloride; hafnium tetrachloride; nuclear power reactor; extractive distillation; molten salt; heat pump; environmentally benign separation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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