OBTAINING HYDROGEN FLUORIDE DURING THE INTERACTION OF DEPLETED URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE WITH METHANE AND OXYGEN IN A COMBUSTION REGIME

Computational and experimental studies have been made of obtaining hydrogen fl uoride from uranium hexafl uoride during its interaction with methane and oxygen in a combustion regime. The calculations have shown that in a thermodynamically equilibrium mixture in the system of elements U–F–C–H–O in which the number of hydrogen atoms is larger than or equal to the number of fl uoride atoms, and the number of oxygen atoms is twice as large as the number of uranium atoms, the fl uoride-containing substance at a temperature higher than 1100 K is hydrogen fl uoride, and the basic uranium-containing substances are uranium oxides. Uranium fl uorides and uranium oxyfl uorides amount to about 3% of the mixture, and there are no carbon fl uorides and oxyfl uorides in it. A required temperature of the mixture may be attained during the interaction of uranium hexafl uoride with methane and oxygen in a combustion regime. It has been established experimentally that in a reactor of the tunnel-burner type of diameter 142 mm in the UF₆–CH₄–O₂ mixture with a nearly 1.0:1.5:2.5 mole ratio of the substances, the fl ame is reliably formed using the self-igniting F₂–NH₃ pair and is stably burning at a rate of fl ow of uranium hexafl uoride of the order of units of grams a second. The basic uranium-containing product of the process of combustion is a mixture of uranium oxides UO₂ and U₃O₈, in which covalent-bonded fl uorine is present in the amount of about 1% mainly in the form of UF4, and the basic fl uorine-containing product is hydrofl uoric acid with a content of hydrogen fl uoride higher than 95%.
Computational and experimental studies have been made of obtaining hydrogen fl uoride from uranium hexafl uoride during its interaction with methane and oxygen in a combustion regime. The calculations have shown that in a thermodynamically equilibrium mixture in the system of elements U–F–C–H–O in which the number of hydrogen atoms is larger than or equal to the number of fl uoride atoms, and the number of oxygen atoms is twice as large as the number of uranium atoms, the fl uoride-containing substance at a temperature higher than 1100 K is hydrogen fl uoride, and the basic uranium-containing substances are uranium oxides. Uranium fl uorides and uranium oxyfl uorides amount to about 3% of the mixture, and there are no carbon fl uorides and oxyfl uorides in it. A required temperature of the mixture may be attained during the interaction of uranium hexafl uoride with methane and oxygen in a combustion regime. It has been established experimentally that in a reactor of the tunnel-burner type of diameter 142 mm in the UF₆–CH₄–O₂ mixture with a nearly 1.0:1.5:2.5 mole ratio of the substances, the fl ame is reliably formed using the self-igniting F₂–NH₃ pair and is stably burning at a rate of fl ow of uranium hexafl uoride of the order of units of grams a second. The basic uranium-containing product of the process of combustion is a mixture of uranium oxides UO₂ and U₃O₈, in which covalent-bonded fl uorine is present in the amount of about 1% mainly in the form of UF4, and the basic fl uorine-containing product is hydrofl uoric acid with a content of hydrogen fl uoride higher than 95%.
Author:  D. S. Pashkevich, A. R. Zimin, Yu. I. Alekseev, D. A. Mukhortov, P. S. Kambur, V. B. Petrov, D. A. Bazhenov,d,e V. V. Kapustin, P. A. Smolkin, T. A. Fedorova
Keywords:  depleted uranium hexafl uoride, hydrogen fl uoride, uranium dioxide, methane, combustion
Page:  153