A phase-field simulation of uranium dendrite growth on the cathode in the electrorefining process

Shibuta, Yasushi; Unoura, Seiji; Sato, Takumi; Shibata, Hiroki; Kurata, Masaki; Suzuki, Toshio

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2011.01.040

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Nishimura et al 2 suggested that uranium morphology and deposits collection efficiency varied with a ratio of the cathode to anode surface area. Shibuta et al 6,14 systematically explored the influence of applied voltage, zirconium concentration on uranium morphology and size by phase-field simulation. Most recently, Lee et al 13 concluded that the electrorefining of U on a solid electrode is affected by the electrode material and proposed the possibility of using W electrode as an alternative to graphite for effective U recovery.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium Dendritic Morphology in the Electrorefining: Influences of Temperature and Current Density

Liu

Chai

Shi

2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The aim of this work is to systematically explore the influence of temperature and initial current density on uranium electrorefining and deposit morphology in the LiCl-KCl-UCl 3 melt. CV tests were conducted to compare the electrochemical behaviors of U(III) on STS and W electrode at different temperatures. The influence of temperature on uranium deposition and morphology is presented and compared. High temperature can lead to the fast recovery of uranium and facilitate the formation of big uranium dendrites, whilst the low temperature can hinder this formation. Galvanostatic and potentiostatic methods were conducted and compared with respect to different diameters of stainless steel (STS) electrode. The change of STS electrode diameter can alter the deposition rate of uranium; a decent ratio of 1/22 for electrode diameter to electrolysis cell is suggested in our three tests. In addition, the initial current density can highly influence the morphology of uranium deposits regardless the electrochemical techniques. High-current density will lead to the deposition of large-scale and multi-dimensional uranium dendrites, whereas low current density will promote the formation of the needle and belt-like uranium.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium Dendritic Morphology in the Electrorefining: Influences of Temperature and Current Density

Liu

Chai

Shi

2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…Such phenomenon can be verified by the experimental observation of uranium deposits and is attributable to the exhaustion of uranium cations between the two vicinal growing dendrites. 14,31,32 Therefore, the growth of dendrites is a branching process without any dendritic fusion and insensitive to the roughness of electrode.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[27][28][29][30] For example, Shibuta et al applied the phase-field model to simulate the growth of uranium dendrites on cathode and concluded that the cellular/sproutlike electrodeposits are formed from large primary deposits at all applied voltages and both the planar and cellular/sprout-like electrodeposits are formed from the primary deposits of 10 μm and less. 31,32 Lin et al expanded the electrochemical phase-field model to include stress field induced by the lattice mismatch and reproduced sprout-like, tooth-like, or tree-like morphologies of uranium dendrites. 33 From the master equations of phase-field model, it can be inferred that electrodeposition and morphologies of electrodeposits are controlled by a variety of energetic, kinetic, and processing parameters including the interfacial energy, interfacial thickness, overpotential, diffusion coefficient and temperature.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase-Field Modelling and Morphological Classification of Uranium Dendrites for the Electrorefining of Used Nuclear Fuel

Zhao¹,

Yan²,

Jiang³

et al. 2023

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Electrorefining is an important unit operation for the pyroprocessing of used nuclear fuel; however, the uncontrolled growth of uranium dendrites on the cathode is hindering its engineering application. In this study, the phase-field modelling is applied to the study of the growth of uranium dendrites using the finite element method, and the fractal dimension and the perimeter-to-area ratio are employed to classify quantitatively the morphologies of uranium dendrites. It is shown that uranium dendrites can form sprout-like, fishbone-like, and tree-like morphologies, and the effects of anisotropic strength, symmetry index, overpotential, and temperature to the morphologies of uranium dendrites are discussed. It is concluded that the diffusion of uranium cations (diffusion rate-controlling) in molten salt and the electrode kinetics (kinetic rate-controlling) are the two rate-controlling steps for the electrodeposition of uranium, and the diffusion rate-controlling mechanism is responsible for the growth of complicated dendritic morphologies.

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“…However, in case of Cu, the electrorefiner has a flat-plate cathode shape and can be easily scrapped owing to the nature of the material. On the other hand, it is difficult to collect uranium electrodeposits owing to the strong adhesion force of uranium to the cathode; thus, a simple flat-plate cathode arrangement cannot be adopted [15]. Therefore, considerable effort has been directed toward developing a good cathode material and an effective electrode arrangement [16,17]; however, the uranium electrodepositing behavior with respect to the cathode shape (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical analysis and experimental validation of planar electrorefiner for spent nuclear fuel treatment using a tertiary model

Yoo

Kim

Park

et al. 2016

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology

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To improve the uranium recovery rate in pyroprocessing, it is crucial to develop a planar-type electrorefiner. This can be achieved prior to actual experiments by using computer simulations to analyze the shape, arrangement, and size of the cathode. In this paper, tertiary-model-based computational analysis was performed on a planar-type electrorefiner. Flat-plate and rod-type cathodes were analyzed under constant-current condition; calculations were performed on highefficiency-type electrodes with convection effects under the same conditions by comparing the dependence of the generated overpotential on the applied current. Analytic and experimental results were analyzed by comparing the electric potential of the plate-type device with that of a uranium electrorefiner while varying the arrangement of the electrodes.

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A phase-field simulation of uranium dendrite growth on the cathode in the electrorefining process

Cited by 19 publications

References 20 publications

Uranium Dendritic Morphology in the Electrorefining: Influences of Temperature and Current Density

Uranium Dendritic Morphology in the Electrorefining: Influences of Temperature and Current Density

Phase-Field Modelling and Morphological Classification of Uranium Dendrites for the Electrorefining of Used Nuclear Fuel

Numerical analysis and experimental validation of planar electrorefiner for spent nuclear fuel treatment using a tertiary model

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