| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
High Temperature Electrochemistry V
|
| Presentation Title |
Oxide Ion Ceramic Sensor in Molten CaCl2 for Real Time Monitoring of the Direct Oxide Reduction Process |
| Author(s) |
Olivia Dale, Forest Felling, Michael Simpson |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Olivia Dale |
| Abstract Scope |
The direct oxide reduction (DOR) process is used to reduce actinide oxides into metals. Molten CaCl2 is commonly used as the electrolyte for this reaction. As the DOR reaction proceeds, CaO will accumulate in the salt and must be measured in real-time to know when the reaction has gone to completion. Open circuit potential (OCP) was tested in this study between tungsten working electrodes and Ni/NiO/MgO reference electrodes. As a solid piece of CaO slowly dissolved in the salt over several hours, the OCP was measured and steadily decreased from -0.25 V to a minimum plateau of -0.69 V. CaO concentrations were separately measured via sampling and acid-base titration. A plot of OCP versus concentration of CaO fits the Nernst Equation at the higher end of the CaO concentration range. Scanning electron microscopy showed that magnesia was stable in the salt system with little degradation to the membrane. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Ceramics, Electrometallurgy, Nuclear Materials |