Nitric acid purification from admixtures of volatile acids by fractionation during waste evaporation at a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing company

• Published in: Theoretical foundations of chemical engineering Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 390 - 394
• Main Authors: Zilberman, B. Ya, Makarychev-Mikhailov, M. N., Ryabkov, D. V., Shadrin, A. Yu, Puzikov, E. A., Gorn, V. F., Skobtsov, A. S., Koltyshev, V. K., Ivanov, I. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01-07-2012
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic Technology; hydrofluoric acid; fractionation; radioactive waste treatment; nitric acid; specific activity; purification; mathematical simulation; hydrochloric acid; evaporation
• ISSN: 0040-5795; 1608-3431
• DOI: 10.1134/S0040579511050204

We present the results of the computer simulation of a method for better purification of nitric acid from HF and CH
3
COOH admixtures by creating a stripping section in the fractionation column with HNO
3
scrubbing and by the feeding of a parasitic water flow to the bottom section. The production column in the evaporator section of the RT-1 plant at the PA “Mayak” was upgraded using the calculation results and test trials on real process high-level waste were performed, which made it possible to improve the purification of regenerated 12 mol/L HNO
3
from HF and simultaneously from HCl by a factor of 3–5. The specification figures for three flowsheet of nitric acid regeneration that were used at different times since 1979 for commercial purification from halogens and radioactive contaminants were compared.