Computational analysis of a molten-salt electrochemical system for nuclear waste treatment

Abstract

This paper describes ongoing research into the multi-physics model development of an electrorefining process for the treatment of spent nuclear fuel. A forced convection of molten eutectic (LiCl-KCl) electrolyte in an electrorefining cell is considered to establish an appropriate electro-fluid model within the 3-dimensional framework of a conventional computational fluid dynamic model. This computational platform includes the electrochemical reaction rate of charge transfer kinetics which is described by a Butler-Volmer equation, while mass transport is considered using an ionic transport equation. The coupling of the local overpotential distribution and uranium concentration gradient makes it possible to predict the local current density distribution at the electrode surfaces.