Kernforschungsanlage Julich Gesellschaft MIT Beschrankter Haftung

Kemforschungsanlage Julich Gmbh

Kurt Hein

Helmut Ringel

Martin Messler

Wolfgang Frommelt

A process and installation for the adsorptive separation, in an adsorption olumn, of krypton from a gas mixture containing, in particular, nitrogen in addition to the krypton. The adsorption column is filled with an adsorption medium which adsorbs krypton and nitrogen over a length L extending in the direction of the inflowing gas mixture. After the adsorption of the gas components in the adsorptive column, the adsorption medium is desorbed in the following process step through the intermediary of a gaseous scavenging medium. The scavenging medium flows through the adsorption column in the same direction in which the gas mixture was introduced into the adsorption column during the first process step. The adsorption medium is charged with krypton commencing from the gas inlet of the adsorption column over only such a partial length L.sub.O of the entire column length L, that during the desorption of the adsorption column with the scavenging medium there is separately removable from each other at the gas discharge of the adsorption column, initially only nitrogen, and later on krypton.

Process and installation for the adsorptive separation of krypton from a

Sorbitol, or another polyalcohol such as erythritol, dulcitol or xylitol, is added to a solution containing uranyl nitrate which may also contain another heavy metal, such as throium or plutonium, prior to preneutralization with ammonia in order to provide a highly viscous solution that can be preneutralized to a great extent without premature precipitation of uranium. The high viscosity makes possible the formation of favorably large drops when the solution is dripped into an ammonia containing bath for external gelification of the drops. According to the pouring apparatus used, the particles after washing, drying and sintering have a diameter between 0.6 and 1.5 mm. The polyalcohol is added to a hydrosol containing from 1.5 to 2 moles per liter of heavy metal, the polyalcohol being added until concentration of one-third mole of polyalcohol per mole of heavy metal is reached. In certain cases up to four moles of ammonium nitrate per liter are added. The solution so produced can be preneutralized with up to 90% of the amount of ammonia stoichiometrically necessary for the separation of uranium without the formation of any precipitate, preferably by first adding ammonia gas under strong stirring and then adding ammonium bicarbonate in excess, which decomposes to liberate ammonia to an extent determined by the temperature, which is to be precisely controlled. It is possible to obtain this way a solution of predetermined viscosity from which the excess ammonium bicarbonate can readily be separated.

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Julich, Germany

Kurt Hein