Energy Consumption for Product Assay in a Chemical Enrichment Process

The total separation energy, including redox and pumping energy, was calculated using recent experimental data from the “super” chemical enrichment process. The redox energy mainly depends on the reflux ratio of the redox agents and the inverse redox reaction in the enrichment columns. The total energy consumption is ∼100 kW·h/separative work unit and the redox energy per separative work unit decreases with higher product assay. This chemical enrichment process is advantageous for recovering higher (1 to 5%) enriched uranium.