Research of vacuum distillation for metals; Elemental separation of duralumin

Akaoka, Katsuaki; Maruyama, Yoichiro

JAERI-Research 2003-022, 16 Pages, 2003/10

JAERI-Research-2003-022.pdf:1.56MB

We measured and simulated the characteristics of vacuum distillation for duralumin (Aluminum alloy 7075: Al-5.6Zn-2.5Mg-1.6Cu-0.25Cr). In the experiment, the duralumin (378.7 mg) was heated to 1500C (the rate is 200C/hour) and vaporized. The ion current of components within the vapor using mass spectrometer was measured. In the simulation, the vaporization rate of components within vapor was calculated by using the formula of Langmuir and the law of Raoult. The simulation agreed well with the experiment, and it was found that the group of Al, Cu and Cr, and the group of Mg and Zn could be separated by the vacuum distillation.These results show that the radioactive wastes can be reduced using the vacuum distillation.