Thermodynamic modeling of hydrogen fluoride production relevant to actinide residue treatment

This report addresses issues specific to generation of hydrogen fluoride via reaction of calcium fluoride with sulfuric acid. This process has been established on a commercial scale and is under consideration for treatment of calcium fluoride residues from uranium processing. Magnesium fluoride slags are also available as a product of uranium processing. The technique of using sulfuric acid for the production of hydrogen fluoride from magnesium fluoride is also under consideration as a residue processing scheme. In the current study, thermodynamic modeling was used to investigate these chemical processing systems. Results presented herein reveal information relevant to selection of processing temperatures and conditions. Details include predicted effects in system composition based on operating temperatures for both the calcium fluoride and the magnesium fluoride systems.