Influence of temperature of precipitation on agglomeration and other powder characteristics of ammonium diuranate

Batch precipitation of ammonium diuranate (ADU) was carried out at various temperatures and at different flow rates of ammonia and their effects on the characteristics of ADU such as the nature of settling, moisture content, ammonia-to-uranium mole ratio and nitrate content have been studied. The effect of temperature of precipitation and the technological significance of savings in terms of heating requirements and quantity of precipitating agent ammonium hydroxide has been brought out. Also, the influence on other mentioned characteristics has been viewed in this angle. An attempt is made to explain the agglomeration of ADU semi-quantitatively, in terms of second order reaction kinetics by classifying the conditions of precipitation into two distinct phenomena, namely, the diffusion and activation controlled mechanisms. The activation energy involved in agglomeration of ADU under the experimental conditions was also calculated.