Magnetic filtration of aqueous suspensions of submicron reactor corrosion products

Submicron size iron oxide particles have been collected on very fine wire HGMS matrices. The particles, grown well-monodispersed, represent corrosion products present in the secondary circuit of a pressurized heavy water nuclear reactor. Fields up to 14 T were used to collect hematite and magnetite, sized between 0.1 and 0.6 μm, on fibers of 8 and 25 μm at velocities up to 18 cm/s. The results were fit to a force balance model and that fit required consideration of the presence of some aggregate particles. It appears that such a model can be extended into the submicron range and that the capture radius varies with vm/voat lower values of vm/vothan previously established.