Li-Cd 합금을 이용한 환원추출방식을 LiCl-KCl 기반의 drawdown 공정에 적용하게 되면, LiCl-KCl 공융염의 조성이 파괴되므로 공정온도를 높여야 하며, 전해정련 및 전해제련과 같은 공정에 LiCl-KCl 용융염을 재사용할 수 없게 된다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 공융염 조성에 적합한 Li-K-Cd 합금을 제조하였으며, 이를 이용하여 U와 Nd가 포함된 LiCl-KCl 염에 투입하여 용 융염 내 UCl3의 제거가 가능한지 평가하였다.

As an approach for estimation of the droplet size in the molten salt-liquid metal extraction process, a droplet formation experiment at room temperature was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the Scheele-Meister model with water-mercury system as a surrogate that is similar to the molten salt-liquid metal system. In the experiment, droplets were formed through the nozzle and the droplet size was measured using a digital camera and image analysis software. As nozzles, commercially available needles with inner diameters (ID) of 0.018 cm and 0.025 cm and self-fabricated nozzles with 3-holes (ID: 0.0135 cm), 4-holes (ID: 0.0135 cm), and 2-holes (ID: 0.0148 cm) were used. The mercury penetration lengths in the nozzles were 1.3 cm for the needles and 0.5 cm for the self-fabricated nozzles. The droplets formed from each nozzle maintained stable spherical shape up to 20 cm below the nozzle. The droplet size measurements were within a 10% error range when compared to the Scheele-Meister model estimates. The experimental results show th