In pyroprocessing, the residual salts (LiCl containing Li and Li2O) in the metallic fuel produced by the oxide reduction (OR) process are removed by salt distillation and fed into electrorefining. This study undertook an investigation into the potential viability of employing a separate LiCl salt rinsing process as an innovative alternative to conventional salt distillation techniques. The primary objective of this novel approach was to mitigate the presence of Li and Li2O within the residual OR salt of metallic fuel, subsequently facilitating its suitability for electrorefining processes. The process of rinsing the metallic fuel involved immersing it in a LiCl salt environment at a temperature of 650°C. During this immersion process, the residual OR salt contained within the fuel underwent dissolution, thereby reducing the concentrations of Li2O and Li generated during the OR process. Furthermore, the Li and Li2O dissolved within the LiCl salt were effectively consumed through chemical reactions with ZrO2 particles present within the salt. Importantly, even after the metallic fuel had been subjected to rinsing in a conventional LiCl salt solution, the concentration of Li and Li2O within the salt remained consistent with its initial levels, due to the utilization of ZrO2. Moreover, it was observed that the Li- Li2O content within the metallic fuel was significantly diluted as a result of the rinsing process.

In the present study, the focus is on the synthesis of titanium carbide/cobalt composite powder by the spray thermal conversion process using metallic salt solution as the raw materials. Two types of oxide powders of Ti-Co-O system were prepared by the spray drying of two types of metallic salt solutions : titanium chloride-cobalt nitrate and powder-cobalt nitrate solutions. These oxide powders were mixed with carbon black, and then these mixtures were carbothermal reduced under a flowing argon atmosphere. The changes in the phase structure and thermal gravity of the mixtures during carbothermal reduction were analysed using XRD and TG-DTA. In the case of using the titanium chloride-cobalt nitrate solution, it could not be obtained TiC/Co composite powder due to contamination of the impurities during the spray drying of the solution. However, in tile case of using the powder-cobalt nitrate scullion, TiC-15 wt. %Co composite powder could be synthesized by the spray thermal conversion process. The synthesized TiC-15 wt. %Co composite powder at 120 for 2 hours has average particle size of 150 nm.