ADSORPTION OF HF ON ALUMINA - THEORY AND APPLICATIONS IN THE URANIUM ENRICHMENT INDUSTRY

The chemical adsorption of HF on alumina is investigated. Thermogravim etry as well as other techniques are used to characterize the alumina before and after HF chemically adsorbs and to investigate the adsorpti on process itself. The results are compared to the literature and a me chanism for the HF-alumina interaction is proposed. It is found that t he practical capacity of the particular alumina used is about 20% (mas s gain of alumina during adsorption) for HF although the alumina adsor bed HF up to a mass gain of 110%.