Preparation of Thorium-Magnesium Alloys and Pure Thorium by Magnesium Reduction of Thorium Tetrachloride

Details

• Personal Author:
  Block, Frank E. ; Campbell, Thomas T. ; Robidart GB
• Description:
  Studies were conducted by the Bureau of Mines to develop a process for preparing thorium-magnesium master alloys or pure thorium metal by magnesium reduction of thorium tetrachloride in a semicontinuous reactor. Thorium tetrachloride was prepared in a fluidized-bed reactor by chlorination of thorium oxide or thorium oxalate. Conditions were established for producing a suitable thorium oxide feed for a fluidized-bed reactor. Thorium tetrachloride was purified by vacuum sublimation and subsequently reduced by magnesium in a semicontinuous reactor to form thorium-magnesium alloys. Relatively pure thorium was produced by removing magnesium from the alloys by vacuum sublimation. Close to 100 percent of the thorium fed into the reactor was recovered either as metal ( 93 percent) or as thorium oxide ( 7 percent). The oxide can be recycled directly into the process. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Subseries:
  Report of Investigations
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference Publications ; Case Report
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  ALRC - Albany Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-17
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10008803
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB-205496
• Citation:
  NTIS: PB 205 496 :17 pages
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1971
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NTIS: PB 205 496
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:48273500e8444de81b47df934444adc7903f9aa7af04f1a6cb8c8cc09f3168361a70c0dbd978026b0717267783b912fa6c106a97ff0adc76c31c62f338225b51
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/237281/cdc_237281_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.76 MB ]