Methods and systems for producing a metal chloride or the like

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10704152-B2
Application number	US-201815868464-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2018
Priority date	Jan 11, 2018
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for producing metal chloride M I Cl x from metal M I without the use of HCl and/or Cl 2 gases, including: a bath vessel holding conductive fluid; an anode disposed in the conductive fluid, the anode including metal M I ; a cathode assembly disposed in the conductive fluid, the cathode assembly including a cathode vessel including porous and non-porous portions, the non-porous portion holding sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y substantially separate from metal chloride M I Cl x , wherein the cathode assembly includes a center lead disposed within the cathode vessel operable for delivering charge to sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y ; and a power supply coupling the anode and the cathode assembly, the power supply polarized to produce current flow in a direction that causes anodic dissolution of metal M I into the conductive fluid and deposition of metal M II within the cathode vessel. The systems and methods apply equally to producing metal halide M I X x .

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for producing a metal chloride M I Cl x from a metal M I without the use of HCl and/or Cl 2 gases, the system comprising:
a bath vessel holding a conductive fluid;
an anode disposed in the conductive fluid, wherein the anode comprises metal M I ;
a cathode assembly disposed in the conductive fluid, wherein the cathode assembly comprises a cathode vessel comprising a porous portion and a non-porous portion, the non-porous portion holding a sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y substantially separate from the metal chloride M I Cl x , and wherein the cathode assembly comprises a center lead disposed within the cathode vessel operable for delivering charge to the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y ; and
a power supply coupling the anode and the cathode assembly, wherein the power supply is polarized to produce current flow in a direction that causes anodic dissolution of metal M I into the conductive fluid and deposition of a metal M II within the cathode vessel;
wherein a reduction potential of the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y is more noble than a reduction potential of the metal chloride M I Cl x .

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conductive fluid comprises one or more of LiCl, NaCl, KCl, RbCl, CsCl, MgCl 2 , CaCl 2 , SrCl 2 , BaCl 2 , ZnCl 2 , SnCl 4 , AlCl 3 , GaCl 3 , and InCl 3 .

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the metal M I comprises one or more of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a metalloid, a lanthanide, and an actinide, and the metal chloride M I Cl x includes a corresponding metal chloride.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y comprises one or more of a precious metal chloride, a transition metal chloride, a lanthanide chloride, and an actinide chloride, and the metal M II includes a corresponding metal.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cathode vessel comprises a porous upper portion and a non-porous lower portion.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the non-porous lower portion of the cathode vessel comprises a conductive crucible.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an inert anode that selectively replaces the anode to adjust a valence state of the metal chloride M I Cl x to a higher value.

8. A method for producing a metal chloride M I Cl x from a metal M I without the use of HCl and/or Cl 2 gases, the method comprising:
providing a bath vessel holding a conductive fluid;
disposing an anode in the conductive fluid, wherein the anode comprises metal M I ;
disposing a cathode assembly in the conductive fluid, wherein the cathode assembly comprises a cathode vessel comprising a porous portion and a non-porous portion, the non-porous portion holding a sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y substantially separate from the metal chloride M I Cl x , and wherein the cathode assembly comprises a center lead disposed within the cathode vessel operable for delivering charge to the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y ; and
providing a power supply coupling the anode and the cathode assembly, wherein the power supply is polarized to produce current flow in a direction that causes anodic dissolution of metal M I into the conductive fluid and deposition of a metal M II within the cathode vessel;
wherein a reduction potential of the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y is more noble than a reduction potential of the metal chloride M I Cl x .

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the conductive fluid comprises one or more of LiCl, NaCl, KCl, RbCl, CsCl, MgCl 2 , CaCl 2 , SrCl 2 , BaCl 2 , ZnCl 2 , SnCl 4 , AlCl 3 , GaCl 3 , and InCl 3 .

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the metal M I comprises one or more of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a metalloid, a lanthanide, and an actinide, and the metal chloride M I Cl x includes a corresponding metal chloride.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y comprises one or more of a precious metal chloride, a transition metal chloride, a lanthanide chloride, and an actinide chloride, and the metal M II includes a corresponding metal.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the cathode vessel comprises a porous upper portion and a non-porous lower portion.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the non-porous lower portion of the cathode vessel comprises a conductive crucible.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising selectively replacing the anode with an inert anode to adjust a valence state of the metal chloride M I Cl x to a higher value.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising using the metal chloride M I Cl x and the conductive fluid to transport metal from an anode to a cathode in an electrorefiner.

16. The method of claim 8 , further comprising separating the metal chloride M I Cl x from the conductive fluid by sublimation.

17. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, if the sacrificial metal chloride M II Cl y is AgCl, recycling the cathode assembly for subsequent use.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein recycling the cathode assembly for subsequent use comprises performing aqueous dissolution of silver in nitric acid, precipitation and drying of silver chloride by thermal purification, and reusing the silver chloride in the cathode assembly to produce additional metal chloride M I Cl x .

19. A system for producing a metal halide M I X x from a metal M I , the system comprising:
a bath vessel holding a conductive fluid;
an anode disposed in the conductive fluid, wherein the anode comprises metal M I ;
a cathode assembly disposed in the conductive fluid, wherein the cathode assembly comprises a cathode vessel comprising a porous portion and a non-porous portion, the non-porous portion holding a sacrificial metal halide M II X y substantially separate from the metal halide M I X x , and wherein the cathode assembly comprises a center lead disposed within the cathode vessel operable for delivering charge to the sacrificial metal halide M II X y ; and
a power supply coupling the anode and the cathode assembly, wherein the power supply is polarized to produce current flow in a direction that causes anodic dissolution of metal M I into the conductive fluid and deposition of a metal M II within the cathode vessel;
wherein a reduction potential of the sacrificial metal halide M II X y is more noble than a reduction potential of the metal halide M I X x .

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the cathode vessel comprises a porous upper portion and a non-porous lower portion.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the non-porous lower portion of the cathode vessel comprises a conductive crucible.

22. The system of claim 19 , further comprising an inert anode that selectively replaces the anode to adjust a valence state of the metal halide M I X x to a higher value.

23. A method for producing a metal halide M I X x from a metal M I , the method comprising:
providing a bath vessel holding a conductive fluid;
disposing an anode in the conductive fluid, wherein the anode comprises metal M I ;
disposing a cathode assembly in the conductive fluid, wherein the cathode assembly comprises a cathode vessel comprising a porous portion and a non-porous portion, the non-porous portion holding a sacrificial metal halide M II X y substantially separate from the metal halide M I X x , and wherein the cathode assembly comprises a center lead disposed within the cathode vessel operable for deliveri

Assignees

• Cons Nuclear Security Llc

Inventors

• Holland Justin M
• Freiderich John W

Classifications

• C25B11/031

  Porous electrodes · CPC title

• C25B15/08

  Supplying or removing reactants or electrolytes; Regeneration of electrolytes · CPC title

• C25B9/65

  Means for supplying current; Electrode connections; Electric inter-cell connections · CPC title

• C25B11/036

  Bipolar electrodes · CPC title

• C25C3/34

  of metals not provided for in groups C25C3/02 - C25C3/32 · CPC title