Ultrasonic density measurement of uranium loaded organic phase in solvent extraction process

Abstract

The application of ultrasound technique in density determination of uranium loaded organic phase in solvent extraction can provide a unique solution for online density monitoring of process streams. Earlier various authors have investigated the density measurement of liquid by single ultrasound frequency. In general standard reference liquid (having low viscosity and density) is used for estimating the acoustic impedance of the liquid under measurement. But ultrasonic probes and associated instruments add up error due to non-repeatability, and sensor instability. To counteract the spurious effects of non-repeatability and instability dual frequency based ultrasound density measurement is used. This method produces very stable and repeatable measurement data and is applied for the density measurement of uranium loaded organic samples in solvent extraction process of uranium extraction. This method can be used for critical density determination at extraction and reprocessing in the fuel cycle.