With the vigorous development of nuclear power and other nuclear energy industries in China, the demand for nuclear-grade uranium dioxide (UO) products has increased significantly. The introduction of the dry chemical conversion process into nuclear-grade UO production lines enables the domestic uranium chemical conversion industry to form a development pattern dominated by dry processes and supplemented by wet processes, which is highly compatible with China’s national conditions and meets the requirements of environmental protection. In this work, a material calculation model for the uranium conversion reaction inside dry conversion equipment was established to simulate the UF-to-UO conversion process in a uranium rotary conversion furnace. Combined with the axial dispersion model and population balance model, the influences of various operating parameters on the UF conversion rate and component distribution in the UF hydrolysis chamber were systematically analyzed. The results indicate that UF exhibits a rapid hydrolysis rate, achieving a full hydrolysis efficiency of over 99% within a reaction height of only 9.8 cm. Based on the axial dispersion model coupled with gas-solid two-phase chemical reactions, the distribution of gas and solid phase components in the rotary furnace was quantitatively calculated. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was conducted on key process parameters including UOF feed rate, HO feed rate, H feed rate, and furnace rotating speed, and the structural and parametric optimization of the core dry uranium conversion furnace was realized. The simulation results are well consistent with the experimental and numerical data reported in foreign literatures, verifying the reliability and accuracy of the established model.
 

dry uranium conversion; model calculation; process optimization; sensitivity analysis; product prediction

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