Em uma das etapas do processo de produção do dióxido de urânio, obtém-se como subproduto o fluoreto de amônio em solução. O dióxido de urânio é utilizado na confecção dos elementos que abastecem às Usinas Nucleares.Na unidade fabril da empresa Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil S. A.,esse material sintético é cristalizado em um oneroso e delicado processo de secagem, utilizando grandes equipamentos e considerável quantidade de insumos.A unidade fabril em questão é capaz de produzir anualmente pouco mais de 130 toneladasde fluoreto de amônio seco e a perspectiva atual é favorável à expansão da capacidade instalada. Atualmente, não há destinação final ou aplicação prevista para esse material seco, ou seja, o material é armazenado por tempo indeterminado, onerando ainda mais a produção do combustível nuclear com os custos de manuseio e armazenagem. Este trabalho propõe-se a estudar uma rota alternativapara a síntese da fluorita, ou fluoreto de cálcio (CaF2), a partir da solução de fluoreto de amônio obtida como subproduto do processode produção do Dióxido de Urânio, verificando qual o melhor agente precipitante e estabelecendo as melhores condições para o processo de síntese. A fluorita possui uma vasta aplicação, principalmente nos campos da química, siderurgia e cerâmica. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos utilizando-se calcita (CaCO3) como agente precipitante, mantidas as condições de processo: temperatura (Treação) =70 ºC; tempo de residência (treação) = 2 h e relação estequiométrica entre os reagentes (RE) = 1:1. A calcita foi caracterizada por ICP/OES, difratometria de raios-X (DRX) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura acoplada a espectrômetro de energia dispersiva (MEV/EDS).Os produtos foram caracterizados por DRX e MEV/EDS. / At the uranium dioxide production process, ammonium fluoride is obtainedas a byproduct. Uranium dioxide is used at the production of fuel assemblies for Nuclear Mills.At Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil S. A. site, synthetic ammonium fluoride is crystallized in a costly and delicate drying process, which spends importantamounts of supplies. The industrial site in question is able to annually produce over 130 tons ofdryammonium fluoride and the current outlook is favorable to the expansion of installed capacity. Currently, there is no final destination or application provided for this dry material, i.e.,the material is stored indefinitely, further burdening the production of nuclear fuel with the handling and storage costs. This work proposes to study an alternative route for the synthesis of fluorite, or calcium fluoride (CaF2), from ammonium fluoride solution obtained as a by-product of uranium dioxide production process, checkingthe best precipitant agent and establishing the best conditions for the synthesis process.The fluorite has a wide application, particularly in the fields of chemistry, steel and ceramic. The best results were achievedusing calcite (CaCO3) as precipitating agent, keeping the process conditions: temperature (Treação) = 70 ° C; residence time (treação) = 2 h stoichiometric ratio between the reagents (ER) = 1:1.The calcite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS).The products were characterized by XRD and SEM/EDS.

O controle das características da escória de refino primário pode ser realizado pela adição de fluxantes, sendo comumente utilizado a Fluorita (CaF2), isto porque a Fluorita aumenta a solubilidade de CaO e, por conseguinte, aumenta a capacidade de desfosforação de escória. Apesar disso, alguns estudos advertem sobre o risco de liberação de gás tetra fluoreto de silício, que tem caráter nocivo para o meio ambiente. Outro problema relatado é o aumento do desgaste do revestimento refratário impactando nos custos de produção. Neste trabalho de mestrado o uso de Sodalita Nefelínica como fluxante foi comparado com a Fluorita em relação ao desgaste de refratários a base de MgO-C e à fluidez. Os ensaios consistiram em dopar escória de conversor LD com diferentes quantidades de Fluorita e Sodalita (1, 2, 3, 4 % em massa). Os resultados demonstraram que a Fluorita fornece uma escória com menor ponto de fusão e mais fluida, porém ela causa maior desgaste no revestimento refratário, mais que o dobro do desgaste causado pela Sodalita. Acredita-se que isso tenha ocorrido devido a Fluorita ser capaz de aumentar a dissolução tanto do CaO presente na escória quanto do MgO presente no refratário. Este processo é intensificado pela baixa viscosidade apresentada com este fluxante. / The control of the slag characteristics from primary refining can be accomplished by adding fluxes, being commonly used Fluorite (CaF2). This happens because the fluorite increases the solubility of CaO and thus increases the ability of the slag dephosphorization. Nevertheless, some studies warn about the risk of releasing silicon tetra-fluoride gas which has harmful character to the environment. Another problem reported is the increased wear of the refractory lining impacting on production costs. In this master dissertation the use of Sodalite Nepheline as flux was compared with Fluorite concerning MgO-C based refractories wear and fluidity. The tests consisted of doping LD converter slag with different amounts of Fluorite and Sodalite (1, 2, 3, 4 % mass). The results showed that the Fluorite provides a slag with a lower melting point and becomes more fluid, but it causes greater wear on the refractory lining, more than double the wear caused by Sodalite. It is believed that this has occurred due Fluorite be able to enhance the dissolution of the CaO in slag as well as MgO present in the refractory. This process is intensified by the low slag viscosity presented with this flux.

It is accepted worldwide that the best final solution for spent nuclear fuel is to bury it in deep geological repositories. Despite the physical and chemical barriers that are supposed to isolate the nuclear waste for at least 100.000 years, some uncertainty factors may cause underground water to get in contact with the nuclear waste. Due to radioactivity and oxidation under air, dissolution experiments using UO2 pellets are difficult and frequently lead to incoherent results. Therefore, to enable a detailed study of the influence of microstructure and surface properties on the stability of spent nuclear fuel over time, it is necessary to produce analogues that closely resemble nuclear fuel in terms of crystallography and microstructure. At the same time, in-depth understanding of dissolution phenomena is crucial to geological processes such as dissolution precipitation creep and solvent mediated phase transformations. My thesis is based in two manuscripts. Paper I reports the microstructures obtained after sintering CaF2 powders at temperatures up to 1240°C. Pellets with microstructure, density and pore structure similar to that of UO2 spent nuclear fuel pellets were obtained in the temperature range between 900°C and 1000°C. Paper II reports how differences of surface chemistry and crystal symmetry, characteristics of each surface orientation, affect the topography of CaF2 pellets described in paper I during dissolution. I propose that every orientation of the fluorite structure can be decomposed in the three reference surfaces {100}, {110} and {111}. The {111} is the most stable surface with a dissolution rate of the top surface of 1,13x10-9 mol.m-2.s-1, and {112} the less stable surface with a dissolution rate 34 times faster that {111}. Surfaces that expose both Ca and F atoms in the same plan dissolve faster, possibly because the calcium is more susceptible to be solvated. The faster dissolving surfaces are replaced by the more stable {111} and {100} surfaces which causes the development of roughness on the top surface and stabilizes the surface on high energy sites; i.e. pores or grain boundaries. The main consequences of these observations are i) the increase of the total surface area; ii) the decrease of the overall surface energy. I present a dissolution model for surfaces of crystal with different surface energies. The main conclusions are: a) dissolution rates calculated from surface area are over estimated to the real dissolution rate; b) dissolution rates are faster at the beginning of dissolution and tend to diminish with time until a minimum value is reached.

In this thesis, the morphology and electric potential of pristine and gold covered surfaces with the fluorite structure are investigated by non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). The pristine (111) surface of calcium difluride is prepared by cleaving. Cleavege ledges are composed of short alternating type I and type II steps having different atomic structures and polarities. With respect to the stoichiometric terrace, the surface potential is slightly reduced at ledges predominately composed of type I steps, while the potential of ledges predominantly composed of type II steps is significantly higher. Pristine (111) surfaces of ceria single crystals and ceria thick films are prepared by repeated cycles of sputtering and annealing. Annealing bulk samples at 1100 K results in small terraces with rounded ledges and steps with predominantly one O-Ce-O triple layer height while annealing at 1200 K produces well-ordered straight step edges in a hexagonal motif and step bunching. The morphology and topographic details of films are similar, however, films are destroyed upon heating above 1100 K. NC-AFM and KPFM images exhibit uniform and atomically perfect terraces on a single crystal surface while films exhibit significant inhomogeneities even for best possible preparation conditions. Applying X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS), a significant contamination of the bulk ceria sample with fluorine within the first 5 nm below the surface is found while a possible fluorine contamination of films is below the detection limits. After deposition of gold, a surprisingly strong interaction of gold adatoms to the (111) surface of bulk ceria is found. The pinning of individual adatoms to one specific surface site and the stability against sintering for annealing temperatures up to 520 K is discussed considering the fluorine contamination of bulk ceria samples. Additionally nanoscale gold clusters supported on ceria are fully characterized by employing elaborate NC-AFM and KPFM experiments gaining detailed information on their shape, crystalinity, epitaxy and binding to the substrate.

No description available.

The use of solid-state NMR and DFT calculations to study Y₂Sn[subscript(x)]Ti[subscript(2-x)]O₇, Y₂Sn[subscript(x)]Zr[subscript(2-x)]O₇ and Y₂Ti[subscript(x)]Zr[subscript(2-x)]O₇, materials with applications for the safe encapsulation of radioactive actinides is investigated. As a result of cation or anion disorder in these materials, NMR spectra are often complex and difficult to interpret. Therefore, an investigation using a range of NMR active nuclei and measurement of a variety of NMR parameters (isotropic chemical shift, δ[subscript(iso)]; span, Ω and quadrupolar coupling, C[subscript(Q)]) were used to provide a full and detailed picture of each material. The measurement of Ω in these disordered compounds with multiple resonances in the NMR spectra, required the use of 2D CSA-amplified PASS (CAPASS) experiments to enable the separation of each of the spinning sideband manifolds. An experimental assessment of the CAPASS experiment showed that although low ν₁/Ω[subscript(Hz)] ratios (as found in ⁸⁹Y NMR) resulted in distortions in the spectra obtained, a modified fitting procedure could be utilised to compensate for this fact, which allowed the accurate measurement of Ω. Despite the difficulties in acquiring the ⁸⁹Y NMR spectra, they were found to be the most informative of the NMR-active nuclei available. ¹¹⁹Sn NMR spectra, although much easier to acquire than ⁸⁹Y, were more complex and harder to analyse, owing to the overlapping resonances. Therefore, ¹¹⁹Sn NMR could only be used to confirm or support the results obtained using ⁸⁹Y NMR. Although ¹⁷O NMR was found to be useful, a full study could not be implemented due to the lack of ¹⁷O enriched samples; an area where future investigation may prove fruitful. Finally, [superscript(47/49)]Ti and ⁹¹Zr NMR spectra were found to be the most difficult to acquire due to their low receptivities and the quadrupolar broadened lineshapes, and as a result, little additional information was obtained. As a result of this analysis, for the Y₂Sn[subscript(x)]Ti[subscript(2-x)]O₇ pyrochlore solid solution, using primarily ⁸⁹Y δ[subscript(iso)] and Ω, and additionally confirmed with ¹¹⁹Sn δ[subscript(iso)], it was found that the Sn and Ti cations were randomly ordered throughout the B-sites. Additionally, ⁸⁹Y Ω could be used to obtain approximate Y-O[subscript(48f)] and Y-O[subscript(8b)] bond lengths for each type of Y environment. The study of Y₂Sn[subscript(x)]Zr[subscript(2-x)]O₇ using ⁸⁹Y NMR showed that although the end members were single phase, pyrochlore (Y₂Sn₂O₇) or defect fluorite (Y₂Zr₂O₇), the intermediate compositions were mostly two phase mixtures, consisting of an ordered pyrochlore (with an average formula of Y₂Sn₁.₈Zr₀.₂O₇) and a disordered phase, where the proportions of the pyrochlore and disordered phases decreased and increased, respectively, with the Zr content. Additionally, although the coordination states of the Y and Sn cations were easily determined using ⁸⁹Y and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR, respectively, the coordination states of the Zr cations could not be confirmed directly by ⁹¹Zr NMR. However, using indirect analysis from results obtained with ⁸⁹Y and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR, it was determined that 6 coordinate Zr was present in each composition, and it was always present in a greater proportion than 8 coordinate Zr. Finally, although ⁸⁹Y NMR spectra of Y₂Ti[subscript(x)]Zr[subscript(2-x)]O₇ were extremely difficult to analyse, it was tentatively proposed that they could be similar to Y₂Sn[subscript(x)]Zr[subscript(2-x)]O₇ due to some similarities observed between the spectra.

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The present Thesis is focused on the development of ceramic membranes for the production of O2, as well as their use in several industrial applications (e.g. power generation, chemical industry). Different materials such as perovskites (BSCF and LSCF), fluorites (CGO) and composites, different membrane architectures have been considered. Catalytic activation was considered for the optimization of permeation, and for improving the selectivity/yield of chemical reactions. In the chapter dedicated to BSCF, the influence of thickness and the use of porous supports in the permeation was studied. An improvement in the permeation was observed for the thinner membranes. With respect to the porous supports, it was found that they contribute with an additional resistance within the permeation process, reducing the potential improvement when reducing thickness. The conducted tests also allowed to study more in deep the different processes affecting oxygen membranes, as well as defining a permeation model for monolithic and asymmetric membranes. Aiming to improve the surface reactions involved in the oxygen permeation the use of catalytic layers was considered, by means the addition of porous BSCF backbones. The best results were obtained when coating both sides of membranes with catalytic layers. The concept of BSCF activated membranes was also considered for the production of C2H4 by means of the oxidative de-hydrogenation of C2H6, obtaining high C2H4 yields. BSCF membranes presenting tubular geometry were characterized for application such as production of O2 and production of C2H4 by means of oxidative coupling of CH4. LSCF was considered for conducting studies under CO2-containing atmospheres. For both systems it was conducted a complete permeation study with a focus on permeation performance under CO2 environments. Furthermore a study focused on the different substrates was carried out for determining the structure presenting the lower gas diffusion resistance. Despite very good results were obtained for both membrane types, even under CO2 conditions, freeze casted membranes reached higher oxygen fluxes, being optimized with the catalytic activation of membranes. Materials presenting fluorite structure stand out for their stability under reaction conditions or when exposed to CO2 environments. Nevertheless, delivered oxygen fluxes are typically low. Hence, a thin 40 micron-thick CGO-Co membrane activated with Pd nanoparticles was considered for conducting a study on O2 permeation performance, and its behaviour when exposed to CO2 and CH4-containing atmospheres. A good stability was demonstrated, as well as a significant improvement in oxygen permeation when exposed to CH4 environments. Thus, CGO membranes present promising properties for their application in oxyfuel and for the conduction of chemical reactions. Composite materials based on NFO-CTO was carried out. An evaluation of the CTO content and its relation with permeation was conducted, determining that a higher ionic phase ratio in the membrane results in a higher permeation. A composite consisting of 50NFO-50CTO was considered for performing a permeation study under harsh application conditions, with presence of SO2. Despite the significant loss in permeation, the composite material resulted to be stable after a long exposure to SO2. A broad study about the effect of CO2 and SO2 on the oxygen surface reactions was conducted by means of EIS measurements on 60NFO-40CTO electrodes. It was observed a significant effect of SO2 on the surface exchange reactions by promoting the deactivation of the O2 active sites, due to a SO2 adsorption on them. This effect was minimized by activating 60NFO-40CTO backbones with different catalysts, being characterized by EIS under CO2&SO2 conditions. This improvement was later confirmed when performing permeation tests. Permeation was improved notably by reducing membrane thickness, depositing composite membranes on LSCF porous substrates. / La presente tesis trata sobre el desarrollo de membranas cerámicas para la producción de O2, así como de su uso en distintas aplicaciones industriales (producción de energía, industria química). Se han considerado distintos tipos de materiales tales como perovskitas (BSCF y LSCF), fluoritas (CGO) y materiales composites, así como distintas arquitecturas de membrana. y activación catalítica para optimizar la permeación y la selectividad/rendimiento en reacciones químicas. Para el BSCF se estudió la influencia del espesor y el uso de soportes porosos en la permeación de O2, con una mejora para las membranas más finas, y también el papel de los soportes porosos, contribuyendo con una resistencia adicional en el proceso de permeación. El estudio permitió también conocer más en profundidad los procesos que afectan a los distintos tipos de membranas, y establecer un modelo de permeación para membranas. Se recurrió a la activación catalítica mediante la adición de capas porosas de BSCF, obteniendo así mejores resultados para las membranas con capas en ambos lados. El concepto de membranas de BSCF activadas superficialmente se consideró también para la producción de C2H4 a partir de la deshidrogenación oxidativa de etano (ODHE), obteniendo rendimientos de C2H4 muy elevados. Membranas de BSCF con geometría tubular fueron caracterizadas para aplicaciones de producción de O2 y C2H4 mediante acoplamiento oxidativo de metano (OCM). Se consideró al LSCF para su uso en aplicaciones con atmósferas conteniendo CO2. Se desarrollaron membranas soportadas en soportes porosos de LSCF mediante tape casting y freeze-casting, realizando completos estudios de permeación, además de estudiar el tipo de soporte poroso ofreciendo menos resistencia a la difusión de los gases. Pese que para ambos tipos de membranas se obtuvieron muy buenos flujos de oxígeno, incluso bajo condiciones de CO2, para el caso de membranas con soporte fabricado mediante freeze-casting se consiguieron mayores valores de permeación, optimizándolos incluso con la activación catalítica. Los materiales con estructura fluorita poseen alta estabilidad bajo condiciones de reacción (atmósferas reductoras) o cuando son expuestos a CO2 (aplicaciones de producción de energía). Sin embargo, los valores de permeación suelen ser muy bajos. Se consideró una membrana de CGO-Co de 40 micras de espesor activada con nanopartículas de Pd para llevar a cabo un estudio de sus propiedades para la producción de O2, su comportamiento en contacto con CO2 y con atmósferas conteniendo CH4. La buena estabilidad demostrada y la mejora sustancial de los flujos de O2 bajo ambientes reductores, hacen que este tipo de materiales posean propiedades prometedoras para aplicaciones de oxicombustión y reacciones químicas. Se realizó un estudio con materiales composites formados por NFO-CTO. Una evaluación del contenido en CTO y su relación con la permeación de O2, resultó en mayores valores para composiciones con mayor contenido en CTO. Un composite consistente en 50NFO-50CTO se consideró para la realización de tests bajo condiciones de oxicombustión, con presencia de SO2. Pese al notable descenso en los flujos de O2, el material resultó ser completamente estable tras una exposición continuada al SO2. Un amplio estudio del efecto del CO2 y del SO2 sobre las reacciones superficiales se realizó mediantes medidas de EIS en electrodos de 60NFO-40CTO, demostrando que el SO2 afecta significativamente a las reacciones superficiales mediante procesos de adsorción competitiva en los centros activos. Se minimizó el efecto del SO2 sobre las reacciones de intercambio superficial al activar las membranas con capas catalíticas porosas de 60NFO-40CTO con distintos catalizadores, confirmando posteriormente esta mejora en tests de permeación en las mismas condiciones. Así mismo, se optimizó notablemente la permeación de las membranas de 60NFO-40CTO reduciendo el espes / La present tesi tracta sobre el desenvolupament de membranes ceràmiques per a la producció d'O2, així com del seu ús en diverses aplicacions industrials (producció d'energia, indústria química). S'han considerat diversos materials tals com perovskites (BSCF i LSCF), fluorites (CGO) i materials composites, així com diferents arquitectures de membrana i l'activació catalítica per a millorar la permeació i la sel·lectivitat/rendiment de les reaccions químiques. Per al BSCF s'estudià la influència de l'espessor i l'ús de suports porosos en la permeació d'O2, amb una millora dels fluxos d'O2 per al cas de les membranes més fines, i també el paper dels suports porosos, els quals contribueixen afegint una resistència al procés de permeació. L'estudi també va permetre conèixer més en profunditat els processos que afecten als diferents tipus de membranes, i establir un model de permeació per a membranes. Es va recórrer a l'activació catalítica mitjançant l'adició de capes poroses de BSCF, obtenint així millors resultats per a les membranes activades a ambdós costats. El concepte de membranes de BSCF activades superficialment es va considerar també per a la producció d'etilè a mitjançant la deshidrogenació oxidativa d'età (ODHE), obtenint rendiments de C2H4 molt elevats. Membranes de BSCF amb geometria tubular van ser caracteritzades per a aplicacions de producció d'O2 i C2H4 mitjançant l'acoplament oxidatiu de metà (OCM). Es va considerar al LSCF per al seu ús en aplicacions amb atmosferes contenint CO2. Així doncs, es van desenvolupar membranes suportades sobre suports porosos de LSCF fabricats per tape càsting i freeze càsting. Es van realitzar estudis complets de permeació per a ambdós casos, a més d'estudiar el tipus de suport porós que ofereix una menor resistència a la difusió dels gasos. Malgrat que es van obtindré molts bons fluxos d'O2 per als dos tipus de membranes, inclús sota condicions amb CO2, per al cas de les membranes amb suport fabricat per freeze càsting es van aconseguir majors valors de permeació, sent inclús optimitzats amb l'activació catalítica. Els materials amb estructura fluorita destaquen per l'alta estabilitat sota condicions de reacció (atmosferes reductores) o quan són exposats a CO2 (aplicacions per a la producció d'energia). Malgrat això, els valors de permeació solen ser molt baixos. Es va considerar una membrana de CGO-Co de 40 micras d'espessor activada amb partícules de Pd per a realitzar un estudi sobre les seues propietats en quant a la producció d'O2, el seu comportament amb el contacte amb CO2 i atmosferes reductores contenint CH4. La bona estabilitat demostrada i una millora substancial dels fluxos d'O2 sota ambients reductors fan que aquest tipus de material presente propietats prometedores per a aplicacions d'oxicombustió i reaccions químiques. Es va realitzar un estudi sobre materials composites formats per NFO-CTO. Es va realitzar una avaluació del contingut en CTO i la relació amb la permeació, observant una millora de la permeació amb un major contingut de CTO. Un composite consistent en 50NFO-40CTO es va considerar per a la realització de tests de permeació en condicions d'oxicombustió amb presència de SO2. Malgrat el notable descens en els fluxos d'O2, el material resultà ser estable després d'una exposició continuada al SO2. Es mesurà l'efecte del CO2 i del SO2 sobre les reaccions superficials fent ús de la tècnica d'EIS en elèctrodes de 60NFO-40CTO. Demostrant que el SO2 afecta significativament a les reaccions superficials degut a una adsorció competitiva O2-SO2 als centres actius. Es minimitzà l'efecte del SO2 sobre les reaccions superficials al activar les membranes amb capes poroses de 60NFO-40CTO amb diferents catalitzadors. Aquestes capes van ser caracteritzades per EIS sota condicions de SO2, confirmant posteriorment la millora al realitzar tests de permeació. S'optimitzà notablement la perme / García Fayos, J. (2017). DEVELOPMENT OF CERAMIC MIEC MEMBRANES FOR OXYGEN SEPARATION: APPLICATION IN CATALYTIC INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86189 / TESIS / Premios Extraordinarios de tesis doctorales

Le procédé adopté par COMURHEX pour le traitement des effluents très chargés en fluor est basé sur l’addition d’un composé alcalin Ca(OH)2 (portlandite) pour faire précipiter de la fluorine (CaF2). Mis en œuvre par le passé dans un décanteur le développement d’un nouveau procédé en lit fluidisé a été envisagé pour augmenter l’efficacité du traitement des effluents. Des essais concluants ont été réalisés sur une installation pilote qui ont démontré l’efficacité de la précipitation en lit fluidisé à assurer une réduction satisfaisante de la concentration du fluor. Cependant, les phénomènes mis en jeu dans le réacteur sont mal connus.Notre objectif principal est la maîtrise de la précipitation de la fluorine dans le réacteur à lit fluidisé ainsi qu’une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes mis en jeu. Pour ce faire, il a été nécessaire de reprendre l’étude thermodynamique du système KOH-portlandite-calcite-fluorine, de manière à étendre les données existantes aux fortes concentrations de KOH en solution. Un modèle thermodynamique capable de prédire la solubilité des solides en présence de variations de la concentration de la potasse et de la température du système a été établi.La deuxième partie du travail a été focalisée sur la compréhension des mécanismes mis en jeu pendant la formation de la fluorine. Les expériences réalisées au laboratoire ont conduit à l’obtention d’une fluorine issue d’une conversion de la portlandite. Ce mécanisme a été modélisé en considérant que le remplacement de la portlandite par la fluorine s’explique par un modèle à cœur rétrécissant contrôlé par la limitation diffusionnelle du fluorure dans la couche de fluorine formée. La dernière partie expérimentale de ce travail a été réalisée sur le pilote à lit fluidisé. Les expériences effectuées n’ont pas donné de résultats satisfaisants. Il n’a pas été possible de faire faire fonctionner le pilote de façon cohérente avec les objectifs de son dimensionnement. En particulier, compte-tenu de la très petite taille des particules, les débits de fonctionnement conduisent à l’envolement de celles-ci, mais pas à l’établissement de l’état fluidisé. / The method used by COMURHEX for the treatment of fluorine-rich effluents relies on the addition of solid Ca(OH)2 (portlandite) to precipitate fluorite (CaF2) in strongly alkaline solutions. This method is effective in a settler, and the development of a new fluidized bed process has been proposed to increase its efficiency. Successful assays were conducted on a pilot scale and they demonstrated that precipitation in a fluidized bed reactor actually ensures a satisfactory defluorination. However, the phenomena involved remained poorly known, and the main goal of the present work was to elucidate the mechanisms, their kinetics, and to control the crystallization.Our first contribution is a thermodynamic reappraisal of the KOH–portlandite–calcite system that extends existing solubility data to higher KOH concentrations in solution and incorporates new solubility data for fluorite. The outcome is an aqueous speciation model (Pitzer type) accounting for the solids solubility as a function of the KOH concentration and the temperature, and allowing portlandite undersaturation and fluorine supersaturation to be evaluated in process solutions.Our second contribution focuses on the kinetics and the mechanisms involved during the formation of fluorite, using various mixing designs in batch reactors. Reaction rates are fast, except in experiments involving dilute reactants. Microprobe and granulometric data both indicate that much of the fluorine results from the conversion of the portlandite grains. A shrinking core model controlled by diffusive transfer of fluoride in the porous fluorite corona successfully fits the kinetics of fluorine uptake and the particle grain size.The last part of the experimental work was carried out on a small fluidized bed pilot. These experiments were poorly conclusive. The very small particle size and the large flow rates lead to particle blow off, but not to fluidization. As a consequence, the capacity of the fluidized bed to promote an increase of the particle grain size remains largely unknown.