Study on the fluorination reaction of uranium tetrafluoride by nitrogen trifluoride

The fluorination between NF3 and UF4 was investigated using in-line Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and occurred only when the temperature was above 723 K. The temperature had a significant effect on the average reaction rate and the utilization rate of NF3. The average fluorination rate increased from 1.97 to 3.45 gU•h−1 and the utilization of NF3 increased from 10.5%–22.5 % in the range of 723 K to 873 K. The calculated rate constant increased from 1.6×10−2 to 3.1×10−2 min−1 and the activation energy of the reaction was 22.56 kJ/mol.