| Summary: | A computer program entitled URPE (Uranium Recovery Performance and Economics) has been developed to simulate the engineering performance and provide an economic analysis O of a plant recovering uranium from seawater. The conceptual system design used as the focal point for the more general AM analysis consists ofa floating oil-rig type platform, Asinlge-point moored in an open ocean current, using either high volume, low head, propeller pumps or the velocity head 4M of the ambient ocean current to force seawater through a mass transfer medium (hydrous titanium oxide (HTO) coated onto particle beds or stacked tubes), as in most process designs previously suggested for this service. Uranium is recovered Sfrom the seawater by an adsorption process, and later eluted . from the adsorber by an ammonium carbonate solution. A multi-product co-generating plant on board the platform burns coal to raise steam for electricity generation, desalination, and process heat requirements. Scrubbed stack gas from the plant is processed to recover carbon dioxide for chemical make-up needs.
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