Critical process parameters for UCO kernel production

UCO kernel fabrication was previously demonstrated at 2 kg per batch. The limiting factors were the size of the sintering furnace and the UCO drop columns. The former UCO drop columns also showed considerable variability in the quality of gelled microspheres. A larger-size sintering furnace and a set of drop columns with an improved design were installed in 1987. The new set of drop columns and sintering furnace, in conjunction with other modular-sized equipment, were designed to produce the reference batch size of 5.5 kg of UCO kernels containing 5 kg of heavy metal (HM). The new equipment was utilized in the manufacture of several 2 kg batches of UCO kernels and ran well. In the process development reported here, the batch size was scaled-up to 5.5 kg. While the equipment is performing as expected, some of the process parameters still need to be optimized. In the body of this document is a description of the process to make UCO kernels via Gel Supported Precipitation (GSP) technology and the critical parameters that were changed to scale-up the kernel batch size to 5.5 kg, while meeting product specifications