DESORPTION OF SORBATES FROM MST, MMST, AND CST UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS

Taylor-Pashow, K. ; Hobbs, D.

Savannah River Site (S.C.)

关键词: Desorption;    Aluminium;    Washing;    Testing;    Shielding;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1018716
RP-ID  :  SRNL-STI-2011-00340
RP-ID  :  DE-AC09-08SR22470
RP-ID  :  1018716

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) Program (formerly referred to as the Modular Salt Processing (MSP) Project) seeks to deploy equipment to remove the {sup 134,137}Cs, {sup 90}Sr, and alpha-emitting radionuclides (principally {sup 238,239,240}Pu and {sup 237}Np) from the high level waste salt solutions. The equipment is installed within a high level waste tank to take advantage of the shielding provided by the waste tank. The process will involve adding monosodium titanate (MST) to the waste tank (i.e., Tank 41H) to sorb the Sr and select actinides, removing the MST and entrained sludge with in-riser rotary microfilters, and subsequently using ion-exchange columns containing crystalline silicotitanate (CST) to remove the Cs. After being loaded with Cs, the CST will be ground to reduce the particle size and then transferred into another waste tank (e.g., Tank 40H). The MST and sludge solids stream will be transported to a sludge batch preparation tank (i.e., Tank 42H or Tank 51H) once the SCIX batch is processed. Both streams, MST/solids and CST, will ultimately be transported into and vitrified inside the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). A series of experiments were performed to examine desorption from monosodium titanate (MST), modified monosodium titanate (mMST), and crystalline silicotitanate (CST) under various conditions. The first two experiments examined desorption from MST and CST under two different sludge treatment processes, aluminum dissolution and sludge washing. Desorption of all sorbates was observed to varying degrees under the aluminum dissolution conditions. The extent of desorption ranged from < 3% to about 50% after 4 weeks, with Pu exhibiting the lowest desorption. At the end of the experiment, the temperature was reduced from 65 C to 25 C and the tests monitored for an additional two weeks. After reducing the temperature, partial resorption of the sorbates was observed with both MST and CST. Under the sludge washing conditions, no desorption of sorbates was observed with MST; however, some additional sorption did occur. For CST, a small amount of Cs leached from the material during the first day of testing, but no further leaching was observed over the remaining test period. The final test was designed to examine the possibility of desorption from both MST and mMST upon increasing the solid to liquid phase ratio. The results of these tests indicated some desorption of Pu from MST within the first two weeks after changing the phase ratio, then resorption of some of the leached Pu over the remaining 4 weeks of the experiment. No desorption of any sorbates was observed for mMST under these conditions.