Stabilization of Mercury in High pH Tank Sludges.

Spence, R. ; Barton, J.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Mercury;    Tank sludges;    Radioactive waste management;    Stabilization;    pH value;   

RP-ID  :  DE2004826047

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

DOE complex contains many tank sludges contaminated with mercury. The high pH of these tank sludges typically fails to stabilize the mercury, resulting in these radioactive wastes also being characteristically hazardous or mixed waste. The traditional treatment for soluble inorganic mercury species is precipitation as insoluble mercuric sulfide. Sulfide treatment and a commercial mercury-stabilizing product were tested on surrogate sludges at various alkaline pH values. Neither the sulfide nor the commercial product stabilized the mercury sufficiently at the high pH of the tank sludges to pass the Toxicity Characteristic Leach Procedure (TCLP) treatment standards of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The commercial product also failed to stabilize the mercury in samples of the actual tank sludges.