Development of Remote Hanford Connector Gasket Replacement Tooling for DWPF.

Krementz, D. ; Coughlin, J.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Gaskets;    Remote replacement;    Waste processing facility;    Robotic arm;    Gasket replacement;   

RP-ID  :  DE2009956711

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to develop tooling and equipment to remotely replace gaskets in mechanical Hanford connectors to reduce personnel radiation exposure as compared to the current hands-on method. It is also expected that radiation levels will continually increase with future waste streams. The equipment is operated in the Remote Equipment Decontamination Cell (REDC), which is equipped with compressed air, two master-slave manipulators (MSMs) and an electro-mechanical manipulator (EMM) arm for operation of the remote tools. The REDC does not provide access to electrical power, so the equipment must be manually or pneumatically operated. The MSMs have a load limit at full extension of ten pounds, which limited the weight of the installation tool. In order to remotely replace Hanford connector gaskets several operations must be performed remotely, these include: removal of the spent gasket and retaining ring (retaining ring is also called snap ring), loading the new snap ring and gasket into the installation tool and installation of the new gasket into the Hanford connector. SRNL developed and tested tools that successfully perform all of the necessary tasks.