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Title: HIGH VACUUM AND FLASH DISTILLATION FOR RECOVERY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HIGH BOILER

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4001470

Vacuum Flash Distillation (VFD) is an operable technique to recover and recycle a major portion of the High Boiler (HB) fraction now discharged to waste. It thus can provide a simple and economic coolant management process to remove the relatively nonvolatile HB fraction and particulate matter by distillation and still maintain total HB at the 30 to 35% level. Experimental results agree with calculated values, proving the validity of the vapor pressure data and the flash calculation methods used. Pyrolytic Capsule Fouling Test (PCFT) values of distillate samples were as low as those of glass-distilled terphenyls. Batch differential distillation and batch rectification under vacuum conditions have shown that OMHE Core II and Core HIA HB are 80+% volatile under conditions of 2 mm Hg Abs. and 800 deg F terminal temperature. High vacuum distillation (HVD) does not appear economically competitive with VFD as a coolant management system to maintain a 30 to 35% HB coolant, but may be useful to recover residual Distillable High Boiler (DHB) remaining in the bottoms from a VFD operation. A two-step distillation operation may be the most economical method of operation to maintain a coolant containing 50 to 60% DHB. No process difficulties are indicated if a bottoms temperature of 825 deg F is not exceeded. Core II HB and Core IIIA HB had different true boiling point curves. Maximum resolution of individual components and reproducibility were not established, hence no conclusions as to the utility of using True Boiling Point (TBP) curves as a method of characterization could be made. Molecular weight determinations on Core II HB distillate fractions gave unexpectedly low values, which disagree with present concepts of the composition of HB. 86% by weight of this HB has a molecular weight equal to or less than heptaphenyl. (auth)

Research Organization:
Atomics International. Div. of North American Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, Calif.
DOE Contract Number:
AT(11-1)-GEN-8
NSA Number:
NSA-18-021552
OSTI ID:
4001470
Report Number(s):
NAA-SR-Memo-7545
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-64
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English