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Title: Integrated pore blockage-cake filtration model for crossflow filtration

Journal Article · · Chemical Engineering Research & Design, 89(7):1094-1103

Crossflow filtration is to be a key process in the treatment and disposal of approximately 60,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste stored at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is assessing filter performance with waste simulant materials that mimic the chemical and physical properties of Hanford tank waste. Prior simulant studies indicated that waste filtration performance may be limited by pore and cake fouling. To limit the shutdown of waste treatment operations, the pre-treatment facility plans to recover filter flux losses from cake formation and filter fouling by frequently backpulsing the filter elements. The objective of the current paper is to develop a simple model of flux decline resulting from cake and pore fouling and potential flux recovery through backpulsing of the filters for Hanford waste filtration operations. To this end, a model capable of characterizing the decline in waste-simulant filter flux as a function of both irreversible pore blockage and reversible cake formation is proposed. This model is used to characterize the filtration behavior of Hanford waste simulants in both continuous and backpulsed operations. The model is then used to infer the optimal backpulse frequency under specific operating conditions.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1019184
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-75467; CERDEE; EY7144147; TRN: US1103572
Journal Information:
Chemical Engineering Research & Design, 89(7):1094-1103, Vol. 89, Issue 7; ISSN 0263-8762
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English