A chemical basis for the partitioning of radionuclides in incinerator operation
Incineration as a method of treating radioactive or mixed waste is attractive because of volume reduction, but may result in high concentrations of some hazardous components. For safety reasons during operation, and because of the environmental impact of the plant, it is important to know how these materials partition between the furnace slay, the fly ash, and the stack emission. The chemistry of about 50 elements is discussed and through consideration of high temperature thermodynamic equilibria, an attempt is made to provide a basis for predicting how various radionuclides and heavy metals behave in a typical incinerator. The chemistry of the individual elements is first considered and a prediction of the most stable chemical species in the typical incinerator atmosphere is made. The treatment emphasizes volatility and the parameters considered are temperature, acidity, oxygen, sulfur, and halogen content, and the presence of several other key non-radioactive elements. A computer model is used to calculate equilibrium concentrations of many species in several systems at temperatures ranging from 500 to 1600{degrees}K. It is suggested that deliberate addition of various feed chemicals can have a major impact on the fate of many radionuclides and heavy metals. Several problems concerning limitations and application of the data are considered.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 10120070
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-10364; ON: DE95007263; TRN: 95:002131
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jan 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
INCINERATORS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
FLY ASH
EQUILIBRIUM
VOLATILITY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
RADIOACTIVITY
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
052001
400702
WASTE PROCESSING
PROPERTIES OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS