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Title: TANK 21 AND TANK 24 BLEND AND FEED STUDY: BLENDING TIMES, SETTLING TIMES, AND TRANSFERS

Abstract

The Salt Disposition Integration (SDI) portfolio of projects provides the infrastructure within existing Liquid Waste facilities to support the startup and long term operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). Within SDI, the Blend and Feed Project will equip existing waste tanks in the Tank Farms to serve as Blend Tanks where salt solutions of up to 1.2 million gallons will be blended in 1.3 million gallon tanks and qualified for use as feedstock for SWPF. In particular, Tanks 21 and 24 are planned to be used for blending and transferring to the SDI feed tank. These tanks were evaluated here to determine blending times, to determine a range of settling times for disturbed sludge, and to determine that the SWPF Waste Acceptance Criteria that less than 1200 mg/liter of solids will be entrained in salt solutions during transfers from the Tank 21 and Tank 24 will be met. Overall conclusions for Tank 21 and Tank 24 operations include: (1) Experimental correction factors were applied to CFD (computational fluid dynamics) models to establish blending times between approximately two and five hours. As shown in Phase 2 research, blending times may be as much as ten times greater, or more,more » if lighter fluids are added to heavier fluids (i.e., water added to salt solution). As the densities of two salt solutions converge this effect may be minimized, but additional confirmatory research was not performed. (2) At the current sludge levels and the presently planned operating heights of the transfer pumps, solids entrainment will be less than 1200 mg/liter, assuming a conservative, slow settling sludge simulant. (3) Based on theoretical calculations, particles in the density range of 2.5 to 5.0 g/mL must be greater than 2-4 {micro}m in diameter to ensure they settle adequately in 30-60 days to meet the SWPF feed criterion (<1200 mg/l). (4) Experimental tests with sludge batch 6 simulant and field turbidity data from a recent Tank 21 mixing evolution suggest the solid particles have higher density and/or larger size than indicated by previous analysis of SRS sludge and sludge simulants. (5) Tank 21 waste characterization, laboratory settling tests, and additional field turbidity measurements during mixing evolutions are recommended to better understand potential risk for extended (> 60 days) settling times in Tank 21.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1041397
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2012-00306
TRN: US1202826
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC09-08SR22470
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; ENTRAINMENT; LIQUID WASTES; SLUDGES; STORAGE FACILITIES; TANKS; TURBIDITY; WASTE PROCESSING; WASTES; WATER

Citation Formats

Lee, S, Leishear, R, and Poirier, M. TANK 21 AND TANK 24 BLEND AND FEED STUDY: BLENDING TIMES, SETTLING TIMES, AND TRANSFERS. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.2172/1041397.
Lee, S, Leishear, R, & Poirier, M. TANK 21 AND TANK 24 BLEND AND FEED STUDY: BLENDING TIMES, SETTLING TIMES, AND TRANSFERS. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1041397
Lee, S, Leishear, R, and Poirier, M. 2012. "TANK 21 AND TANK 24 BLEND AND FEED STUDY: BLENDING TIMES, SETTLING TIMES, AND TRANSFERS". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1041397. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1041397.
@article{osti_1041397,
title = {TANK 21 AND TANK 24 BLEND AND FEED STUDY: BLENDING TIMES, SETTLING TIMES, AND TRANSFERS},
author = {Lee, S and Leishear, R and Poirier, M},
abstractNote = {The Salt Disposition Integration (SDI) portfolio of projects provides the infrastructure within existing Liquid Waste facilities to support the startup and long term operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). Within SDI, the Blend and Feed Project will equip existing waste tanks in the Tank Farms to serve as Blend Tanks where salt solutions of up to 1.2 million gallons will be blended in 1.3 million gallon tanks and qualified for use as feedstock for SWPF. In particular, Tanks 21 and 24 are planned to be used for blending and transferring to the SDI feed tank. These tanks were evaluated here to determine blending times, to determine a range of settling times for disturbed sludge, and to determine that the SWPF Waste Acceptance Criteria that less than 1200 mg/liter of solids will be entrained in salt solutions during transfers from the Tank 21 and Tank 24 will be met. Overall conclusions for Tank 21 and Tank 24 operations include: (1) Experimental correction factors were applied to CFD (computational fluid dynamics) models to establish blending times between approximately two and five hours. As shown in Phase 2 research, blending times may be as much as ten times greater, or more, if lighter fluids are added to heavier fluids (i.e., water added to salt solution). As the densities of two salt solutions converge this effect may be minimized, but additional confirmatory research was not performed. (2) At the current sludge levels and the presently planned operating heights of the transfer pumps, solids entrainment will be less than 1200 mg/liter, assuming a conservative, slow settling sludge simulant. (3) Based on theoretical calculations, particles in the density range of 2.5 to 5.0 g/mL must be greater than 2-4 {micro}m in diameter to ensure they settle adequately in 30-60 days to meet the SWPF feed criterion (<1200 mg/l). (4) Experimental tests with sludge batch 6 simulant and field turbidity data from a recent Tank 21 mixing evolution suggest the solid particles have higher density and/or larger size than indicated by previous analysis of SRS sludge and sludge simulants. (5) Tank 21 waste characterization, laboratory settling tests, and additional field turbidity measurements during mixing evolutions are recommended to better understand potential risk for extended (> 60 days) settling times in Tank 21.},
doi = {10.2172/1041397},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1041397}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Thu May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}