Polyethylene encapsulation of mixed wastes: Scale-up feasibility

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5567157

Kalb, P D; Heiser, J H; Colombo, P

A polyethylene process for the improved encapsulation of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes have been developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Improvements in waste loading and waste form performance have been demonstrated through bench-scale development and testing. Maximum waste loadings of up to 70 dry wt % mixed waste nitrate salt were achieved, compared with 13--20 dry wt % using conventional cement processes. Stability under anticipated storage and disposal conditions and compliance with applicable hazardous waste regulations were demonstrated through a series of lab-scale waste form performance tests. Full-scale demonstration of this process using actual or surrogate waste is currently planned. A scale-up feasibility test was successfully conducted, demonstrating the ability to process nitrate salts at production rates (up to 450 kg/hr) and the close agreement between bench- and full-scale process parameters. Cored samples from the resulting pilot-scale (114 liter) waste form were used to verify homogeneity and to provide additional specimens for confirmatory performance testing.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5567157
• Report Number(s): BNL-47122; CONF-920307-46; ON: DE92010046
• Resource Relation: Conference: Waste management '92, Tucson, AZ (United States), 1-5 Mar 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
ENCAPSULATION
POLYETHYLENES
PERFORMANCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
NITRATES
SOLIDIFICATION
WASTE FORMS
MATERIALS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
WASTES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing