Microstructural Properties of High Level Waste Concentrates and Gels with Raman And Infrared Spectroscopies
Nearly half of the high level radioactive waste stored at Hanford is composed of highly alkaline concentrates referred to as either salt cakes or Double-Shell Slurry (DSS), depending on their compositions and processing histories. The major components of these concentrates are water, sodium hydroxide, and sodium salts of nitrate, nitrite, aluminate, carbonate, phosphate, and sulfate. In addition, there are varying amounts of assorted organic salts such as EDTA, glycolate, and citrate. Although measurements of the bulk properties of these wastes (e.g. viscosity, gel point, density) have been reported, little is known about how the macroscopic characteristics are related to the microscopic physico-chemical properties. Viscosity, solids volume percent, and gas retention can dramatically change with relatively small changes in composition and temperature. Furthermore, these same properties are important in determining safe storage conditions as well as in planning retrieval, pretreatment, and disposal of the wastes. The focus of this effort will be on aluminate chemistry since large inventories of waste with aluminum are located at Hanford and Savannah River and little is known about the microstructure of these complex mixtures.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Purdue University, West Lafayette.Indiana (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 827178
- Report Number(s):
- EMSP-54773-1999; R&D Project: EMSP-54773; TRN: US0403213
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ALUMINATES
ALUMINIUM
CHEMISTRY
EDTA
MICROSTRUCTURE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RETENTION
SODIUM
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
STORAGE
VISCOSITY
WASTES
WATER