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Title: ROLE OF MANGANESE REDUCTION/OXIDATION (REDOX) ON FOAMING AND MELT RATE IN HIGH LEVEL WASTE (HLW) MELTERS (U)

Abstract

High-level nuclear waste is being immobilized at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by vitrification into borosilicate glass at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Control of the Reduction/Oxidation (REDOX) equilibrium in the DWPF melter is critical for processing high level liquid wastes. Foaming, cold cap roll-overs, and off-gas surges all have an impact on pouring and melt rate during processing of high-level waste (HLW) glass. All of these phenomena can impact waste throughput and attainment in Joule heated melters such as the DWPF. These phenomena are caused by gas-glass disequilibrium when components in the melter feeds convert to glass and liberate gases such as H{sub 2}O vapor (steam), CO{sub 2}, O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, and/or N{sub 2}. During the feed-to-glass conversion in the DWPF melter, multiple types of reactions occur in the cold cap and in the melt pool that release gaseous products. The various gaseous products can cause foaming at the melt pool surface. Foaming should be avoided as much as possible because an insulative layer of foam on the melt surface retards heat transfer to the cold cap and results in low melt rates. Uncontrolled foaming can also result in a blockage of critical melter ormore » melter off-gas components. Foaming can also increase the potential for melter pressure surges, which would then make it difficult to maintain a constant pressure differential between the DWPF melter and the pour spout. Pressure surges can cause erratic pour streams and possible pluggage of the bellows as well. For these reasons, the DWPF uses a REDOX strategy and controls the melt REDOX between 0.09 {le} Fe{sup 2+}/{summation}Fe {le} 0.33. Controlling the DWPF melter at an equilibrium of Fe{sup +2}/{summation}Fe {le} 0.33 prevents metallic and sulfide rich species from forming nodules that can accumulate on the floor of the melter. Control of foaming, due to deoxygenation of manganic species, is achieved by converting oxidized MnO{sub 2} or Mn{sub 2}O{sub 3} species to MnO during melter preprocessing. At the lower redox limit of Fe{sup +2}/{summation}Fe {approx} 0.09 about 99% of the Mn{sup +4}/Mn{sup +3} is converted to Mn{sup +2}. Therefore, the lower REDOX limits eliminates melter foaming from deoxygenation.« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
903096
Report Number(s):
WSRC-STI-2006-00066
TRN: US0703232
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC09-96SR18500
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; BOROSILICATE GLASS; FLOORS; GASES; GLASS; HEAT TRANSFER; LIQUID WASTES; MANGANESE; PROCESSING; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; SAVANNAH RIVER; SULFIDES; SURGES; VITRIFICATION; WASTE PROCESSING; WASTES

Citation Formats

Jantzen, C, and Michael Stone, M. ROLE OF MANGANESE REDUCTION/OXIDATION (REDOX) ON FOAMING AND MELT RATE IN HIGH LEVEL WASTE (HLW) MELTERS (U). United States: N. p., 2007. Web. doi:10.2172/903096.
Jantzen, C, & Michael Stone, M. ROLE OF MANGANESE REDUCTION/OXIDATION (REDOX) ON FOAMING AND MELT RATE IN HIGH LEVEL WASTE (HLW) MELTERS (U). United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/903096
Jantzen, C, and Michael Stone, M. 2007. "ROLE OF MANGANESE REDUCTION/OXIDATION (REDOX) ON FOAMING AND MELT RATE IN HIGH LEVEL WASTE (HLW) MELTERS (U)". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/903096. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/903096.
@article{osti_903096,
title = {ROLE OF MANGANESE REDUCTION/OXIDATION (REDOX) ON FOAMING AND MELT RATE IN HIGH LEVEL WASTE (HLW) MELTERS (U)},
author = {Jantzen, C and Michael Stone, M},
abstractNote = {High-level nuclear waste is being immobilized at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by vitrification into borosilicate glass at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Control of the Reduction/Oxidation (REDOX) equilibrium in the DWPF melter is critical for processing high level liquid wastes. Foaming, cold cap roll-overs, and off-gas surges all have an impact on pouring and melt rate during processing of high-level waste (HLW) glass. All of these phenomena can impact waste throughput and attainment in Joule heated melters such as the DWPF. These phenomena are caused by gas-glass disequilibrium when components in the melter feeds convert to glass and liberate gases such as H{sub 2}O vapor (steam), CO{sub 2}, O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, and/or N{sub 2}. During the feed-to-glass conversion in the DWPF melter, multiple types of reactions occur in the cold cap and in the melt pool that release gaseous products. The various gaseous products can cause foaming at the melt pool surface. Foaming should be avoided as much as possible because an insulative layer of foam on the melt surface retards heat transfer to the cold cap and results in low melt rates. Uncontrolled foaming can also result in a blockage of critical melter or melter off-gas components. Foaming can also increase the potential for melter pressure surges, which would then make it difficult to maintain a constant pressure differential between the DWPF melter and the pour spout. Pressure surges can cause erratic pour streams and possible pluggage of the bellows as well. For these reasons, the DWPF uses a REDOX strategy and controls the melt REDOX between 0.09 {le} Fe{sup 2+}/{summation}Fe {le} 0.33. Controlling the DWPF melter at an equilibrium of Fe{sup +2}/{summation}Fe {le} 0.33 prevents metallic and sulfide rich species from forming nodules that can accumulate on the floor of the melter. Control of foaming, due to deoxygenation of manganic species, is achieved by converting oxidized MnO{sub 2} or Mn{sub 2}O{sub 3} species to MnO during melter preprocessing. At the lower redox limit of Fe{sup +2}/{summation}Fe {approx} 0.09 about 99% of the Mn{sup +4}/Mn{sup +3} is converted to Mn{sup +2}. Therefore, the lower REDOX limits eliminates melter foaming from deoxygenation.},
doi = {10.2172/903096},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/903096}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Fri Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}