The in-situ vitrification of subsurface containment barriers: An overview

Conference · Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6324607

Murphy, M; Stottlemyre, J A

In situ vitrification (ISV) is an environmental engineering process in which soil or soil/waste mixtures are melted through the direct application of electrical current and subsequently cooled to a glassy solid. The technology was developed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) in the 1980s and has been tested on transuranic, mixed-hazardous, and PCB/organic waste similar to that found at US Department of Energy (DOE) and other facilities nationwide. PNL is conducting a wide range of field tests, expanding the scientific basis of ISV, and assessing its extension into new applications. One such project is ISV--Selective Barriers, an investigation into the construction and performance of ISV--generated, vertical and/or horizontal subsurface barriers to ground-water flow and biogenic intrusion. In some situations, it may be impractical or unnecessary to either excavate or vitrify an entire waste site. Vitrified barriers could minimize the diffusive or fluid transport of hazardous components with either a ground-water diversion wall or an in situ, box-like'' structure. During the first year of this project, engineering-scale tests are being conducted between graphite electrodes within a 1.8-m-diameter, 2.4-m-high test cell. Several methods are being tested, including passive metal electrodes, electrode feeding systems, fluxed soil, and fluxed boreholes. In addition, basic data have been collected on the thermal and material properties of ISV melt and solidified glass. 7 refs., 6 figs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6324607
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-18199; CONF-901191-2; ON: DE91002813; TRN: 91-001741
• Resource Relation: Conference: Superfund '90: 11. annual national conference and exhibition of the Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute, Washington, DC (USA), 26-28 Nov 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
MELTING
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SOILS
BOREHOLES
CONTAINMENT
ELECTRODES
GLASS
GRAPHITE
GROUND WATER
SUBSURFACE STRUCTURES
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
VITRIFICATION
CARBON
CAVITIES
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER
052000* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management