Potential for erosion corrosion of SRS high level waste tanks

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10126121· OSTI ID:10126121

Zapp, P E

SRS high-level radioactive waste tanks will not experience erosion corrosion to any significant degree during slurry pump operations. Erosion corrosion in carbon steel structures at reported pump discharge velocities is dominated by electrochemical (corrosion) processes. Interruption of those processes, as by the addition of corrosion inhibitors, sharply reduces the rate of metal loss from erosion corrosion. The well-inhibited SRS waste tanks have a near-zero general corrosion rate, and therefore will be essentially immune to erosion corrosion. The experimental data on carbon steel erosion corrosion most relevant to SRS operations was obtained at the Hanford Site on simulated Purex waste. A metal loss rate of 2.4 mils per year was measured at a temperature of 102 C and a slurry velocity comparable to calculated SRS slurry velocities on ground specimens of the same carbon steel used in SRS waste tanks. Based on these data and the much lower expected temperatures, the metal loss rate of SRS tanks under waste removal and processing conditions should be insignificant, i.e. less than 1 mil per year.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-89SR18035
• OSTI ID: 10126121
• Report Number(s): WSRC-TR--93-595; ON: DE94007145
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360105
CARBON STEELS
CORROSION
CORROSION AND EROSION
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
TANKS
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE