Hydraulic impact end effector final test report. Automation and robotics section, ER/WM-AT Program
One tool being developed for dislodging and fragmenting the hard salt cake waste in the single-shell nuclear waste tanks at the Hanford Reservation near Richland, Washington, is the hydraulic impact end effector (HIEE). This total operates by discharging 11-in. slugs of water at ultrahigh pressures. The HIEE was designed, built, and initially tested in 1992. Work in 1993 included advanced developments of the HIEE to further investigate its fragmentation abilities and to determine more effective operating procedures. These tests showed that more fragmentation can be achieved by increasing the charge pressure of 40 kpsi to 55 kpsi and by the use of different operating procedures. The size of the material and the impact energy of the water slug fired from the HIEE are believed to be major factors in material fragmentation. The material`s ability to fracture also appears to depend on the distance a fracture or crack line must travel to a free surface. Thus, larger material is more difficult to fracture than smaller material. Discharge pressures of 40 kpsi resulted in little penetration or fracturing of the material. At 55 kpsi, however, the size and depth of the fractures increased. Nozzle geometry had a significant effect on fragment size and quantity. Fragmentation was about an order of magnitude greater when the HIEE was discharged into drilled holes rather than onto the material surface. Since surface shots tend to create craters, a multi-shot procedure, coupled with an advanced nozzle design, was used to drill (crater) deep holes into large material. With this procedure, a 600-lb block was reduced to smaller pieces without the use of any additional equipment. Through this advanced development program, the HIEE has demonstrated that it can quickly fragment salt cake material into small, easily removable fragments. The HIEE`s material fragmentation ability can be substantially increased through the use of different nozzle geometries and operating procedures.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 10185483
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-116220; ON: DE95000512; IN: L-16930-1; TRN: 94:020995
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 18 Feb 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HANFORD RESERVATION
STORAGE FACILITIES
REMEDIAL ACTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
WASTE RETRIEVAL
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
PULVERIZERS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
DESIGN
PROGRESS REPORT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
054000
052000
HEALTH AND SAFETY
WASTE MANAGEMENT