Feasibility Study on Using Two Mixer Pumps for Tank 241-AY-102 Waste Mixing
The current waste retrieval plan at Hanford calls for using two mixer pumps to mix the waste stored in double-shell Tank 214-AY-102. The objective of this evaluation was to determine whether two rotating 300-hp mixer pumps placed 22 ft (6.7 m) off-center in the tank could adequately mix the AY-102 waste. The tank currently contains high-level waste that is 248 inches (6.3 m) deep, comprising 62 inches (1.58 m) of sludge and 186 inches (4.72 m) of supernatant liquid (Galbraith et al. 2002). Based on the available data, AY-102 waste properties were determined, including the densities of liquid and agglomerated settled solids and crystals, the volume fraction of settled solids, the solid particle size distribution, the liquid and slurry viscosities, and the yield stress in shear (shear strength) of the settled solids layer. To evaluate the likely and bounding cases of AY-102 waste mixing, sludge erosion modeling was performed with a median value of 1,090 Pa (likely condition) and a conservative (more difficult to erode) 97.5 percentile value of 2,230 Pa for shear strength. According to model predictions, the two rotating mixer pumps would erode 89% of the sludge with shear strength of 1,090 Pa. They would erode sludge up to 41 ft (12.5 m) away from the mixer pumps but would not mobilize the bottom 2.5 inches (0.06-m) of sludge or sludge in the areas next to the tank wall, more than 26 ft (7.9 m) away. Once the sludge is mobilized, the solids were predicted to be uniformly suspended within the tank within a 1-vol% concentration variation except those in few inches at the bottom. With shear strength of 2,230 Pa, the two pumps would erode 85% of the sludge, slightly less than the 1,090-Pa shear strength case. In this case, the pump jets would mobilize the sludge up to 38 ft (11.6 m), except the bottom 2.5 inches of sludge. The mixer pumps would also leave the sludge at the tank wall, which is 20 ft or more from the pumps. Similar to the 1,090 Pa case, the solids were predicted to be uniformly suspended except within few inches of the tank bottom. These results indicate that the greater the sludge shear strength, the less the mixer pumps can erode, although the differences in the amount eroded and the maximum erosion distance from the pumps are fairly small. Thus, two 300-hp mixer pumps would suffice to mobilize the sludge and uniformly mix it with the supernatant liquid for both the likely and conservative conditions. Two additional mixer pumps, for a total of four, would most likely increase the sludge erosion amount by approximately 10 to 14 vol%.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15020935
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-14763; 830403000; TRN: US0504738
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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