Sulfur Solubility in Low Activity Waste Glass and its Correlation to Melter Tolerance
Hanford low-activity waste (LAW) glasses with high sulfur concentrations are subject to salt segregation in the melter. Segregated salts hinder melter operation by corroding melter components and potentially shortening the life of the melter. To better predict the point at which salt accumulates on the melt surface, the development of sulfate solubility models are needed. Using a sulfur saturation method, crucible scale melts for 13 LAW glasses with varying sulfur solubilities were conducted. The resulting salt and glass compositions were reported and the change in component partitioning following the saturation process was examined to better understand potential changes in overall glass composition. It was shown that both Cr2O3 and Cl experience significant losses post saturation, with ~28% of Cr2O3 partitioning into the salt phase and Cl primarily volatilizing out of the melt (~23% partitioned to salt and ~40% lost as offgas). Due to the consistency in compositional changes between glasses these patterns can be accounted for during model development. Measured sulfur solubilities were also compared to previously reported melter tolerance data. It was found that crucible sulfur solubility ranged from 0.947 to 2.137 wt% SO3. The correlation between the crucible solubility and melter tolerance was high ( = 0.94), with the data showing a constant offset of -0.328 ± 0.021 wt% SO3. These results suggest that crucible scale sulfate solubility data can be used to accurately predict SO3 tolerance in the melter feed.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1568815
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-138953
- Journal Information:
- International Journal of Applied Glass Science, Vol. 10, Issue 4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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