Interaction of tritium with oils and tritiated waste oil decontamination
- D. Mendeleyev Univ. of Chemical Technology of Russia, 9 Miusskaya Sq., Moscow 125047 (Russian Federation)
Mineral and synthetic oils used as lubricants or operating fluids in pumps are mixtures of branched or cyclic saturated hydrocarbons. They are chemically inert but their slow partial oxidation is possible even at room temperature. Specific activity of pump oils contacted with gaseous tritium for a long time may exceed 10{sup 13} Bq/kg. Studies of waste oils show that more than 90% of the radionuclide is bound with oxidation products. This selectivity is owned to predominant formation of quasifree tritons or {sup 3}HeT{sup +} ions when one of the two nuclei in the T{sub 2} molecule decays. The sequence of ion-molecule triton transport reactions is the mechanism responsible for accumulation of tritium by oxidation products with higher proton affinity. The most effective technique of oil decontamination is adsorption of tritiated species by polar adsorbents (silica gels, zeolites). The detritiation degree for these adsorbents amounts to 95%. Then complete thermal oxidative destruction can be used to convert adsorbed organic compounds into CO{sub 2} and water. Thus, adsorption, thermal oxidation and adsorbent regeneration may be proposed as the technology of tritium recycling since HTO returns to the isotope separation system. As a result, the radiation danger related with storage of high activity waste oils can be significantly decreased. (authors)
- OSTI ID:
- 22109416
- Journal Information:
- Fusion Science and Technology, Vol. 54, Issue 2; Conference: 8. international conference on tritium science and technology, Rochester, NY (United States), 16-21 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 6 refs; ISSN 1536-1055
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Tritium waste control project progress report, October--December 1975. [Tritiated waste decontamination by molecular excitation; catalytic exchange detritiation studies; development of shipping containers for tritiated liquid waste]
Tritiated waste management - tritiated oil packaging and decontamination