Operation of Bubblers in the Savannah River Site Defense Waste Processing Facility Melter - 12166
- Defense Waste Processing Facility, Savannah River Remediation LLC, Savanah River Site, Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)
- EnergySolutions, LLC, Columbia, MD 21046 (United States)
Savannah River Remediation (SRR) LLC acquired the liquid waste contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in the summer of 2009. In order to achieve the main goal of the contract, closing of High Level Waste (HLW) tanks, it was necessary to process more waste throughout the SRS liquid waste facilities. The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) would need to increase its production rate of radioactive waste glass filled canisters as a part of the plan to achieve this commitment. To attain the increased production rate, four bubblers were installed in the DWPF Melter in September 2010 to agitate the DWPF Melter glass pool. The four bubblers were designed to be installed in existing nozzles on the top-head of the DWPF Melter. The design and fabrication of the four (4) bubblers was accomplished through SRR critical subcontractor EnergySolutions LLC. In addition to the existing bubbler design, a new design concept has been approved and is in the process of fabrication. The new design will allow for the lower end (inside melter) of the bubbler to be replaced while the upper end (outside melter) of the bubbler is reused to minimize cost and waste at the DWPF. The bubblers have been operating in the DWPF Melter for approximately 1 year. The originally installed bubbler set was replaced in January 2011. The bubblers were visually examined once removed from the melter and showed minimal signs of wear. Material testing of the Inconel 690 is being performed to determine if the bubblers operational life can be extended. The use of the bubblers has changed the dynamics within the melter glass pool. This is shown through indications that the bubblers have increased the glass pool circulation. Overall, performance of the bubblers has been encouraging and the DWPF Melter has seen a significant improvement in its ability to process waste since the bubbler installation. The installation of the bubblers accomplished the goal of increasing the glass production capability of DWPF Melter. Currently the DWPF Melter is producing glass at a rate of 91 to 93 kg of glass/hour (200 to 205 lbs of glass/hour). As a result of this increased glass production rate the DWPF has been able to produce the most canisters since radioactive operations began in 1996. These accomplishments can be directly attributed to the bubblers ability to increase mixing/convection within the glass melt pool thereby improving the heat transfer from melt pool to the cold cap. Further, this has helped SRR take a significant step forward toward closing the HLW tanks at the aggressive pace set forth in the most recent liquid waste contract at the SRS. As a path forward, the DWPF is continuing work with SRNL to complete the final metallurgical examination of the bubbler samples to help determine methods to increase the design life of the bubblers beyond the current 6-month restriction. Also, the DWPF is continuing work with EnergySolutions on a new bubbler design concept to minimize cost and waste at the DWPF. The new design will allow for the lower end (inside melter) of the bubbler to be replaced while the upper end (outside melter) of the bubbler is reused. This new design is currently in the final design approval phase and EnergySolutions will be selecting a fabricator to begin the work to build bubbler sets 5 and 6 using the new design. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22293467
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-14-WM-12166; TRN: US14V1121114991
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2012: Waste Management 2012 conference on improving the future in waste management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 1 Mar 2012; Other Information: Country of input: France; 3 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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