Gravity settling of Hanford single-shell tank sludges

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1999 · Separation Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1081/SS-100100713· OSTI ID:354476

Brooks, K P; Rector, D R; Smith, P A ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

The US Department of Energy plans to use gravity settling in million-gallon storage tanks while pretreating sludge on the Hanford site. To be considered viable in these large tanks, the supernatant must become clear, and the sludge must be concentrated in an acceptable time. These separations must occur over the wide range of conditions associated with sludge pretreatment. In the work reported here, gravity settling was studied with liter quantities of actual single-shell tank sludge from hanford Tank 241-C-107. Because of limited sludge availability, an approach was developed using the results of these liter-scale tests to predict full-scale operation. Samples were centrifuged at various g-forces to simulate compaction with higher layers of sludge. A semi-empirical settling model was then developed incorporating both the liter-scale settling data and the centrifuge compression results to describe the sludge behavior in a million-gallon tank. The settling model predicted that the compacted sludge solids would exceed 20 wt% in less than 30 days of settling in a 10-m-tall tank for all pretreatment steps.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 354476
• Report Number(s): CONF-9710103--
• Journal Information: Separation Science and Technology, Journal Name: Separation Science and Technology Journal Issue: 6-7 Vol. 34; ISSN 0149-6395; ISSN SSTEDS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
GRAVITATION
HANFORD RESERVATION
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REMEDIAL ACTION
SEDIMENTATION
SLUDGES
TANKS
WASHING