Noble gas removal and concentration by combining fluorocarbon absorption and adsorption technologies

Technical Report · Wed Aug 04 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:5112064

Little, D K; Eby, R S; Norton, J L; Patton, J L; Schultz, R M; Varagona, J M

Since the late 1960s, the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, in conjunction with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has developed a fluorocarbon-based selective absorption system for removal of /sup 85/Kr and /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ from nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. Process performance and reliability have been well demonstrated with over 10 years of operation using simulated reactor and reprocessing plant dissolver off-gases and three generations of pilot plant scale equipment. A major development of this work is a combination absorption and stripping column which results in a simplified process with improved reliability and lower cost. The process has shown excellent flexibility in simultaneously removing and concentrating the radioactive gases of interest, i.e., > 99% removal is easily obtainable for Kr, Xe, and CO/sub 2/. With the incoming feed gas containing around 10 ppM Kr, the product concentration of Kr from the single column is typically in the 1 to 10% range. Additional purification of the single-column product allows nearly pure components (> 90% Kr) to be obtained, thereby minimizing final storage or disposal requirements. Several alternatives for product purification have been investigated. In one system, 13X molecular sieve is used to first remove the process solvent vapor. Selective adsorption on 5A molecular sieves and silver mordenite is then used to separately remove the already concentrated CO/sub 2/ and Xe, respectively. At this point Kr, which was withdrawn from the column at the present concentration level, has now been further purified by the removal of the other components and can be collected in a cold trap. This paper summarizes the performance capabilities of the single-column and discusses product purification system options, including selective desublimation, solid sorbent, and cryogenic charcoal adsorption techniques.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5112064
• Report Number(s): K/PS-5002; CONF-820833-8; ON: DE82019469
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ADSORBENTS
ADSORPTION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON ISOTOPES
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHARCOAL
CONSOLIDATED FUEL REPROCESSING PROGRAM
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRYOGENICS
DATA
DIAGRAMS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOWSHEETS
FLUIDS
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INFORMATION
INORGANIC ION EXCHANGERS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
KRYPTON 85
KRYPTON ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MINERALS
MOLECULAR SIEVES
MORDENITE
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OFF-GAS SYSTEMS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PILOT PLANTS
PROCESSING
PURIFICATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
REMOVAL
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SILICATE MINERALS
SORPTION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
XENON
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZEOLITES