Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Volatilization from borosilicate glass melts of simulated Savannah River Plant waste

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6227876
Laboratory scale studies determined the rates at which the semivolatile components sodium, boron, lithium, cesium, and ruthenium volatilized from borosilicate glass melts that contained simulated Savannah River Plant waste sludge. Sodium and boric oxides volatilize as the thermally stable compound sodium metaborate, and accounted for approx. 90% of the semivolatiles that evolved. The amounts of semivolatiles that evolved increased linearly with the logarithm of the sodium content of the glass-forming mixture. Cesium volatility was slightly suppressed when titanium dioxide was added to the melt, but was unaffected when cesium was added to the melt as a cesium-loaded zeolite rather than as a cesium carbonate solution. Volatility of ruthenium was not suppressed when the glass melt was blanketed with a nonoxidizing atmosphere. Trace quantities of mercury were removed from vapor streams by adsorption onto a silver-exchanged zeolite. A bed containing silver in the ionic state removed more than 99.9% of the mercury and had a high chemisorption capacity. Beds of lead-, copper-, and copper sulfide-exchanged zeolite-X and also an unexchanged zeolite-X were tested. None of these latter beds had high removal efficiency and high chemisorption capacity.
Research Organization:
Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
EY-76-C-09-0001
OSTI ID:
6227876
Report Number(s):
DP-MS-78-13; CONF-780819-26
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English