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U.S. Department of Energy
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Effect of glass composition on surface tension, viscosity, and redox equilibria of initial DWPF (Defense Waste Processing Facility) glass

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6975286
A statistically-designed mixture study was undertaken to determine the effect that compositional variation in simulated Savannah River nuclear waste glass has upon melt surface tension, viscosity and Fe/sup 2 +//Fe/sup 3 +/ equilibria. In each case, linear models adequately predicted these properties from the SiO/sub 2/, B/sub 2/O/sub 3/, Na/sub 2/O, Li/sub 2/O and K/sub 2/O contents of the borosilicate glass. Surface tension at 1150/degree/C increases with increasing SiO/sub 2/ or Li/sub 2/O content, viscosity increases with increasing SiO/sub 2/ content and the Fe/sup 2 +//Fe/sup 3 +/ ratio increases with additions of SiO/sub 2/, B/sub 2/O/sub 3/ or Li/sub 2/O at constant temperature and partial pressure of oxygen. Addition of the other oxides decreases the values of these properties. Surface tension was additionally found to decrease under more oxidizing melt conditions and with water vapor present in the atmosphere. The Fe/sup 2 +//Fe/sup 3 +/ ratio only changed by 0.05 over the range of compositions tested, which suggests that compositional variation in the vitrification process will likely not adversely affect its use as a monitor of the glass oxidation state. 18 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.
Research Organization:
Savannah River Lab., Aiken, SC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-76SR00001
OSTI ID:
6975286
Report Number(s):
DPST-86-740; ON: DE88015687
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English