TRANSIENT HEAT TRANSFER MODEL FOR SRS WASTE TANK OPERATIONS

Conference · Tue Mar 27 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:902848

Lee, S; Richard Dimenna, R

A transient heat balance model was developed to assess the impact of a Submersible Mixer Pump (SMP) on waste temperature during the process of waste mixing and removal for the Type-I Savannah River Site (SRS) tanks. The model results will be mainly used to determine the SMP design impacts on the waste tank temperature during operations and to develop a specification for a new SMP design to replace existing long-shaft mixer pumps used during waste removal. The model will also be used to provide input to the operation planning. This planning will be used as input to pump run duration in order to maintain temperature requirements within the tank during SMP operation. The analysis model took a parametric approach. A series of the modeling analyses was performed to examine how submersible mixer pumps affect tank temperature during waste removal operation in the Type-I tank. The model domain included radioactive decay heat load, two SMP's, and one Submersible Transfer Pump (STP) as heat source terms. The present model was benchmarked against the test data obtained by the tank measurement to examine the quantitative thermal response of the tank and to establish the reference conditions of the operating variables under no SMP operation. The results showed that the model predictions agreed with the test data of the waste temperatures within about 10%. Transient modeling calculations for two potential scenarios of sludge mixing and removal operations have been made to estimate transient waste temperatures within a Type-I waste tank. When two 200-HP submersible mixers and 12 active cooling coils are continuously operated in 100-in tank level and 40 C initial temperature for 40 days since the initiation of mixing operation, waste temperature rises about 9 C in 48 hours at a maximum. Sensitivity studies for the key operating variables were performed. The sensitivity results showed that the chromate cooling coil system provided the primary cooling mechanism to remove process heat from the tank during operation.

• Research Organization: SRS
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-96SR18500
• OSTI ID: 902848
• Report Number(s): WSRC-STI-2006-00364
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HEAT TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MIXERS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SLUDGES
STORAGE FACILITIES
THERMAL HYDRAULICS
WASTE RETRIEVAL