Qualification of the Nippon Instrumentation for use in Measuring Mercury at the Defense Waste Processing Facility
The Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 system installed in 221-S M-14 has been qualified for use. The qualification was a side-by-side comparison of the Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 system with the currently used Bacharach Mercury Analyzer. The side-by-side testing included standards for instrument calibration verifications, spiked samples and unspiked samples. The standards were traceable back to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The side-by-side work included the analysis of Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) Receipt, SRAT Product, and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) samples. With the qualification of the Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 system in M-14, the DWPF lab will be able to perform a head to head comparison of a second Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 system once the system is installed. The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) analyzes receipt and product samples from the Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) to determine the mercury (Hg) concentration in the sludge slurry. The SRAT receipt is typically sampled and analyzed for the first ten SRAT batches of a new sludge batch to obtain an average Hg concentration. This average Hg concentration is then used to determine the amount of steam stripping required during the concentration/reflux step of the SRAT cycle to achieve a less than 0.6 wt% Hg in the SRAT product solids. After processing is complete, the SRAT product is sampled and analyzed for mercury to ensure that the mercury concentration does not exceed the 0.45 wt% limit in the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME). The DWPF Laboratory utilizes Bacharach Analyzers to support these Hg analyses at this facility. These analyzers are more than 10 years old, and they are no longer supported by the manufacturer. Due to these difficulties, the Bacharach Analyzers are to be replaced by new Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 systems. DWPF issued a Technical Task Request (TTR) for the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to assist in the qualification of the new systems. SRNL prepared a task technical and quality assurance (TT&QA) plan that outlined the activities that are necessary and sufficient to meet the objectives of the TTR. In addition, TT&QA plan also included a test plan that provided guidance to the DWPF Lab in collecting the data needed to qualify the new Nippon Mercury/RA-3000 systems.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 1018311
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-STI-2010-00612; TRN: US201114%%129
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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