ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL FOR HYDROGEN GENERATION DURING GROUTING OPERATIONS IN C-REACTOR DISASSEMBLY BASIN
C-reactor disassembly basin is being prepared for deactivation and decommissioning (D and D). D and D activities will consist primarily of immobilizing contaminated scrap components and structures in a grout-like formulation. The disassembly basin will be the first area of the C-reactor building that will be immobilized. The scrap components contain aluminum alloy materials. Any aluminum will corrode very rapidly when it comes in contact with the very alkaline grout (pH > 13), and as a result would produce hydrogen gas. To address this potential deflagration/explosion hazard, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) reviewed and evaluated existing experimental and analytical studies of this issue to determine if any process constraints are necessary. The risk of accumulation of a flammable mixture of hydrogen above the surface of the water during the injection of grout into the C-reactor disassembly area is low if the assessment of the aluminum surface area is reliable. Conservative calculations estimate that there is insufficient aluminum present in the basin areas to result in significant hydrogen accumulation in this local region. The minimum safety margin (or factor) on a 60% LFL criterion for a local region of the basin (i.e., Horizontal Tube Storage) was greater than 3. Calculations also demonstrated that a flammable situation in the vapor space above the basin is unlikely. Although these calculations are conservative, there are some measures that may be taken to further minimize the risk of developing a flammable condition during grouting operations.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 1028807
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-STI-2011-00364; TRN: US201201%%31
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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