Abstract

Effluent streams from the Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) will transfer to the tank farms and to the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). These streams will contain entrained solvent. A significant portion of the Strip Effluent (SE) pipeline (i.e., acid stream containing Isopar{reg_sign} L residues) length is within one inch of a sludge stream. Personnel envisioned the sludge stream temperature may reach 100 C during operation. The nearby SE stream may receive heat from the sludge stream and reach temperatures that may lead to flammability issues once the contents of the SE stream discharge into a larger reservoir. To this end, personnel used correlations from the literature to estimate the maximum temperature rise the SE stream may experience if the nearby sludge stream reaches boiling temperature. Several calculation methods were used to determine the temperature rise of the SE stream. One method considered a heat balance equation under steady state that employed correlation functions to estimate heat transfer rate. This method showed the maximum temperature of the acid stream (SE) may exceed 45 C when the nearby sludge stream is 80 C or higher. A second method used an effectiveness calculation used to predict the heat transfer rate in more » single pass heat exchanger. By envisioning the acid and sludge pipes as a parallel flow pipe-to-pipe heat exchanger, this method provides a conservative estimation of the maximum temperature rise. Assuming the contact area (i.e., the area over which the heat transfer occurs) is the whole pipe area, the results found by this method nearly matched the results found with the previous calculation method. It is recommended that the sludge stream be maintained below 80 C to minimize a flammable vapor hazard from occurring. « le Document type: Report

Abstract

The Salt Disposition Integration (SDI) portfolio of projects provides the infrastructure within existing Liquid Waste facilities to support the startup and long term operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). Within SDI, the Blend and Feed Project will equip existing waste tanks in the Tank Farms to serve as Blend Tanks where 300,000-800,000 gallons of salt solution will be blended in 1.3 million gallon tanks and qualified for use as feedstock for SWPF. Blending requires the miscible salt solutions from potentially multiple source tanks per batch to be well mixed without disturbing settled sludge solids that may be present in a Blend Tank. Disturbing solids may be problematic both from a feed quality perspective as well as from a process safety perspective where hydrogen release from the sludge is a potential flammability concern. To develop the necessary technical basis for the design and operation of blending equipment, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) completed scaled blending and transfer pump tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. A 94 inch diameter pilot-scale blending tank, including tank internals such as the blending pump, transfer pump, removable cooling coils, and center column, were used in this research. The test tank represents a 1/10.85 scaled version of an 85 foot diameter, Type IIIA, nuclear waste tank that may be typical of Blend Tanks used in SDI. Specifically, Tank 50 was selected as the tank to be modeled per the SRR, Project Engineering Manager. SRNL blending tests investigated various fixed position, non-rotating, dual nozzle pump designs, including a blending pump model provided by the blend pump vendor, Curtiss Wright (CW). Primary research goals were to assess blending times and to evaluate incipient sludge disturbance for waste tanks. Incipient sludge disturbance was defined by SRR and SRNL as minor blending of settled sludge from the tank bottom into suspension due to blending pump operation, where the sludge level was shown to remain constant. To experimentally model the sludge layer, a very thin, pourable, sludge simulant was conservatively used for all testing. To experimentally model the liquid, supernate layer above the sludge in waste tanks, two salt solution simulants were used, which provided a bounding range of supernate properties. One solution was water (H{sub 2}O + NaOH), and the other was an inhibited, more viscous salt solution. The research performed and data obtained significantly advances the understanding of fluid mechanics, mixing theory and CFD modeling for nuclear waste tanks by benchmarking CFD results to actual experimental data. This research significantly bridges the gap between previous CFD models and actual field experiences in real waste tanks. A finding of the 2009, DOE, Slurry Retrieval, Pipeline Transport and Plugging, and Mixing Workshop was that CFD models were inadequate to assess blending processes in nuclear waste tanks. One recommendation from that Workshop was that a validation, or bench marking program be performed for CFD modeling versus experiment. This research provided experimental data to validate and correct CFD models as they apply to mixing and blending in nuclear waste tanks. Extensive SDI research was a significant step toward bench marking and applying CFD modeling. This research showed that CFD models not only agreed with experiment, but demonstrated that the large variance in actual experimental data accounts for misunderstood discrepancies between CFD models and experiments. Having documented this finding, SRNL was able to provide correction factors to be used with CFD models to statistically bound full scale CFD results. Through the use of pilot scale tests performed for both types of pumps and available engineering literature, SRNL demonstrated how to effectively apply CFD results to salt batch mixing in full scale waste tanks. In other words, CFD models were in error prior to development of experimental correction factors determined during this research, which provided a technique to use CFD models for salt batch mixing and transfer pump operations. This major scientific advance in mixing technology resulted in multi-million dollar cost savings to SRR. New techniques were developed for both experiment and analysis to complete this research. Supporting this success, research findings are summarized in the Conclusions section of this report, and technical recommendations for design and operation are included in this section of the report. Document type: Report

Abstract

Millions of gallons of radioactive liquid and sludge wastes must be retrieved from underground storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy sites to be staged and transferred to treatment facilities and processed into final waste forms. Retrieval operations involve mixing solid and liquid wastes to create slurries that can be transported via underground pipelines to specified locations for treatment or disposal. A major concern during the transfer operations is plugging of the transfer lines. Blocked transfer lines could significantly escalate the remediation costs both in terms of pipeline replacement costs and costs of maintenance of inactive facilities and operating personnel. Document type: Report

Abstract

Test results of sludge slurry transport through the Interarea Transfer Line (IAL) Mock-up Facility showed little risk of plugging the interarea pipelines with sludge slurry. Plug-free operation of the pipeline was successfully demonstrated by worst case IAL operating scenarios. Pipeline pressure gradients were measured vs. flow rate for comparison with a computer model over a range of sludge slurry rheological properties. A mathematical computer model developed by L. M. Lee is included in this report which will predict pressure drop for Bingham plastic fluid flow in a pipeline. IAL pluggage situations and pumping requirements may be realized from this model. 4 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs. Document type: Report

Abstract

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has millions of gallons of radioactive liquid and sludge wastes that must be retrieved from underground storage tanks, transferred to treatment facilities, and processed to a final waste form. The wastes will be removed from the current storage tanks by mobilizing the sludge wastes and mixing them with the liquid wastes to create slurries. Each slurry would then be transferred by pipeline to the desired destination. To reduce the risk of plugging a pipeline, the transport properties (e.g., density, suspended solids concentration, viscosity, particle size range) of the slurry should be determined to be within acceptable limits prior to transfer. These properties should also be monitored and controlled within specified limits while the slurry transfer is in progress. The DOE issued a call for proposals for developing on-line instrumentation to measure the transport properties of slurries. In response to the call for proposals, several researchers submitted proposals and were funded to develop slurry monitoring instruments. These newly developed DOE instruments are currently in the prototype stage. Before the instruments were installed in a radioactive application, the DOE wanted to evaluate them under nonradioactive conditions to determine if they were accurate, reliable, and dependable. The goal of this project was to test the performance of the newly developed DOE instruments along with several commercially available instruments. The baseline method for comparison utilized the results from grab-sample analyses. Document type: Report