Formic Acid Requirement for Savannah River Site Defense Waste Processing Facility Melter Feed Preparation (U)

by C. W. Hsu, Westinghouse Savannah River Co, Aiken, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: High Level Radioactive Waste Management 1991

Abstract:

The Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) will vitrify the high-level radioactive waste into a borosilicate glass wasteform using a slurry-fed, joule-heated melter. Formic acid is used to treat the sludge slurry for melter feed preparation. Both a minimum formate requirement and a maximum allowable formate level need to be established to adequately prepare the sludge for melter feed. The data from the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) Scale Glass Melter (SGM), Integrated DWPF Melter System (IDMS), and research mini-melter runs were used for this purpose. The stoichiometry for major reactions during formic acid treatment was revised to reflect the more predominant chemical reactions and their yields. A minimum formic acid requirement was established according to this revised stoichiometry. Methods for determining the minimum level of formic acid were specified. An operating envelope that includes the maximum total formate level and the minimum nitrate level, was also proposed.

Subject Headings: Radioactive wastes | Acids | Waste sites | Waste treatment plants | Sludge | Rivers and streams | Recycling | South Carolina | United States

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