Engineering development of an absorption process for the concentration and collection of krypton and xenon : third summary progress report, January through June 1968 /

A continuous absorption process for the separation of krypton and xenon from contaminated gas streams is being investigated in development studies at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In this process, krypton and xenon are preferentially removed from an incoming gas stream by selective dissolution in a fluorocarbon solvent, such as refrigerant-12. The liquid stream is then subjected to a series of fractionation operations which yield a product gas stream, rich in the noble gases, and an essentially pure solvent stream, for recycle. The major part of teh ORGDP program, i.e., pilot plant testing, is supplemented by conceptual plant design and optimization studies. During this report period, installation of the pilot plant equipment items was completed, and shakedown tests, using refrigerant-11 as an alternative solvent, were begun. Preliminary data from these tests have been encouraging. Conceptual design studies were limited to a literature survey for data related to the radiolytic decomposition of the process solvent. Work on the assembly of a computer code package for use in the optimization studies was completed, with incorporation of sizing and cost estimating routines into the material balance program."Subject Category: Reactor Technology.""Date of Issue: March 27, 1969."Includes bibliographical references (page 15).A continuous absorption process for the separation of krypton and xenon from contaminated gas streams is being investigated in development studies at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In this process, krypton and xenon are preferentially removed from an incoming gas stream by selective dissolution in a fluorocarbon solvent, such as refrigerant-12. The liquid stream is then subjected to a series of fractionation operations which yield a product gas stream, rich in the noble gases, and an essentially pure solvent stream, for recycle. The major part of teh ORGDP program, i.e., pilot plant testing, is supplemented by conceptual plant design and optimization studies. During this report period, installation of the pilot plant equipment items was completed, and shakedown tests, using refrigerant-11 as an alternative solvent, were begun. Preliminary data from these tests have been encouraging. Conceptual design studies were limited to a literature survey for data related to the radiolytic decomposition of the process solvent. Work on the assembly of a computer code package for use in the optimization studies was completed, with incorporation of sizing and cost estimating routines into the material balance program.U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Contract ;Mode of access: Internet