Fiscal Year 1999

Molten Salt Oxidation (MSO) is a promising alternative to incineration for the treatment of a variety of organic wastes. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has prepared a facility in which an integrated pilot-scale MSO treatment system is being tested and demonstrated. The system consists of a MSO vessel with a dedicated off-gas treatment system, a salt recycle system, feed preparation equipment, and a ceramic final waste forms immobilization system. This integrated system was designed and engineered based on operational experience with an engineering-scale reactor unit and extensive laboratory development on salt recycle and final forms preparation. The MSO/off-gas system has been operational since December 1997. The salt recycle system and the ceramic final forms immobilization became operational in May 1998. In FY98, we have tested the MSO facility with various organic feeds, including chlorinated solvents, tributyl phosphate/kerosene, PCB-contaminated waste oils and solvents, booties, plastic pellets, ion exchange resins, activated carbon, radioactive-spiked organics, and well-characterized low-level liquid mixed wastes. MSO is shown to be a versatile technology for hazardous waste treatment and may be a solution to many waste disposal problems in DOE sites. The results of the demonstration conducted in FY98 has been reported [1]. In FY99 (October 1998 to April 1999) we conducted further testing in the MSO/off-gas system with ion exchange resins, two real waste specimens, activated carbon, and TNT-loaded activated carbon, both at regular feed rates and higher feed rates up to a superficial gas velocity of 1.75 ft/s. We also drained the salt three times (SR7, SR8, SR9) in FY99 and sent the spent salts to the salt recycle system for further processing. This report presents the results obtained from the demonstration of the MSO/off-gas system and the salt recycle system from October 1998 to April 1999. We then shut down the operation and cleaned the equipment and the facility in May 1999