Evaluation of high-level waste vitrification feed preparation chemistry for an NCAW simulant, FY 1994: Alternate flowsheets (DRAFT)

High-level radioactive waste stored in tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Hanford Site will be pretreated to concentrate radioactive constituents and fed to the vitrification plant A flowsheet for feed preparation within the vitrification plant (based on the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP) design) called for HCOOH addition during the feed preparation step to adjust rheology and glass redox conditions. However, the potential for generating H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3} during treatment of high-level waste (HLW) with HCOOH was identified at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). Studies at the University of Georgia, under contract with Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) and PNL, have verified the catalytic role of noble metals (Pd, Rh, Ru), present in the waste, in the generation of H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3}. Both laboratory-scale and pilot-scale studies at SRTC have documented the H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3} generation phenomenal Because H{sub 2} and NH{sub 3} may create hazardous conditions in the vessel vapor space and offgas system of a vitrification plant, reducing the H{sub 2} generation rate and the NH{sub 3} generation to the lowest possible levels consistent with desired melter feed characteristics is important. The Fiscal Year 1993 and 1994 studies were conducted with simulated (non-radioactive), pre-treated neutralized current acid waste (NCAW). Neutralized current acid waste is a high-level waste originating from the plutonium/uranium extraction (PUREX) plant that has been partially denitrated with sugar, neutralized with NaOH, and is presently stored in double-shell tanks. The non-radioactive simulant used for the present study includes all of the trace components found in the waste, or substitutes a chemically similar element for radioactive or very toxic species. The composition and simulant preparation steps were chosen to best simulate the chemical processing characteristics of the actual waste