Regulatory Off-Gas Analysis from the Evaporation of Hanford Simulated Waste Spiked with Organic Compounds

After strontium/transuranics removal by precipitation followed by cesium/technetium removal by ion exchange, remaining low activity waste in the Hanford River Protection Project Waste Treatment Plant is to be concentrated by evaporation prior to being mixed with glass formers and vitrified. To provide a technical basis to permit the waste treatment facility, a relatively organic-rich Hanford Tank 241-AN-107 waste simulant was spiked with 14 target volatile, semi-volatile and pesticide compounds, and evaporated under vacuum in a bench-scale natural circulation evaporator fitted with an industrial stack off-gas sampler at the Savannah River Technology Center. An evaporator material balance for the target organics was calculated by combining liquid stream mass and analytical data with off-gas emissions estimates obtained using EPA SW-846 Methods. Volatile and light semi-volatile organic compounds in the waste simulant were found to largely exit through the condenser vent, while heavier semi-volatiles and pesticides generally remain in the evaporator concentrate. An OLI Environmental Simulation Program evaporator model successfully predicted operating conditions and the experimental distribution of the fed target organics exiting in the concentrate, condensate and off-gas streams with the exception of a few semi-volatile and pesticide compounds. Comparison with Henry's Law predictions suggests the OLI ESP model is constrained by available literature data