In situ determination of rheological properties and void fraction in Hanford Waste Tank 241-SY-101

This report presents the results of the operation of the void fraction instrument (VFI) and ball rheometer in Hanford Tank 241-SY-101, which contains approximately one million gallons of radioactive waste. These instruments provided the first direct assay of the waste condition in the tank after more than a year of mixer pump operation. The two instruments were deployed in the tank in late 1994 and early 1995 to gather much-needed data on the effect prolonged mixer pump operation has on gas retention in the waste. The information supplied by these instruments has filled a great gap in the quantitative knowledge of the waste condition. The results show that the solids are well-mixed by the current mixer pump to within less than a meter of the tank bottom. Undisturbed sludge remains only on the lowest 10--30 cm and contains 10--12% void. The mixed slurry above contains less than 1% void and has no measurable yield strength and a shear-thinning viscosity of approximately 6 Poise at 1 sec{sup {minus}1}. Estimating the gas volumes in each of the four layers based on VFI data yields a total of 221 {+-} 57 m{sup 3} (7,800 {+-} 2,000 SCF) of gas at 1 atmosphere. Given the current waste level of 10.2 m (400 inches), the degassed waste level would be 9.8 m (386 inches). These results confirm that the mixer pump in Tank 241-SY-101 has performed the job it was installed to do--thoroughly mix the waste to release stored gas and prevent gas accumulation