Durability Testing of Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming Products

Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) is being considered as a potential technology for the immobilization of a wide variety of radioactive wastes but especially aqueous high sodium wastes at the Hanford site, at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The FBSR technology converts organic compounds to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O, converts nitrate/nitrite species to N{sub 2}, and produces a solid residue through reactions with superheated steam, the fluidizing media. If clay is added during processing a ''mineralized'' granular waste form can be produced. The mineral components of the waste form are primarily Na-Al-Si (NAS) feldspathoid minerals with cage-like and ring structures and iron bearing spinel minerals. The cage and ring structured minerals atomically bond radionuclides like Tc{sup 99} and Cs{sup 137} and anions such as SO{sub 4}, I, F, and Cl. The spinel minerals appear to stabilize Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous species such as Cr and Ni. Durability testing of the FBSR products was performed using ASTM C1285 (Product Consistency Test) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). The FBSR mineral products (bed and fines) evaluated in this study were found to be two orders of magnitude more durable than the Hanford Low Activity Waste (LAW) glass requirement of 2 g/m{sup 2} release of Na{sup +}. The PCT responses for the FBSR samples tested were consistent with results from previous FBSR Hanford LAW product testing. Differences in the response can be explained by the minerals formed and their effects on PCT leachate chemistry