Evaluation and study of advanced optical contamination, deposition, measurement, and removal techniques

A program is described to design, fabricate and install an experimental work chamber assembly (WCA) to provide a wide range of experimental capability. The WCA incorporates several techniques for studying the kinetics of contaminant films and their effect on optical surfaces. It incorporates the capability for depositing both optical and contaminant films on temperature-controlled samples, and for in-situ measurements of the vacuum ultraviolet reflectance. Ellipsometer optics are mounted on the chamber for film thickness determinations, and other features include access ports for radiation sources and instrumentation. Several supporting studies were conducted to define specific chamber requirements, to determine the sensitivity of the measurement techniques to be incorporated in the chamber, and to establish procedures for handling samples prior to their installation in the chamber. A bibliography and literature survey of contamination-related articles is included

Status report on solid control in leachates

Sludge pretreatment will involve some combination of washing and leaching with sodium hydroxide solutions to remove soluble salts and amphoteric material such as alumina. It is of paramount importance to prevent gelation and uncontrolled solid formation in tanks, transfer lines, and process equipment. An evaluation of results of washing and caustic leaching indicates that washing is more effective in dissolving sludge solids than subsequent sodium hydroxide treatment. Only aluminum and chromium were removed more effectively by caustic leaching than by water washing

Conventional and Dense Gas Techniques for the Production of Liposomes: A Review

The aim of this review paper is to compare the potential of various techniques developed for production of homogenous, stable liposomes. Traditional techniques, such as Bangham, detergent depletion, ether/ethanol injection, reverse-phase evaporation and emulsion methods, were compared with the recent advanced techniques developed for liposome formation. The major hurdles for scaling up the traditional methods are the consumption of large quantities of volatile organic solvent, the stability and homogeneity of the liposomal product, as well as the lengthy multiple steps involved. The new methods have been designed to alleviate the current issues for liposome formulation. Dense gas liposome techniques are still in their infancy, however they have remarkable advantages in reducing the use of organic solvents, providing fast, single-stage production and producing stable, uniform liposomes. Techniques such as the membrane contactor and heating methods are also promising as they eliminate the use of organic solvent, however high temperature is still required for processing

Prevention of solids formation: Results of the FY 1999 studies

Tank farm operations at Hanford and Savannah River have been adversely affected by unintentional solids formations. At Hanford, a new cross-site transfer line had to be built because nearly all the original transfer lines were no longer operational due to plugs. At Savannah River, operations at its evaporator system were suspended while a plug in the gravity drain line was physically removed at considerable expense. The plugs as Hanford and Savannah River, which have been characterized, were primarily due to sodium phosphate and sodium aluminosilicate, respectively

Sludge treatment studies

Solid formation in filtered leachates and wash solutions was seen in five of the six sludges treated by Enhanced Sludge Washing. Solid formation in process solutions takes a variety of forms: very fine particles, larger particulate solids, solids floating in solution like egg whites, gels, crystals, and coatings on sample containers. A gel-like material that formed in a filtered leachate from Enhanced Sludge Washing of Hanford T-104 sludge was identified as natrophosphate, Na{sub 7}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2}F{center_dot}19H{sub 2}O. A particulate material that formed in a filtered caustic leachate from Hanford SX-113 sludge contained sodium and silicon. This could be any of a host of sodium silicates in the NaOH-SiO{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O system. Acidic treatment of Hanford B-202 sludge with 1 M, 3 M, and 6 M HNO{sub 3} sequential leaching resulted in complete dissolution at 75 C, but not at ambient temperature. This treatment resulted in the formation of solids in filtered leachates. Analyses of the solids revealed that a gel material contained silica with some potassium, calcium, iron, and manganese. Two phases were embedded in the gel. One was barium sulfate. The other could not be identified, but it was determined that the only metal it contained was bismuth