Final Report - DuraMelter 100 Tests to Support LAW Glass Formulation Correlation Development, VSL-06R6480-1, Rev. 0

This report describes the results of work and testing specified by Test Specifications 24590-LAW-TSP-RT-04-004, Rev. 0, Test Plans VSL-05T5480-1, Rev. 0 and Text Exceptions 24590-LAW-TEF-RT-05-00002. The work and any associated testing followed established quality assurance requirements and was conducted as authorized. The descriptions provided in this test report are an accurate account of both the conduct of the work and the data collected. Results required by the Test Plan are reported. Also reported are any unusual or anomalous occurences that are different from the starting hypotheses. The test results and this report have been reviewed and verified

Final Report - Glass Formulation Development and Testing for DWPF High AI2O3 HLW Sludges, VSL-10R1670-1, Rev. 0, dated 12/20/10

The principal objective of the work described in this Final Report is to develop and identify glass frit compositions for a specified DWPF high-aluminum based sludge waste stream that maximizes waste loading while maintaining high production rate for the waste composition provided by ORP/SRS. This was accomplished through a combination of crucible-scale, vertical gradient furnace, and confirmation tests on the DM100 melter system. The DM100-BL unit was selected for these tests. The DM100-BL was used for previous tests on HLW glass compositions that were used to support subsequent tests on the HLW Pilot Melter. It was also used to process compositions with waste loadings limited by aluminum, bismuth, and chromium, to investigate the volatility of cesium and technetium during the vitrification of an HLW AZ-102 composition, to process glass formulations at compositional and property extremes, and to investigate crystal settling on a composition that exhibited one percent crystals at 963{degrees}C (i.e., close to the WTP limit). The same melter was selected for the present tests in order to maintain comparisons between the previously collected data. The tests provide information on melter processing characteristics and off-gas data, including formation of secondary phases and partitioning. Specific objectives for the melter tests are as follows: Determine maximum glass production rates without bubbling for a simulated SRS Sludge Batch 19 (SB19). Demonstrate a feed rate equivalent to 1125 kg/m{sup 2}/day glass production using melt pool bubbling. Process a high waste loading glass composition with the simulated SRS SB19 waste and measure the quality of the glass product. Determine the effect of argon as a bubbling gas on waste processing and the glass product including feed processing rate, glass redox, melter emissions, etc.. Determine differences in feed processing and glass characteristics for SRS SB19 waste simulated by the co-precipitated and direct-hydroxide methods. The above tests were proposed based on previous tests for WTP in which there were few differences in the melter processing characteristics, such as processing rate and melter emissions, between precipitated and direct hydroxide simulants, even though there were differences in rheological properties. To the extent this similarity is found also for simulants for SRS HLW, the direct hydroxide methods may offer the potential for faster, simpler, and cheaper simulant production. There was no plan to match the yield stress and particle size of the direct hydroxide simulant to that of the precipitated simulant because that would have increased the preparation cost and complexity and defeated the purpose of the tests. These objectives were addressed by first developing a series of glass frits and then conducting a crucible scale study to determine the waste loading achievable for the waste composition and to select the preferred frit. Waste loadings were increased until the limits of a glass property were exceeded experimentally. Glass properties for evaluation included: viscosity, electrical conductivity, crystallinity (including liquidus temperature and nepheline formation after canister centerline cooling (CCC) heat-treatment), gross glass phase separation, and the 7- day Product Consistency Test (PCT, ASTM-1285) response. Glass property limits were based upon the constraints used for DWPF process control

Melter Throughput Enhancements for High-Iron HLW

This report describes work performed to develop and test new glass and feed formulations in order to increase glass melting rates in high waste loading glass formulations for HLW with high concentrations of iron. Testing was designed to identify glass and melter feed formulations that optimize waste loading and waste processing rate while meeting all processing and product quality requirements. The work included preparation and characterization of crucible melts to assess melt rate using a vertical gradient furnace system and to develop new formulations with enhanced melt rate. Testing evaluated the effects of waste loading on glass properties and the maximum waste loading that can be achieved. The results from crucible-scale testing supported subsequent DuraMelter 100 (DM100) tests designed to examine the effects of enhanced glass and feed formulations on waste processing rate and product quality. The DM100 was selected as the platform for these tests due to its extensive previous use in processing rate determination for various HLW streams and glass compositions

Chaperone-assisted translocation of a polymer through a nanopore

Using Langevin dynamics simulations, we investigate the dynamics of chaperone-assisted translocation of a flexible polymer through a nanopore. We find that increasing the binding energy $\epsilon$ between the chaperone and the chain and the chaperone concentration $N_c$ can greatly improve the translocation probability. Particularly, with increasing the chaperone concentration a maximum translocation probability is observed for weak binding. For a fixed chaperone concentration, the histogram of translocation time $\tau$ has a transition from long-tailed distribution to Gaussian distribution with increasing $\epsilon$. $\tau$ rapidly decreases and then almost saturates with increasing binding energy for short chain, however, it has a minimum for longer chains at lower chaperone concentration. We also show that $\tau$ has a minimum as a function of the chaperone concentration. For different $\epsilon$, a nonuniversal dependence of $\tau$ on the chain length $N$ is also observed. These results can be interpreted by characteristic entropic effects for flexible polymers induced by either crowding effect from high chaperone concentration or the intersegmental binding for the high binding energy.Comment: 10 pages, to appear in J. Am. Chem. So

Enhanced Sulfate Management in HLW Glass Formulations VSL12R2540-1 REV 0

The Low Activity Waste (LAW) tanks that are scheduled to provide the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) with waste feeds contain significant amounts of sulfate. The sulfate content in the LAW feeds is sufficiently high that a separate molten sulfate salt phase may form on top of the glass melt during the vitrification process unless suitable glass formulations are employed and sulfate levels are controlled. Since the formation of the salt phase is undesirable from many perspectives, mitigation approaches had to be developed. Considerable progress has been made and reported by the Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) in enhancing sulfate incorporation into LAW glass melts and developing strategies to manage and mitigate the risks associated with high-sulfate feeds

WASTE LOADING ENHANCEMENTS FOR HANFORD LAW GLASSES VLS-10R1790-1 FINAL REPORT REV 0 12/1/2010

About 50 million gallons of high-level mixed waste is currently stored in underground tanks at The United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford site in the State of Washington. The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) will provide DOE's Office of River Protection (ORP) with a means of treating this waste by vitrification for subsequent disposal. The tank waste will be separated into low- and high-activity waste fractions, which will then be vitrified respectively into Immobilized Low Activity Waste (ILAW) and Immobilized High Level Waste (IHLW) products. The ILAW product will be disposed in an engineered facility on the Hanford site while the IHLW product will likely be directed to a national deep geological disposal facility for high-level nuclear waste. The ILAW and IHLW products must meet a variety of requirements with respect to protection of the environment before they can be accepted for disposal. The Office of River Protection is currently examining options to optimize the Low Activity Waste (LAW) Facility and LAW glass waste form. One option under evaluation is to enhance the waste processing rate of the vitrification plant currently under construction. It is likely that the capacity of the LAW vitrification plant can be increased incrementally by implementation of a variety of low-risk, high-probability changes, either separately or in combination. These changes include: (1) Operating at the higher processing rates demonstrated at the LAW pilot melter; (2) Increasing the glass pool surface area within the existing external melter envelope; (3) Increasing the glass waste loading; and (4) Operating the melter at a slightly higher temperature. The Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) of The Catholic University of America (CUA) and Energy Solutions, Inc. have evaluated several of these potential incremental improvements for ORP in support of its evaluation of WTP LAW facility optimization. Some of these incremental improvements have been tested at VSL including increasing the waste loading, increasing the processing temperature, and increasing the fraction of the sulfur in the feed that is partitioned to the off-gas (in the event that a decision is made to break the present WTP recycle loop). These approaches successfully demonstrated increases in glass production rates and significant increases in sulfate incorporation at the nominal melter operating temperature of 1150 C and at slightly higher than nominal glass processing temperatures. Subsequent tests demonstrated further enhancement of glass formulations for all of the LAW waste envelopes, thereby reducing the amount of glass to be produced by the WTP for the same amount of waste processed. The next phase of testing determined the applicability of these improvements over the expected range of sodium and sulfur concentrations for Hanford LAW. This approach was subsequently applied to an even wider range of LAW wastes types, including those with high potassium concentration. The feasibility of formulating higher waste loading glasses using SnO{sub 2} and V{sub 2}O{sub 5} in place of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} and TiO{sub 2} as glass former additives was also evaluated. The present report provides data from investigation of the effects of magnesium content (up to {approx}10 wt%) on LAW glass properties and from work to identify improved high waste loading glass formulations that meets all processing and product quality requirements for two waste compositions. The scope of testing is detailed in the Test Plan for this work. A glass composition previously developed and tested at VSL for LAW from tank AN-105 (LAWA187) was varied by substituting Mg for other glass former additives such as Ca, B and Si in an attempt to formulate a glass with improved properties, such as higher waste loading and greater sulfur tolerance. The results were used to reformulate another glass (ORPLG9) developed for LAW from tank AP-101 that contains high concentrations of alkalis (Na and K). Glass formulation goals for this waste were to increase the sulfur tolerance of the glass as well as to decrease refractory corrosion. Each of the two final glass compositions was evaluated to determine the maximum amount of sulfur that can be incorporated into the glass through melter testing. The results from these tests together with earlier work for ORP were evaluated to develop recommendations for the work scope necessary to modify and update the WTP LAW glass formulation correlation algorithm

Redox Control For Hanford HLW Feeds VSL-12R2530-1, REV 0

The principal objectives of this work were to investigate the effects of processing simulated Hanford HLW at the estimated maximum concentrations of nitrates and oxalates and to identify strategies to mitigate any processing issues resulting from high concentrations of nitrates and oxalates. This report provides results for a series of tests that were performed on the DM10 melter system with simulated C-106/AY-102 HLW. The tests employed simulated HLW feeds containing variable amounts of nitrates and waste organic compounds corresponding to maximum concentrations proj ected for Hanford HLW streams in order to determine their effects on glass production rate, processing characteristics, glass redox conditions, melt pool foaming, and the tendency to form secondary phases. Such melter tests provide information on key process factors such as feed processing behavior, dynamic effects during processing, processing rates, off-gas amounts and compositions, foaming control, etc., that cannot be reliably obtained from crucible melts

Final Report - Glass Formulation Development and DM10 Melter Testing with ORP LAW Glasses, VSL-09R1510-2, Rev. 0, dated 6/12/09

The principal objective of the work described in this Final Report is to extend the glass formulation methodology developed in the earlier work by development of acceptable glass compositions for four LAW compositions specified by ORP that cover the range of sulfate to sodium and potassium to sodium ratios expected in Hanford LAW. The glass formulations were designed to exclude titanium and iron as glass former additives, while tin and vanadium as glass former additives were evaluated for beneficial effects in increasing waste loading in the glasses. This was accomplished through a combination of crucible-scale tests and tests on the DM10 melter system. This melter is the most efficient melter platform for screening glass compositions over a wide range of sulfate concentrations and therefore was selected for the present tests. The current tests provide information on melter processing characteristics and off-gas data, including sulfur incorporation and partitioning

Final Report - LAW Envelope C Glass Formulation Testing to Increase Waste Loading, VSL-05R5900-1

This report describes the results of testing specified by Test Plan VSL-05R5900-1 Rev.0. The work was performed in compliance with the quality assurance requirements specified in the Test Plan. Results required by the Test Plan are reported. The test results and this report have been reviewed for correctness, technical adequacy, completeness, and accuracy

Final Report - Enhanced LAW Glass Formulation Testing, VSL-07R1130-1, Rev. 0, dated 10/05/07

The principal objective of this work was to extend the glass formulation methodology developed in the earlier work [2, 5, 6] for Envelope A, B and C waste compositions for development of compliant glass compositions targeting five high sodium-sulfur waste loading regions. This was accomplished through a combination of crucible-scale tests, and tests on the DM10 melter system. The DM10 was used for several previous tests on LAW compositions to determine the maximum feed sulfur concentrations that can be processed without forming secondary sulfate phases on the surface of the melt pool. This melter is the most efficient melter platform for screening glass compositions over a wide range of sulfate concentrations and therefore was selected for the present tests. The tests were conducted to provide information on melter processing characteristics and off-gas data, including sulfur incorporation and partitioning. As described above, the main objective was to identify the limits of waste loading in compliant glass formulations spanning the range of expected Na{sub 2}O and SO{sub 3} concentrations in the LAW glasses