The Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) process has been proposed to support early production of immobilized low-activity waste (LAW) at the Hanford site. As planned, Hanford tank waste would be sent to the Tank Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system for solids removal (by filtration) and cesium removal (by ion exchange) during the initial phase of the DFLAW process. The resultant treated waste would be delivered to the LAW Vitrification Facility at the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) for immobilization. The ongoing technology maturation of TSCR system components is being conducted by Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC (WRPS).
The ion exchange process in the TSCR system will use columns of crystalline silicotitanate (CST) to remove cesium from the LAW. This report describes gas generation testing of the crystalline silicotitanate ion exchange media that was conducted to strengthen the technical basis of the media for use in the TSCR system. Specifically, the described study will inform the safety basis of both the operation of the TSCR system and the interim storage condition of the TSCR ion exchange columns after loading. Previous data on gas generation of CST are limited to a handful of studies using CST or similar media under unrepresentative conditions and durations. The safety basis underlying operation and storage of the CST columns needs to consider the rate and extent of radiolytic flammable gas generation. No existing studies provide a comprehensive set of gas generation data for column operating and storage conditions representative of those expected for TSCR. To address the data gap, this study was conducted under the following conditions (each in duplicate):
• CST in water at 25°C tested to 300 Mrad total dose
• wet CST (soaked in water, then free-drained) at 25°C tested to both 300 Mrad and 900 Mrad total dose
• dry CST (air-dried, free-flowing material equilibrated to laboratory conditions) at 25°C tested to both 300 Mrad and 900 Mrad total dose
• CST in 5.6M Na simulant at 25°C tested to 300 Mrad total dose
• CST in 5.6M Na simulant with 1%(w/w) total organic carbon as Na3-HEDTA at 25°C and 70°C tested to 300 Mrad total dose.
For each of the listed conditions, the generation of the following gas species was measured: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrous oxide, and methane. The test data was used to determine the amount of gas generated (total and on a per component basis), gas generation rates normalized to the CST bed volume tested, and G-values[1] for each gas species. The reported results illustrate that the CST in water condition bounds the gas generation rate (at 25°C) of all other conditions, but there is some variability in the hydrogen G-value, depending on the lot of CST tested and the amount of residual moisture present at the start of the test.