PNNL

Abstract

Ion exchange using the Spherical Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (SRF) resin has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection for use in the Pretreatment Facility of the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and for potential application in an at-tank deployment for removing 137Cs. Recent proposed changes to the WTP ion exchange process baseline indicate that higher temperatures (50°C) to alleviate post-filtration precipitation issues prior to reaching the ion exchange columns may be required. Therefore, it is important to understand the behavior of SRF resin performance under the conditions expected with the new equipment and process changes. This research examined the impact of elevated temperature on resin loading and resin degradation during extended solution flow using elevated temperature (45°, 50°, 55°, 60°, 65°, 75°C). Testing for extended times at elevated temperatures showed that the resin does degrade and loading capacity is reduced at and above 45°C. Above 60°C the resin appears to not load at all.