The removal of cesium radioisotope (137Cs) from the High Level Waste stored in underground storage tanks at the Hanford site is a formidable chemical separations challenge for the Waste Treatment Plant. An eluatable organic-based ion exchange resin was selected as the baseline technology (1). The baseline technology design employs a proprietary macrocyclic weak-acid ion exchange resin to adsorb the cesium (137Cs) during the process loading cycle in a fixed bed column design. Following loading, the cesium is eluted from the resin using a nitric acid eluant. Previous work provided limited understanding of the performance of the resin, processed with actual wastes, and under multiple load and elute conditions, which are required for the ion exchange technology to be underpinned sufficiently for resolution of all process-related design issues before flowsheet and construction drawings can be released. By performing multiple ion exchange column tests with waste feeds, and measuring the chemical and radionuclide compositions of the waste feeds, column effluents and column eluants, ion exchange stream composition information can be provided for supporting resolution of selected design issues.
Revised: February 17, 2012 |
Published: April 24, 2004
Citation
Toth J.J., D.L. Blanchard, S.T. Arm, and M.W. Urie. 2004.Partition Coefficients of Selected Compounds Using Ion Exchange Separation of Cesium From High Level Waste. In AIChE Spring National Meeting, Conference Proceedings, April 25-29, 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2642-2651. New York, New York:American Institute of Chemical Engineers.PNNL-SA-41455.