Open AccessOrganic tank safety project: Equilibrium moisture determination task, FY 1998 annual progress report
Author(s) -
R.D. Scheele,
Paul R. Bredt,
Rachel L. Sell
Publication year - 1998
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/676980
Subject(s) - partial pressure , hysteresis , water content , torr , environmental science , moisture , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , environmental chemistry , thermodynamics , geology , geotechnical engineering , oxygen , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , physics
During fiscal year 1998, PNNL investigated the effect of P{sub H{sub 2}O} at or near maximum tank waste surface temperatures on the equilibrium water content of selected Hanford waste samples. These studies were performed to determine how dry organic-bearing wastes will become if exposed to environmental Hanford water partial pressures. The samples tested were obtained from Organic Watch List Tanks. At 26 C, the lowest temperature used, the water partial pressures ranged from 2 to 22 torr. At 41 C, the highest temperature used, the water partial pressures ranged from 3.5 to 48 torr. When the aliquots exposed to the lowest and highest water partial pressures reached their equilibrium or near-equilibrium water contents, they were exchanged to determine if hysteresis occurred. In some experiments, once equilibrated, aliquots not used in the hysteresis experiments were allowed to equilibrate at room temperature (23 C) until the hysteresis experiments ended; this provides a measure of the effect of temperature