Open AccessDevelopment of a Rotary Microfilter for SRS HLW Applications
Author(s) -
Poirier Michael
Publication year - 2005
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/839500
Subject(s) - waste management , filter (signal processing) , environmental science , reliability (semiconductor) , volumetric flow rate , radioactive waste , human decontamination , process engineering , nuclear engineering , engineering , power (physics) , physics , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics
The processing rate of Savannah River Site (SRS) high-level waste decontamination processes are limited by the flow rate of the solid-liquid separation. The baseline process, using a 0.1 micron cross-flow filter, produces approximately 0.02 gpm/sq. ft. of filtrate under expected operating conditions. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) personnel identified the rotary microfilter as a technology that could significantly increase filter flux, with throughput improvements of as much as 10X for that specific operation. With funding from the U. S. Department of Energy Office of Cleanup Technology, SRNL personnel are evaluating and developing the rotary microfilter for radioactive service at SRS. This work includes pilot-scale and actual waste testing to evaluate system reliability, the impact of radiation on system components, the filter flux for a variety of waste streams, and relative performance for alternative filter media. Personnel revised the design for the disks and filter unit to make them suitable for high-level radioactive service