Technological process for treating radioactive TBP/OK spent solvents

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series Vol. 2713; no. 1; pp. 12043 - 12054
• Main Authors: Ma, Jing, Wang, Ke, Li, Meijiao, Liu, Tiejun, Yang, Cuiling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Additives; Combustion; Emulsions; Incineration; Moisture content; Nuclear fuel reprocessing; Pyrolysis; Raw materials; Solvents; Stirring; Viscosity
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2713/1/012043

Abstract Tributyl phosphate (TBP) and kerosene (OK) spent radioactive organic solvents will be produced during the nuclear fuel reprocessing process, which may cause equipment corrosion by direct incineration. Therefore, additives need to be added to prepare a uniformly stable suspension. The amount of each raw material added during the preparation process and the stirring operation can have a significant effect on the performance of the suspension. In this paper, the influence of the amount of each raw material and the stirring rate on the emulsion formation, stabilization time, and fluidity of suspension is studied through different experiments to optimize the suspension formulation of the pyrolysis/incineration processes. The experimental results show that when the volume content of TBP was 30%~60%, the prepared suspension had excellent performance and could be used as the basic solution for suspension formulation. In contrast, when the volume content of TBP was more than 80%, the prepared suspension became less stable, the emulsion phase broke and settled, and the performance of the suspension was poor. When the volume contents of TBP were 30% and 60%, respectively, the DBP content was less than 0.26% and 0.6%, respectively, the Ca-P ratio was 1.25~1.75. Water content was 8~12%. The prepared suspension had great emulsion formation and fluidity. The viscosity and stability time meet the requirements with little secondary waste. The suspension can be applied in TBP/OK spent radioactive organic solvents pyrolysis/incineration reprocessing project.