Cesium Ion Exchange Using Crystalline Silicotitanate with 5.6 M Sodium Simulant
The Low-Activity Waste Pretreatment System (LAWPS) facility is planned to pretreat Hanford tank waste supernate by filtering to remove solids and processing through ion exchange columns to remove cesium. The ion exchange media is currently (since 2018) targeted to be crystalline silicotitanate (CST). This material has been produced as an engineered form (generally spherical beads) by Honeywell UOP LLC (Des Plaines, IL). Previous forms of this media have been tested in a wide array of simulants and process scales, but column breakthrough and batch contact testing to date on actual tank waste has been limited to a few tank wastes. Washington River Protection Solutions requested a series of studies to demonstrate Cs load behavior in a small column format and determine if a simple batch contact test with CST can be used to qualify tank waste supernate prior to processing it in the LAWPS. The goal of the batch contact testing is to determine if there are any issues with the tank waste that would preclude Cs removal by the ion exchanger. Testing was conducted with IONSIV TM R9140-B CST provided by Honeywell UOP in 2018 (Batch 2081000057). The CST was received in the sodium (Na) form, so no pretreatment conditioning to convert to the Na form was required. Before use in testing, the CST was passed through a #25 sieve (710-micron openings) and collected on a #60 sieve (250-micron openings) with the intent of removing any large and fine particles. Physical properties were measured on the CST including particle size distribution (d50 = 570 microns) and scanning electron micrographic examination. The CST was rinsed with water until the contact solution was visually nearly clear. The CST bed density (1.00 g/mL) and CST bed void fraction (0.656) were measured on the sieved and rinsed CST. The batch contact testing varied Cs concentration in a 5.6 M Na simple simulant solution. Testing was conducted in a liquid volume to solids mass ratio of 200. The distribution coefficient (K d ) was determined to be 770 mL/g at the Cs equilibrium condition of 8.0 μg/mL; with a bed density of 1.00 g/mL, this corresponds to a predicted 50% Cs breakthrough of 770 bed volumes (BVs). The Cs load capacity at 8.0 μg/mL equilibrium condition was determined to be 6.16 mg Cs/g dry CST. The column testing was prototypic to the intended LAWPS operations in a lead-lag column format, albeit on a small-scale basis with 10-mL CST beds. The feed was processed downflow through the lead column and then through the lag column. Three flowrates were tested: 1.19, 1.99, and 4.56 BV/h. The feed was displaced with 0.1 M NaOH, and then the columns were rinsed with water sequentially through the lead then lag columns. One column system was evaluated top to bottom with a gamma scanner to assess the axial Cs loading. Table ES.1 summarizes the relevant Cs loading characteristics.