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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Hanford Tank Farm Occupational Exposure and Risk Assessment Plan: Health Process Project (Rev.1)

The overall objective of the Hanford Tank Farm Occupational Exposure and Risk Assessment Plan (hereafter referred to as the “Assessment Plan”) is to provide the Tank Operations Contractor (TOC), Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with a plan for developing a transparent, peer-reviewed process for assessing potential health risks associated with worker exposures to chemical emissions from the Hanford tank farms. Revision 1 (2018) incorporates changes to the original draft plan prepared in 2016 to reflect updated strategies based on initial implementation of the recommended actions.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hanford Double Shell Waste Tank Corrosion Studies (Final Report)

For fiscal year (FY) 2022, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) focused on two experimental tasks related to Hanford Double Shell Tank (DST) chemistry and integrity. The first task focused on understanding risk of corrosion due to formation of either continuous layers or discrete patches of solids on the tanks' inner sidewalls and bottoms. The tank bottom solids contact corrosion testing focused on studying the effects of forming a dry adherent solids layer on a carbon steel substrate. Long-term exposure tests and electrochemical tests were performed to investigate the effect of drying (i.e., removing water) from the solids phase. The second task focused on corrosion of the exterior of the secondary liner. In previous years, vapor corrosion inhibitors (VCIs) were investigated as a means of mitigating corrosion of the exterior of the secondary liner. During FY22 the utilization of nitrogen was explored as a means of corrosion mitigation. The corrosion test results with nitrogen were compared with the corrosion mitigation performance of the VCIs.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluation of Technology for Dry Retrieval of Tank Waste

The Hanford Roadmap report (NNLEMS-2022-00005) identified Dry Retrieval as an opportunity to make a significant impact on accelerating the Department of Energy-Environmental Management tank waste mission. Several commercially available technologies have been identified that hold the potential to enable Single Shell Tank retrieval without large infrastructure investments. The opportunity exists to leverage the technologies of the commercial mining, food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries with advances in robotics for the tank waste retrieval mission.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluation of Pozzolan-substituted Cast Stone for Pretreated Hanford Tank Waste

Portland cement. The future availability of quality Class F fly ash has come into question as coal-fired power plants are being converted to gas or taken offline. Consequently, alternative pozzolanic reagents are being evaluated for fly ash replacement in cementitious matrices for treating radioactive waste and debris. In 2023 and 2024, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was funded to evaluate natural pozzolans for the replacement of Class F fly in the Savannah River Site (SRS) Saltstone formulation. Based on the promising results and uncertain availability of Class F fly ash in the northwestern US, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, LLC (H2C) requested SRNL to evaluate the potential for substituting natural pozzolans in the Hanford West Area Pretreated Low Activity Tank Waste (PTW/LAW) Cast Stone formulation1 . Task 1 in this request was to determine the change in Cast Stone volume resulting from stabilization/solidification of 1 L of PTW/LAW tank waste. The densities of three (Hess Pumice, tephra pumice, and clinoptilolite zeolite) pozzolan-substituted Baseline Cast Stone mixes were determined, and volume changes relative to the fly ash-Baseline Mix with a water-to-dry mix = 0.40 were calculated.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hanford Double Shell Waste Tank Corrosion Studies- Final Report FY2024

For fiscal year (FY) 2024, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) focused on two experimental tasks related to Hanford Double Shell Tank (DST) chemistry and integrity. The first task focused on understanding risk of corrosion due to formation of either continuous layers or discrete patches of solids on the tanks’ inner sidewalls and bottoms. The objective of this task was to determine the effect of solid deposits on the corrosion risk to the tank bottom, and whether a combination of scale, saltcake and loose solids lead to under deposit corrosion. Electrochemical testing in a single cell arrangement was employed to determine a threshold inhibitor level for the interstitial liquid in the solids, above which carbon steel was not susceptible to corrosion beneath the solids. The inhibitor levels tested were based on the previously determined probability of failure for carbon steel in a simulated waste (i.e., Pitting Factor).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tank 48H Phase 1 Initial Testing Using Sodium Permanganate to Decompose Tetraphenylborate: As-Received Characterization of HTF-48-25-1

This report provides results from a detailed characterization study of Tank 48H sample HTF-48-25-17 performed by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). The slurry sample was retrieved from Savannah River Site (SRS) Tank 48H on February 25, 2025, and received at the SRNL shielded cells on 02/25/2026. This effort completes the first task of a multi-phase approach, requested by Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), to study tetraphenylborate (TPB) decomposition in Tank 48H using sodium permanganate with radioactive waste.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Tank Sizing and Preheating

Molten Salt Thermal energy storage (TES) is essential for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, enhancing their capacity factor and dispatchability to ultimately reduce electricity costs. This technology is becoming more important for other technologies including nuclear power, thermal-electrical storage, and concentrating solar thermal (CST). While molten salt TES tanks have been successfully deployed in lower-temperature parabolic-trough plants, the current state-of-the-art central receiver systems operating at temperatures up to 565 degrees Celsius have experienced costly and frequent failures. These failures are associated with the immaturity of the technology and problems in tank design, fabrication, commissioning and, sometimes, aggressive operation. A primary contributing factor is the absence of a dedicated technical standard for high-temperature molten nitrate TES tanks; designers must currently rely on existing codes like API 650 and ASME Section II, which are insufficient because they fail to account for the unique demands of high temperatures, thermal cycling, and transient conditions.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2010

DWPF COAL-CARBON WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA LIMIT EVALUATION BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL WORK (TANK 48 IMPACT STUDY)

This report summarizes the results of both experimental and modeling studies performed using Sludge Batch 10 (SB10) simulants and FBSR product from Tank 48 simulant testing in order to develop higher levels of coal-carbon that can be managed by DWPF. Once the Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) process starts up for treatment of Tank 48 legacy waste, the FBSR product stream will contribute higher levels of coal-carbon in the sludge batch for processing at DWPF. Coal-carbon is added into the FBSR process as a reductant and some of it will be present in the FBSR product as unreacted coal. The FBSR product will be slurried in water, transferred to Tank Farm and will be combined with sludge and washed to produce the sludge batch that DWPF will process. The FBSR product is high in both water soluble sodium carbonate and unreacted coal-carbon. Most of the sodium carbonate is removed during washing but all of the coal-carbon will remain and become part of the DWPF sludge batch. A paper study was performed earlier to assess the impact of FBSR coal-carbon on the DWPF Chemical Processing Cell (CPC) operation and melter off-gas flammability by combining it with SB10-SB13. The results of the paper study are documented in Ref. 7 and the key findings included that SB10 would be the most difficult batch to process with the FBSR coal present and up to 5,000 mg/kg of coal-carbon could be fed to the melter without exceeding the off-gas flammability safety basis limits. In the present study, a bench-scale demonstration of the DWPF CPC processing was performed using SB10 simulants spiked with varying amounts of coal, and the resulting seven CPC products were fed to the DWPF melter cold cap and off-gas dynamics models to determine the maximum coal that can be processed through the melter without exceeding the off-gas flammability safety basis limits. Based on the results of these experimental and modeling studies, the presence of coal-carbon in the sludge feed to DWPF is found to have both positive (+) and negative (-) impact as summarized below: (-) Coal-carbon is a melter reductant. If excess coal-carbon is present, the resulting melter feed may be too reducing, potentially shortening the melter life. During this study, the Reduction/Oxidation Potential (REDOX) of the melter could be controlled by varying the ratio of nitric and formic acid. (-) The addition of coal-carbon increases the amount of nitric acid added and decreases the amount of formic acid added to control melter REDOX. This means that the CPC with the FBSR product is much more oxidizing than current CPC processing. In this study, adequate formic acid was present in all experiments to reduce mercury and manganese, two of the main goals of CPC processing. (-) Coal-carbon will be oxidized to carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide in the melter. The addition of coal-carbon to the FBSR product will lead to approximately 55% higher offgas production from formate, nitrate and carbon due to the decomposition of the carbon at the maximum levels in this testing. Higher offgas production could lead to higher cold cap coverage or melter foaming which could decrease melt rate. No testing was performed to evaluate the impact of the higher melter offgas flow. (+) The hydrogen production is greatly reduced in testing with coal as less formic acid is added in CPC processing. In the high acid run without coal, the peak hydrogen generation was 15 times higher than in the high acid run with added coal-carbon. (+) Coal-carbon is a less problematic reducing agent than formic acid, since the content of both carbon and hydrogen are important in evaluating the flammability of the melter offgas. Processing with coal-carbon decreases the amount of formic acid added in the CPC, leading to a lower flammability risk in processing with coal-carbon compared to the current DWPF flowsheet. (+) The seven SB10 formulations which were tested during the bench-scale CPC demonstration were all determined to be within the off-gas flammability safety basis limits during the 9X/5X off-gas surge for normal bubbled melter operation. The concentration of coal-carbon in these baseline melter feeds varied widely from 0 to 17,863 ppm, depending on the acid addition strategy used and the extent to which the required reductant (formic acid) was replaced with coal-carbon. All baseline feeds were redox-adjusted and three of them contained TOC higher than the current theoretical TSR limit of 18,900 ppm. (-) Additional coal-carbon was then added to each baseline feed until the calculated off-gas flammability equaled the safety basis limit of 60% of the LFL at the peak of off-gas surge ('max-coal'). In doing so, however, no counterbalancing nitrate was added, thus simulating the scenario where slugs of coal enter the melter as a result of uneven distribution of coal in the slurry.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2024

Microbial Communities in Model Seawater-Compensated Fuel Ballast Tanks: Biodegradation and Biocorrosion Stimulated by Marine Sediments

Some naval vessels add seawater to carbon steel fuel ballast tanks to maintain stability during fuel consumption. Marine sediments often contaminate ballast tank fluids and have been implicated in stimulating fuel biodegradation and enhancing biocorrosion. The impact of the marine sediment was evaluated in model ballast tank reactors containing seawater, fuel (petroleum-F76, Fischer–Tropsch F76, or a 1:1 mixture), and carbon steel coupons. Control reactors did not receive fuel. The marine sediment was added to the reactors after 400 days and incubated for another year. Sediment addition produced higher estimated bacterial numbers and enhanced sulfate reduction. Ferrous sulfides were detected on all coupons, but pitting corrosion was only identified on coupons exposed to FT-F76. Aerobic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria increased, and the level of dissolved iron decreased, consistent with the stimulation of aerobic hydrocarbon degradation by iron. We propose that sediments provide an inoculum of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes that are stimulated by dissolved iron released during steel corrosion. Hydrocarbon degradation provides intermediates for use by sulfate-reducing bacteria and reduces the level of fuel components inhibitory to anaerobic bacteria. The synergistic effect of dissolved iron produced by corrosion, biodegradable fuels, and iron-stimulated hydrocarbon-degrading microbes is a poorly recognized but potentially significant biocorrosion mechanism.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1962

Investigation of the Damping of Liquids in Right-Circular Cylindrical Tanks, Including the Effects of a Time-Variant Liquid Depth

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the effects of several basic variables upon the damping of the fundamental antisymmetric mode of liquids in right-circular cylindrical tanks without baffles. The variables examined include liquid depth, efflux rate, liquid amplitude, kinematic viscosity, and tank size. The data are presented in dimensionless form and compared with available theory. For the range of variables examined, variations of efflux rate and liquid amplitude were found to have no significant effects on the liquid damping. The following theoretical relationship was found to be adequate for the prediction of the variation of damping with liquid depth, kinematic viscosity, and tank size: [for equation see full text] where v is the kinematic viscosity, R is the cylinder radius, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the liquid depth. However, the constant K was experimentally found in this investigation to have the value 5.23, which is 50 percent higher than the theoretically predicted value.

TANK↗
NASA NTRS2014

Physics-Based Fragment Acceleration Modeling for Pressurized Tank Burst Risk Assessments

As part of comprehensive efforts to develop physics-based risk assessment techniques for space systems at NASA, coupled computational fluid and rigid body dynamic simulations were carried out to investigate the flow mechanisms that accelerate tank fragments in bursting pressurized vessels. Simulations of several configurations were compared to analyses based on the industry-standard Baker explosion model, and were used to formulate an improved version of the model. The standard model, which neglects an external fluid, was found to agree best with simulation results only in configurations where the internal-to-external pressure ratio is very high and fragment curvature is small. The improved model introduces terms that accommodate an external fluid and better account for variations based on circumferential fragment count. Physics-based analysis was critical in increasing the model's range of applicability. The improved tank burst model can be used to produce more accurate risk assessments of space vehicle failure modes that involve high-speed debris, such as exploding propellant tanks and bursting rocket engines.

Acceleration↗
NASA NTRS2016

Modeling ARRM Xenon Tank Pressurization Using 1D Thermodynamic and Heat Transfer Equations

As a first step in understanding what ground support equipment (GSE) is required to provide external cooling during the loading of 5,000 kg of xenon into 4 aluminum lined composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), a modeling analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel. The goals of the analysis were to predict xenon temperature and pressure throughout loading at the launch facility, estimate the time required to load one tank, and to get an early estimate of what provisions for cooling xenon might be needed while the tanks are being filled. The model uses the governing thermodynamic and heat transfer equations to achieve these goals. Results indicate that a single tank can be loaded in about 15 hours with reasonable external coolant requirements. The model developed in this study was successfully validated against flight and test data. The first data set is from the Dawn mission which also utilizes solar electric propulsion with xenon propellant, and the second is test data from the rapid loading of a hydrogen cylindrical COPV. The main benefit of this type of model is that the governing physical equations using bulk fluid solid temperatures can provide a quick and accurate estimate of the state of the propellant throughout loading which is much cheaper in terms of computational time and licensing costs than a Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis while capturing the majority of the thermodynamics and heat transfer.

Xenon storage↗
NASA NTRS2017

Modeling Xenon Tank Pressurization using One-Dimensional Thermodynamic and Heat Transfer Equations

As a first step in understanding what ground support equipment (GSE) is required to provide external cooling during the loading of 5,000 kg of xenon into 4 aluminum lined composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), a modeling analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel. The goals of the analysis were to predict xenon temperature and pressure throughout loading at the launch facility, estimate the time required to load one tank, and to get an early estimate of what provisions for cooling xenon might be needed while the tanks are being filled. The model uses the governing thermodynamic and heat transfer equations to achieve these goals. Results indicate that a single tank can be loaded in about 15 hours with reasonable external coolant requirements. The model developed in this study was successfully validated against flight and test data. The first data set is from the Dawn mission which also utilizes solar electric propulsion with xenon propellant, and the second is test data from the rapid loading of a hydrogen cylindrical COPV. The main benefit of this type of model is that the governing physical equations using bulk fluid solid temperatures can provide a quick and accurate estimate of the state of the propellant throughout loading which is much cheaper in terms of computational time and licensing costs than a Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis while capturing the majority of the thermodynamics and heat transfer.

Thermodynamic tank modeling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Axisymmetric Two-Dimensional Modeling of No Vent Filling of a Cryogenic Tank using Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program

This paper presents preliminary analysis using a finite volume based computational method for network flow analysis for the simulation of chill and fill of a cryogenic tank. An axisymmetric two-dimensional model of a spherical tank was developed using a nodal approach. No Vent Filling (NVF) was accomplished using a Thermodynamic Vent System assisted injector where the injector was cooled by the cold gas generated by Joule-Thompson expansion of the liquid propellant. The numerical model accounts for a) different regimes of pool boiling heat transfer, b) condensation of vapor around spray droplets, and c) condensation of vapor at the interface of the cooled injector and ullage. The numerical predictions of tank pressure, filling rate, and wall temperatures were compared with the test data and one-dimensional (1D) model predictions. It was demonstrated that the axisymmetric 2D model provided a more realistic prediction than the 1D model.

Cryogenics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nodal Modeling of Submerged Helium Injection Pressurization of a Cryogenic Propellant Tank

Subcooling of cryogenic propellant by helium injection is one of the most effective methods for suppressing bulk boiling and keeping subcooled propellant conditions for pre-launch, launch, and post-launch pressurization applications. For tank pressurization, submerged helium injection can substantially reduce helium consumption by infusing gaseous propellant into the tank ullage. This paper describes a thermodynamic model of the helium bubbling process in liquid oxygen to estimate the amount of oxygen vapor absorbed by the rising helium bubbles and the amount of subcooling of liquid oxygen due to evaporative heat and mass transfer. The physics of helium dissolution during the pressurization process is also modeled, primarily for liquid hydrogen propellant where the dissolution is more significant. The analyses were performed in a simulation model of tank pressurization built with Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP), a general-purpose flow network code developed at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center. The numerical predictions of subcooling have been compared with the experimental data of Cho et al. which investigated the propellant subcooling effect as a function of system pressure, helium injection temperature, and flowrate for a non-drained submerged injection system. The numerical predictions of helium consumption have been compared with the test data from a NASA Centaur test vehicle which included both direct and submerged injection with draining of propellants. Hydrogen propellant testing of the Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Engineering Developmental Unit (CPST EDU) conducted at NASA/Glenn Research Facility was also analyzed. The data used for the model validation were taken in 1-g, but the model was developed to be applicable in both multi-g and micro-g environments.

tank pressurization↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nodal Modeling of Tank Pressurization and Draining using a Multi-Node-Ullage Approach

Pressurized expulsion tests of liquid methane were modeled by a nodal code using a multinode ullage approach. Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP), a finite volume based nodal code was used to model the expulsion of liquid methane from a 1.52-meter (5 ft) diameter spherical tank by pressurizing with helium and gaseous methane. The purpose of the model was to estimate the amount of pressurant required and amount of condensation and evaporation of methane during the operation. The ullage was discretized into multiple nodes and each fluid node was connected to solid nodes. Both the fluid and solid nodes grow as the tank drains. The heat and mass transfer between fluid and solid node in the tank ullage was computed. The heat and mass transfer between the bottom ullage node and the liquid methane was also computed. The model predictions were compared with data from twelve test cases. The predicted pressurant consumption for helium pressurization compares with test data with a Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE) of 3 %. For autogenous pressurization, where gaseous methane was used to pressurize liquid methane, the predicted pressurant consumption compares with a MAPE of 6%.

Cryogenic Propellant↗
NASA NTRS2026

CFD-Assisted Nodal Modeling of Sloshing in a Cryogenic Propellant Tank

During autogenous pressurization, tank sloshing causes a significant increase in pressurant consumption to maintain constant ullage pressure during draining of the tank. This increase in pressurant consumption is caused by a significant increase in condensation at the liquid-vapor interface. Sloshing strongly affects the liquid side heat transfer coefficient and thereby the condensation rate. Traditionally, sloshing is modeled by CFD code using the VOF (Volume of Fluid) method to track the liquid vapor interface during sloshing. CFD calculations require a very fine grid to accurately compute the heat and mass transfer at the interface. Therefore, computations are time consuming and prohibit performing many parametric studies often needed during the design of a new system. This paper describes an alternative approach by developing a CFD-assisted nodal model to predict system parameters more economically with reasonable accuracy. In this approach, a multi-node model of tank pressurization was developed using GFSSP. A multi-node model was needed to account for stratification. The model computes heat and mass transfer at the interface to calculate the condensation rate. The liquid side heat transfer is computed using the parameters of sloshing dynamics such as frequency, wave amplitude, and interface area. The parameters of sloshing dynamics are computed by the CFD code LOCI-Stream. The model predictions were compared with test data for several cases.

Cryogenic Tank Sloshing↗
DOE OSTI2011

Seismic Fragility Analysis of a Degraded Condensate Storage Tank

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and Brookhaven National Laboratory are conducting a collaborative research project to develop seismic capability evaluation technology for degraded structures and components in nuclear power plants (NPPs). One of the goals of this collaboration endeavor is to develop seismic fragility analysis methods that consider the potential effects of age-related degradation of structures, systems, and components (SSCs). The essential part of this collaboration is aimed at achieving a better understanding of the effects of aging on the performance of SSCs and ultimately on the safety of NPPs. A recent search of the degradation occurrences of structures and passive components (SPCs) showed that the rate of aging related degradation in NPPs was not significantly large but increasing, as the plants get older. The slow but increasing rate of degradation of SPCs can potentially affect the safety of the older plants and become an important factor in decision making in the current trend of extending the operating license period of the plants (e.g., in the U.S. from 40 years to 60 years, and even potentially to 80 years). The condition and performance of major aged NPP structures such as the containment contributes to the life span of a plant. A frequent misconception of such low degradation rate of SPCs is that such degradation may not pose significant risk to plant safety. However, under low probability high consequence initiating events, such as large earthquakes, SPCs that have slowly degraded over many years could potentially affect plant safety and these effects need to be better understood. As part of the KAERI-BNL collaboration, a condensate storage tank (CST) was analyzed to estimate its seismic fragility capacities under various postulated degradation scenarios. CSTs were shown to have a significant impact on the seismic core damage frequency of a nuclear power plant. The seismic fragility capacity of the CST was developed for five cases: (1) a baseline analysis where the design condition (undegraded) is assumed, (2) a scenario with degraded stainless steel tank shell, (3) a scenario with degraded anchor bolts, (4) a scenario with anchorage concrete cracking, and (5) a perfect correlation of the above three degradation scenarios. This paper will present the methodology for the time-dependent fragility calculation and discuss the insights drawn from this study. To achieve a better understanding of the effects of aging on the performance of structures and passive components (SPCs) in nuclear power plants (NPPs), the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) are collaborating to develop seismic fragility analysis methods that consider age-related degradation of SPCs. The rate of age-related degradation of SPCs was not found to be significantly large, but increasing as the plants get older. The slow but increasing rate of degradation of SPCs can potentially affect the safety of the older plants and become an important factor in decision making in the current trend of extending the operating license period of the plants (e.g., in the U.S. from 40 years to 60 years, and even potentially to 80 years). In this paper, a condensate storage tank (CST) was analyzed to estimate its seismic fragility capacities under various postulated degradation scenarios. This paper will present the methodology for the time-dependent fragility calculation and discuss the insights drawn from this study.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗