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At least 109 records · Page 6

Fiscal Year 2020 Filtration of Hanford Tank Waste 241-AP-105

Bench-scale filtration testing of 15 liters of 241-AP-105 supernatant was conducted using a Mott inline filter Model 6610 (media grade 5) backpulsed dead-end filter (BDEF) in the hot cells of the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The as-received samples were diluted with raw water from the Hanford Site to assess the propensity for solids to form upon dilution and to assess the impact those solids have on filtration performance. The feed was split into two batches. The first batch was settled and decanted as planned in Tank Side Cesium Removal operations. The BDEF was used to filter this AP-105 feed at a targeted flux of 0.065 gpm/ft 2 and exhibited no measurable pressure increase during filtration. The second batch was fed to the BDEF with solids resuspended. This was also operated at the targeted flux of 0.065 gpm/ft 2 . In this case, the target pressure differential of 2 psid (resistance of 6.24 × 10 10 m -1 ) was reached in slightly more than 12 h. A backpulse restored the filter flux; however, the time to the next backpulse was slightly shorter. These tests indicate that after the addition of raw water, settle and decant effectively removed solids from the feed. It is not possible to assess the time required for these solids to settle based on the result from these tests. However, if sufficient time is allowed for the solids to settle, no measurable filter fouling was observed in current testing. In contrast, if insufficient time is allowed for solids to settle, filter fouling will occur relatively quickly and will likely require backpulses more frequently than every 12 hours (1.91 m 3 /m 2 volume filtered). Solids concentrated from backpulse solutions displayed large variability in composition with Al-silicates and mixed chromium-aluminum oxide phases. Amounts of Mg, Fe, and Ca were also found in the presence of Na and O. These solids could be grouped in three categories: (1) soluble Na-salts that formed large block-like particles but were made up of fibrous materials, (2) amorphous Al-phases, and (3) colloidal iron oxides with an average particle diameter of 4.2 µm.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Reducing Exposures to Airborne Particles Through Improved Filtration: A High-Level Modeling Analysis

Indoor airborne particulates are well-known health hazards and filtration is one common method of reducing exposures. Based on our previously developed Regional Shelter Analysis methodology and parameters that characterize the existing US building stock, we perform a high-level assessment of the potential benefits of upgrading existing filters in furnace and in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems using off-the-shelf filters. We use three metrics to assess the improvement: Building Transmission Factor (a measure of protection against outdoor airborne particles), Indoor Normalized Time and Space Integrated Air Concentration (a measure of indoor exposure to indoor-origin airborne particles), and Building Exit Fraction (fraction of indoor airborne particles that are released to the outdoor atmosphere). We also discuss the potential reduction in regional exposures due to particles exiting the building and exposing downwind building occupants. Our modeling indicates that while buildings provide their occupants passive protection against airborne particulate hazards, including but not limited to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and wildfire smoke; improving particle filtration efficiency may further improve this protection. The degree of improvement varies with particle size and building type. Of the building types studied, apartments are predicted to benefit most, with greater than a factor of 2 improvement (≥50% reduction in exposures) for 1 µm particle exposures when using MERV 7 to 12 rated filters. Non-residential buildings were notably less responsive to improved filtration but had the highest Building Exit Fractions with 30% to 40% of indoor airborne particles released to the outdoor atmosphere (apartment buildings only released 6% to 9%). Improvements predicted for single family homes were intermediate between apartments and non-residential buildings. Improvements in the Regional Exposure metric are larger, ranging from a factor of 2.5x to 10x for residences (when using MERV 7 to 12 rated filters) and up to 25x for large apartments with MERV 14 or 15 rated filters. The results of our modeling analysis are broadly consistent with the limited experimental data and modeling results available in the literature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Field Validation of Electrochemical Water Filtration System on Open Loop Cooling Towers at Automotive Plants

Open loop cooling towers play a pivotal role in rejecting heat for chilled water systems serving industrial processes, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning loads. Exposure to outside conditions can present certain operating challenges to system performance including scaling, corrosion, and biological growth. These issues are mitigated through the use of effective cooling tower water filtration and treatment systems to reduce contaminants—along with other total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS)—in the system. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office is interested in an electrochemical-based filtration system with the ability to remove TSS particulate down to 1 micron. The removal of finer particulates reduces the need for blowdown and, in turn, makeup water use and chemical treatment in the cooling tower. Additionally, the removal process can reduce fouling at the condensers, resulting in better heat exchange and energy savings. Two Industrial Technology Validation program projects validated the electrochemical water filtration system at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi, and the Nissan Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant in Canton, Mississippi. Researchers found that installation of both systems resulted in water and chemical treatment savings with minimal impact on energy use.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Effects of Ultra-Clean and centrifugal filtration on rolling-element bearing life

Fatigue tests were conducted on groups of 65-millimeter bore diameter deep-groove ball bearings in a MIL-L-23699 lubricant under two levels of filtration. In one test series, the oil cleanliness was maintained at an exceptionally high level (better than a class "000" per NAS 1638) with a 3 micron absolute barrier filter. These tests were intended to determine the "upper limit" in bearing life under the strictest possible lubricant cleanliness conditions. In the tests using a centrifugal oil filter, contaminants of the type found in aircraft engine filters were injected into the filters' supply line at 125 milligrams per bearing-hour. "Ultra-clean" lubrication produced bearing fatigue lives that were approximately twice that obtained in previous tests with contaminated oil using 3 micron absolute filtration and approximately three times that obtained with 49 micron filtration. It was also observed that the centrifugal oil filter had approximately the same effectiveness as a 30 micron absolute filter in preventing bearing surface damage.

Loewenthal, S. H.↗

Nanoparticle Filtration in a RTM Processed Epoxy/Carbon Fiber Composite

Several epoxy matrix composite panels were fabricated by resin transfer molding (RTM) E862/W resin onto a triaxially braided carbon fiber pre-form. Nanoparticles including carbon nanofiber, synthetic clay, and functionalized graphite were dispersed in the E862 matrix, and the extent of particle filtration during processing was characterized. Nanoparticle dispersion in the resin flashing on both the inlet and outlet edges of the panel was compared by TEM. Variation in physical properties such as Tg and moisture absorption throughout the panel were also characterized. All nanoparticle filled panels showed a decrease in Tg along the resin flow path across the panel, indicating nanoparticle filtration, however there was little change in moisture absorption. This works illustrates the need to obtain good nano-particle dispersion in the matrix resin to prevent particle agglomeration and hence particle filtration in the resultant polymer matrix composites (PMC).

Miller, Sandi G.↗

Catalytic Hot-Gas Filtration with a Supported Heteropolyacid Catalyst for Preconditioning Biomass Pyrolysis Vapors

During ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of biomass, the separation of reactive char and alkali/alkaline particulates from biomass pyrolysis vapors by hot-gas filtration (HGF) leads to improved vapor stability and quality. HGF in tandem with chemical tailoring (e.g., partial deoxygenation) of the clean pyrolysis vapors, denoted as catalytic hot-gas filtration (CHGF), has the potential to further improve vapor composition by removing reactive oxygen moieties and protect downstream upgrading catalysts from fouling. Downstream upgrading refers to both vapor phase upgrading (e.g., ex situ CFP) and condensed phase upgrading (e.g., hydrotreating). Consequently, CHGF (as a single unit operation) was evaluated for preconditioning pyrolysis vapors for downstream upgrading processes. In order to understand the effective operating conditions that successfully filter and partially deoxygenate pyrolysis vapors, a titania-supported molybdenum heteropolyacid (Mo-HPA/TiO 2 ) catalyst was studied for use in CHGF. Here, pine pyrolysis vapors were generated in a small pilot-scale pyrolyzer and transferred to a CHGF unit via a continuous-flow slipstream. In the CHGF unit, the pyrolysis vapors were filtered and upgraded over a packed Mo-HPA/TiO 2 catalyst bed. Real-time monitoring and identification of the products formed were achieved by molecular beam mass spectrometry. The results showed that under a hydrogen-rich environment, the pine vapors were partially deoxygenated and alkylated over the Mo-HPA/TiO 2 catalyst. Reactivity studies revealed that an increase in hydrogen concentration and a reduction in weight-hourly space velocity enhanced deoxygenation and alkylation. Time-on-stream (TOS) studies showed stable product formation up to 1 h with little change in catalyst activity. Additionally, the liquid product was collected using a custom fractional condensation unit (built in-house) and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry to confirm that the product was partially deoxygenated and alkylated. The combination of CHGF and fractional condensation allowed for chemical and physical removal of both foulant and value-added compounds (e.g., phenols, alkylphenols, methoxyphenols, cyclopentenones) for additional enhancement of downstream upgrading processes. The pre- and postreaction catalysts were characterized using temperature-programmed desorption, N 2 physisorption, and elemental analysis with results indicating some catalyst coking. A hydrogen-based catalyst regeneration procedure restored the reacted catalyst activity to that of fresh Mo-HPA/TiO 2 .

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Study of Effect of Bended Graphene on Its Magnetoresistance and Spin Filtration

Density functional theory (DFT) is used to investigate the spin-dependent quantum transport through bended graphene. Bending results in reduced bandgap in graphene and affects the spin transport by increasing current in parallel configuration (PC) resulting in an increase in magnetoresistance (MR). In antiparallel configuration (APC), bending limits the spin-down current, which results in higher magnetoresistance at all biases. In bended graphene, the magnetoresistance obtained is higher than the MR obtained in pristine and twisted graphene-based structure. High spin filtration for PC and APC is observed in the case of bended graphene as compared with pristine and twisted graphene. However, pristine graphene gives better spin filtration compared with twisted graphene at low voltages.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Filtration of stationary Gaussian statistical experiments

The filtration of stationary Gaussian statistical experiments is determined by a solution of the equation of optimum filtration, which is characterized by the two-dimensional matrix of covariances. The parameters of a filtered signal are set by empiric covariances.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Associations of blood lead, cadmium, and mercury with estimated glomerular filtration rate in the Korean general population: Analysis of 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data

Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between blood lead, cadmium, and mercury levels with estimated glomerular filtration rate in a general population of South Korean adults. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on data obtained in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) (2008-2010). The final analytical sample consisted of 5924 participants. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the MDRD Study equation as an indicator of glomerular function. Results: In multiple linear regression analysis of log2-transformed blood lead as a continuous variable on eGFR, after adjusting for covariates including cadmium and mercury, the difference in eGFR levels associated with doubling of blood lead were -2.624 mL/min per 1.73 m Superscript-Two (95% CI: -3.803 to -1.445). In multiple linear regression analysis using quartiles of blood lead as the independent variable, the difference in eGFR levels comparing participants in the highest versus the lowest quartiles of blood lead was -3.835 mL/min per 1.73 m Superscript-Two (95% CI: -5.730 to -1.939). In a multiple linear regression analysis using blood cadmium and mercury, as continuous or categorical variables, as independent variables, neither metal was a significant predictor of eGFR. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CI values for reduced eGFR calculated for log2-transformed blood metals and quartiles of the three metals showed similar trends after adjustment for covariates. Discussion: In this large, representative sample of South Korean adults, elevated blood lead level was consistently associated with lower eGFR levels and with the prevalence of reduced eGFR even in blood lead levels below 10 {mu}g/dL. In conclusion, elevated blood lead level was associated with lower eGFR in a Korean general population, supporting the role of lead as a risk factor for chronic kidney disease.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Achieving very low mercury levels in refinery wastewater by membrane filtration.

Microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were evaluated for their ability to achieve the world's most stringent Hg discharge criterion (<1.3 ng/L) in an oil refinery's wastewater. The membrane processes were operated at three different pressures to demonstrate the potential for each membrane technology to achieve the targeted effluent mercury concentrations. The presence of mercury in the particulate form in the refinery wastewater makes the use of MF and UF membrane technologies more attractive in achieving very low mercury levels in the treated wastewater. Both NF and RO were also able to meet the target mercury concentration at lower operating pressures (20.7 bar). However, higher operating pressures ({ge}34.5 bar) had a significant effect on NF and RO flux and fouling rates, as well as on permeate quality. SEM images of the membranes showed that pore blockage and narrowing were the dominant fouling mechanisms for the MF membrane while surface coverage was the dominant fouling mechanism for the other membranes. The correlation between mercury concentration and particle size distribution was also investigated to understand mercury removal mechanisms by membrane filtration. The mean particle diameter decreased with filtration from 1.1 {+-} 0.0 {micro}m to 0.74 {+-} 0.2 {micro}m after UF.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Non-biodegradable landfill leachate treatment by combined process of agitation, coagulation, SBR and filtration

Highlights: • A novel method of stripping (agitation) was investigated for NH{sub 3}-N removal. • PFS coagulation followed agitation process enhanced the leachate biodegradation. • Nitrification–denitrification achieved by changing operation process in SBR treatment. • A dual filter of carbon-sand is suitable as a polishing treatment of leachate. • Combined treatment success for the complete treatment of non-biodegradable leachate. - Abstract: This study describes the complete treatment of non-biodegradable landfill leachate by combined treatment processes. The processes consist of agitation as a novel stripping method used to overcome the ammonia toxicity regarding aerobic microorganisms. The NH{sub 3}-N removal ratio was 93.9% obtained at pH 11.5 and a gradient velocity (G) 150 s{sup −1} within a five-hour agitation time. By poly ferric sulphate (PFS) coagulation followed the agitation process; chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD{sub 5}) were removed at 70.6% and 49.4%, respectively at an optimum dose of 1200 mg L{sup −1} at pH 5.0. The biodegradable ratio BOD{sub 5}/COD was improved from 0.18 to 0.31 during pretreatment step by agitation and PFS coagulation. Thereafter, the effluent was diluted with sewage at a different ratio before it was subjected to sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treatment. Up to 93.3% BOD{sub 5}, 95.5% COD and 98.1% NH{sub 3}-N removal were achieved by SBR operated under anoxic–aerobic–anoxic conditions. The filtration process was carried out using sand and carbon as a dual filter media as polishing process. The final effluent concentration of COD, BOD{sub 5}, suspended solid (SS), NH{sub 3}-N and total organic carbon (TOC) were 72.4 mg L{sup −1}, 22.8 mg L{sup −1}, 24.2 mg L{sup −1}, 18.4 mg L{sup −1} and 50.8 mg L{sup −1} respectively, which met the discharge standard. The results indicated that a combined process of agitation-coagulation-SBR and filtration effectively eliminated pollutant loading from landfill leachate.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

WE-FG-207B-04: Noise Suppression for Energy-Resolved CT Via Variance Weighted Non-Local Filtration

Purpose: The photon starvation problem is exacerbated in energy-resolved CT, since the detected photons are shared by multiple energy channels. Using pixel similarity-based non-local filtration, we aim to produce accurate and high-resolution energy-resolved CT images with significantly reduced noise. Methods: Averaging CT images reconstructed from different energy channels reduces noise at the price of losing spectral information, while conventional denoising techniques inevitably degrade image resolution. Inspired by the fact that CT images of the same object at different energies share the same structures, we aim to reduce noise of energy-resolved CT by averaging only pixels of similar materials - a non-local filtration technique. For each CT image, an empirical exponential model is used to calculate the material similarity between two pixels based on their CT values and the similarity values are organized in a matrix form. A final similarity matrix is generated by averaging these similarity matrices, with weights inversely proportional to the estimated total noise variance in the sinogram of different energy channels. Noise suppression is achieved for each energy channel via multiplying the image vector by the similarity matrix. Results: Multiple scans on a tabletop CT system are used to simulate 6-channel energy-resolved CT, with energies ranging from 75 to 125 kVp. On a low-dose acquisition at 15 mA of the Catphan©600 phantom, our method achieves the same image spatial resolution as a high-dose scan at 80 mA with a noise standard deviation (STD) lower by a factor of >2. Compared with another non-local noise suppression algorithm (ndiNLM), the proposed algorithms obtains images with substantially improved resolution at the same level of noise reduction. Conclusion: We propose a noise-suppression method for energy-resolved CT. Our method takes full advantage of the additional structural information provided by energy-resolved CT and preserves image values at each energy level. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Biomedical Imaging And Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21EB019597. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Decontamination of Plutonium from Fluoride and Chloride during Oxalate Precipitation, Filtration and Calcination Processes

Due to analytical limitations for the determination of fluoride (F) and chloride (Cl) in a previous anion exchange study, an additional study of the decontamination of Pu from F and Cl by oxalate precipitation, filtration and calcination was performed. Anion product solution from the previous impurity study was precipitated as an oxalate, filtered, and calcined to produce an oxide for analysis by pyrohydrolysis for total Cl and F. Analysis of samples from this experiment achieved the purity specification for Cl and F for the proposed AFS-2 process. Decontamination factors (DF's) for the overall process (including anion exchange) achieved a DF of ~5000 for F and a DF of ~100 for Cl. Similar experiments where both HF and HCl were spiked into the anion product solution to a ~5000 μg /g Pu concentration showed a DF of 5 for F and a DF of 35 for Cl across the combined precipitation-filtration-calcination process steps.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Technology Overview: Side Stream Filtration for Cooling Towers

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) identified cooling tower side stream filtration as a technology that offers key benefits to the federal sector, including the potential to reduce energy and water use, decrease operating costs, and extend cooling equipment life. This overview provides agencies with key information to deploy side stream filtration systems that may otherwise be overlooked.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Syringe filtration methods for examining dissolved and colloidal trace element distributions in remote field locations

It is well-established that sampling and sample processing can easily introduce contamination into dissolved trace element samples if precautions are not taken. However, work in remote locations sometimes precludes bringing bulky clean lab equipment into the field and likewise may make timely transport of samples to the lab for processing impossible. Straightforward syringe filtration methods are described here for collecting small quantities (15 mL) of 0.45- and 0.02-microm filtered river water in an uncontaminated manner. These filtration methods take advantage of recent advances in analytical capabilities that require only small amounts of waterfor analysis of a suite of dissolved trace elements. Filter clogging and solute rejection artifacts appear to be minimal, although some adsorption of metals and organics does affect the first approximately 10 mL of water passing through the filters. Overall the methods are clean, easy to use, and provide reproducible representations of the dissolved and colloidal fractions of trace elements in river waters. Furthermore, sample processing materials can be prepared well in advance in a clean lab and transported cleanly and compactly to the field. Application of these methods is illustrated with data from remote locations in the Rocky Mountains and along the Yukon River. Evidence from field flow fractionation suggests that the 0.02-microm filters may provide a practical cutoff to distinguish metals associated with small inorganic and organic complexes from those associated with silicate and oxide colloids.

Colloids/analysis↗

Filtration of Spaceflight Propulsion and Pressurant Systems

NASA has provided little guidance for determining and implementing appropriate filtration of spaceflight propulsion and pressurant systems. Additionally, industry standards typically used for building and verifying filter performance are antiquated and lack applicability to propulsion systems. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) was requested to perform a gap analysis, identify risks, and develop a mitigation plan for spaceflight propulsion filtration. This report contains the outcome of the NESC analysis.

Propulsion System↗

Developing Waste-Driven Design Requirements for Filtration and Ion-Exchange at the Hanford LAWPS Facility - 16394

The United States Department of Energy is building the Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System (LAWPS) at the Hanford site near Richland, Washington to treat liquid tank waste. The primary unit operations are filtration for solids removal and ion-exchange for cesium-137 removal. The properties of the stored waste are diverse, therefore the design requirements need to allow for a variety of feeds from the Hanford tank farms. However, it is not cost effective to allow a few rare feeds to define the requirements when there are other options for treating the rare wastes. The waste-derived design requirements were based on trends from this data. The primary feed requirements that will drive filtration and ion-exchange performance are solids content of the feed, cesium to sodium ratio, and potassium concentration. Additionally, aluminum and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations are considered for flammable gas generation. For the cesium and potassium concentrations, the available experimental data was collected, sorted, and compared against the historic requirements. The design basis for cesium and potassium feed parameters developed here enveloped all but a couple outlier tanks. A review of available grab sample data indicates that occasionally the samples would have up to 0.8 wt% solids concentration. One single sample had 3.3 wt% solids concentration. These solids concentrations were assigned as the nominal and upper bounding solids concentrations. Flammable gas generation does not directly impact the ion exchange process throughput but does impact the design safety requirements, thus TOC and aluminum concentrations (which are inputs to the flammable gas calculations) were examined in a similar way, but were paired together through a simplified correlation to reach an upper bounding value of 0.6 wt% TOC*Al{sup 0.4}. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Design of Ad Hoc Filtration Beds for Treating Contaminated Waste Waters - 18385

We employed the GoldSim Contaminant Transport model to design a system of reactive filtration beds that may be used to selectively remove radioactive cesium and other radionuclides from contaminated waters. These filtration beds can be rapidly constructed ad hoc by using common materials that permit timely, in-field treatment of incoming contaminated waters generated during the response and recovery phase of a radioactive release event. Sensitivity analyses on the system parameters revealed simple relationships between the bed design and the expected breakthrough of cesium, allowing us to generate a concise set of look-up tables to aid the early responders. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗