Results for “FILTRATION” — Page 60

DOE OSTI2025

2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement

# 2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement The 2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement focused on gathering specific travel information from residents for the development of next-generation, activity-based models. Called the "Augment Survey," it supplemented the [2010–2012 California Household Travel Survey](https://www.nrel.gov/transportation/secure-transportation-data/tsdc-california-travel-survey). ## Data Collection Agency The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) hired Abt-SRBI, Inc. to conduct the survey. ## Methodology Travel data were collected from households via in-vehicle (625 vehicles) and wearable (244 participants) global positioning system (GPS) devices. ## Drive Cycle Processing and Filtering NREL has developed a GPS data filtration routine to filter erroneous data points in individual drive cycles sourced from GPS devices mounted in vehicles. Second-by-second drive cycle data collected from GPS-instrumented vehicles during this survey have passed through NREL's drive cycle processing and filtering routines. ## Survey Records Study records include 473 households. ## Transportation Data The SCAG data set contains data from 473 households that participated in one or more areas of study. Of these, 141 completed the wearable GPS portion of the study and 332 completed the vehicle GPS portion. There was no overlap between households participating in the two study areas (wearable and vehicle GPS). For details on available travel survey data and variable definitions, see the [data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/caltrans_scag_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=6ec36d7a_1). NREL-generated drive cycle data are also available for this survey. For details on available data and variable definitions, see the [drive cycle data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/drive_cycles_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=7de7e888_1). Transportation data are available as zipped files. [Download Winzip](http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

2013-2014 Greater Fairbanks, Alaska, Transportation Survey

# 2013–2014 Greater Fairbanks, Alaska, Transportation Survey The 2013–2014 Greater Fairbanks Transportation Survey obtained behavior data for regional travel demand modeling. The planning region in Alaska comprised the North Star Borough—known as the PM2.5 nonattainment region—and included the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole. ## Data Collection Agency The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities conducted the survey. ## Methodology Data collection occurred in two phases: the first in fall 2013 and the second in winter 2014. The first phase employed address-based sampling to recruit more than 1,700 households for a one-day personal travel survey, and a sub-sample participated with global position system (GPS) and on-board diagnostic (OBD) loggers installed in their vehicles (282 vehicles) for one week. The purpose of phase one was to better understand the impact of vehicle emissions on air quality in the PM2.5 nonattainment region. Many of the households participating in the vehicle GPS/OBD portion of phase one were asked to participate in phase two. ## Drive Cycle Processing and Filtering NREL has developed a GPS data filtration routine to filter erroneous data points in individual drive cycles sourced from GPS devices mounted in vehicles. Second-by-second drive cycle data collected from GPS-instrumented vehicles during this survey have passed through NREL's drive cycle processing and filtering routines. ## Survey Records Survey records include 135 households. ## More Information For more information about the survey, see the [Greater Fairbanks Transportation Survey Final Report](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/greater-fairbanks-transportation-survey-final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=16ecd45b_1). ## Transportation Data For details on available travel survey data and variable definitions, see the [data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/akdot_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=16778e11_1). NREL-generated drive cycle data are also available for this survey. For details on available data and variable definitions, see the [drive cycle data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/drive_cycles_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=7de7e888_1). Transportation data are available as zipped files. [Download Winzip](http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement

# 2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement The 2012 California Household Travel Survey Supplement focused on gathering specific travel information from residents for the development of next-generation, activity-based models. Called the "Augment Survey," it supplemented the [2010–2012 California Household Travel Survey](https://www.nrel.gov/transportation/secure-transportation-data/tsdc-california-travel-survey). ## Data Collection Agency The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) hired Abt-SRBI, Inc. to conduct the survey. ## Methodology Travel data were collected from households via in-vehicle (625 vehicles) and wearable (244 participants) global positioning system (GPS) devices. ## Drive Cycle Processing and Filtering NREL has developed a GPS data filtration routine to filter erroneous data points in individual drive cycles sourced from GPS devices mounted in vehicles. Second-by-second drive cycle data collected from GPS-instrumented vehicles during this survey have passed through NREL's drive cycle processing and filtering routines. ## Survey Records Study records include 473 households. ## Transportation Data The SCAG data set contains data from 473 households that participated in one or more areas of study. Of these, 141 completed the wearable GPS portion of the study and 332 completed the vehicle GPS portion. There was no overlap between households participating in the two study areas (wearable and vehicle GPS). For details on available travel survey data and variable definitions, see the [data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/caltrans_scag_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=6ec36d7a_1). NREL-generated drive cycle data are also available for this survey. For details on available data and variable definitions, see the [drive cycle data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/drive_cycles_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=7de7e888_1). Transportation data are available as zipped files. [Download Winzip](http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

2013-2014 Greater Fairbanks, Alaska, Transportation Survey

# 2013–2014 Greater Fairbanks, Alaska, Transportation Survey The 2013–2014 Greater Fairbanks Transportation Survey obtained behavior data for regional travel demand modeling. The planning region in Alaska comprised the North Star Borough—known as the PM2.5 nonattainment region—and included the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole. ## Data Collection Agency The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities conducted the survey. ## Methodology Data collection occurred in two phases: the first in fall 2013 and the second in winter 2014. The first phase employed address-based sampling to recruit more than 1,700 households for a one-day personal travel survey, and a sub-sample participated with global position system (GPS) and on-board diagnostic (OBD) loggers installed in their vehicles (282 vehicles) for one week. The purpose of phase one was to better understand the impact of vehicle emissions on air quality in the PM2.5 nonattainment region. Many of the households participating in the vehicle GPS/OBD portion of phase one were asked to participate in phase two. ## Drive Cycle Processing and Filtering NREL has developed a GPS data filtration routine to filter erroneous data points in individual drive cycles sourced from GPS devices mounted in vehicles. Second-by-second drive cycle data collected from GPS-instrumented vehicles during this survey have passed through NREL's drive cycle processing and filtering routines. ## Survey Records Survey records include 135 households. ## More Information For more information about the survey, see the [Greater Fairbanks Transportation Survey Final Report](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/greater-fairbanks-transportation-survey-final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=16ecd45b_1). ## Transportation Data For details on available travel survey data and variable definitions, see the [data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/akdot_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=16778e11_1). NREL-generated drive cycle data are also available for this survey. For details on available data and variable definitions, see the [drive cycle data dictionary](https://www.nrel.gov/media/docs/libraries/tsdc/drive_cycles_data_dictionary.pdf?sfvrsn=7de7e888_1). Transportation data are available as zipped files. [Download Winzip](http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Aqueous Organic Matter from Kougarok Fire Complex, Alaska, 2023

Chemical analyses of aqueous organic matter extracted by filtration from a small set of organic layer samples collected from burned and unburned tussock tundra sites in the Kougarok Fire Complex, near Nome, Alaska. There are five files in *.csv format with one data file and four data description files including data dictionary, methods, terminology, and file-level metadata.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

Comparing extracting and recirculating residential kitchen range hoods for the use in high energy efficient housing

Residential cooking can be a significant indoor source of odour, pollutants and particulate matter. Conventionally, range hoods expel the air into the ambient. A number of studies have investigated their contaminant capture performance. However, for highly energy efficient houses the installation of extracting range hoods can pose certain challenges, e.g. high ventilation losses, additional thermal bridges and potential air leakage sites. Therefore, the use of recirculation range hoods has become standard for highly energy efficient housing with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in Central Europe. Open questions remain regarding their capture and filtration efficiency as a function of filter age, especially for particles and odours. But also, the actual energy savings potential when using recirculating instead of extracting devices in a highly energy efficient housing had not been documented yet. This paper addresses these questions with a literature review and an energetic comparison. The review identified a good number of studies which have investigated the capture performance of extracting range hoods with a focus on pollutants resulting from gas combustion and/or the cooking generated particles. These studies show that capture efficiency, in particular for front burner use, can vary drastically for different designs and that particle capture does not necessarily match capture efficiency for gaseous contaminants. No scientific study investigating the performance of recirculating range hoods was found. Tests for consumer magazines as well as surveys indicate notably lower performance compared to extracting hoods. In summary one can say that performance tests are urgently needed to quantify the capture and filter efficiency for particles and (odorous) organic compounds as a function of filter age.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2022

Maximizing the Proppant Carrying and Viscoelastic Properties of the Bakken Hypersaline-Produced Water with High-Viscosity Friction Reducers for Sustainable Applications

Summary The development and production of unconventional reservoirs, such as the Bakken Formation, have become a resolved mystery for operators in North America since the arrival and advancement of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies. As a result, unconventional reservoir assets became the central focus of the oil and gas industry at the state, national, and global levels. The produced water from these activities in the Bakken Formation have high salt contents (110,000–350,000 ppm) total dissolve solids (TDS) and can pose significant challenges to the environment if not treated. Deep injection into disposal wells is the routine method used to get rid of the Bakken produced water. However, there have been some concerns that unrestrained injections, in addition to polluting the groundwater, could potentially lead to seismic activities either at the time of injection or in the near future. To diminish the environmental impacts that may be associated with induced seismicity, including the reduction of the costs of water acquisition, the produced water can be treated and reused in the hydraulic fracturing processes. Also, the treated water could be used for irrigation purposes, for power generation, and coal mining operations. The issues of waste water and residual oil high in TDS are challenges yet to be effectively addressed despite preceding research and studies on advancing produced water technologies. The goal of this study is to explore all applicable ways by which the produced water from the Bakken Formation can serve as a replacement base fluid for use with polymers like the high-viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) to create hydraulic fracturing fluids that can be stable with reservoir conditions and also be able to minimize environmental impacts and cost of operations. Experimental investigations using the high-salinity produced water from the Bakken Formation with HVFRs were carried out. The studies included a base case that served as a bench mark for comparing the effectiveness of the other scenarios. The results indicate that the Bakken hyper-saline produced water can withstand effect of heavy metals, salinity, hardness and remain stable through different shear rates (66–330 s−1) when treated with higher dosages [4–8 gal/1,000 gal (gpt)] of HVFRs. Filtration and dilution were the only methods used on the Bakken Formation produced wate for this research

Engineering↗

DOE OSTI2012

Biochar Produced from Anaerobically Digested Fiber Reduces Phosphorus in Dairy Lagoons

This study evaluated the use of biochar produced from anaerobic digester dairy fiber (ADF) to sequester phosphorus (P) from dairy lagoons. The ADF was collected from a plugged flow digester, air-dried to <8% water content, and pelletized. Biochar was produced by slow pyrolysis in a barrel retort. The potential of biochar to reduce P in the anaerobic digester effluent (ADE) was assessed in small-scale filter systems through which the effluent was circulated. Biochar sequestered an average of 381 mg L -1 P from the ADE, and 4 g L -1 ADF was captured as a coating on the biochar. There was an increase of total (1.9 g kg -1 ), Olsen (763 mg kg -1 ), and water-extractable P (914 mg kg -1 ) bound to the biochar after 15 d of filtration. This accounted for a recovery of 32% of the P in the ADE. The recovered P on the biochar was analyzed using 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance for P speciation, which confirmed the recovery of inorganic orthophosphate after liquid extraction of the biochar and the presence of inextractable Ca-P in the solid state. The inorganic phosphate was sequestered on the biochar through physical and weak chemical bonding. Finally, results indicate that biochar could be a beneficial component to P reduction in the dairy system.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

DOE OSTI2026

Predicting initial trans-membrane pressure across cycles in the ultrafiltration process using random forest

With growing freshwater scarcity, direct potable reuse (DPR) systems that reclaim wastewater for drinking are becoming increasingly important for sustainable water supply. Reliable operation requires minimizing downtime in ultrafiltration (UF) units, where membrane fouling leads to elevated trans-membrane pressure (TMP). This study develops data-driven regression models based on random forest (RF) and autoregressive (AR) approaches to forecast the initial TMP at the start of each UF filtration cycle in a pilot-scale DPR system. The RF model consistently outperforms baseline methods, including historical mean, last observation carried forward, and AR models, across multiple forecast horizons, achieving the lowest root mean square error. To evaluate how different classes of process variables contribute to TMP dynamics over time, we examine the feature importance of independent input variables across multiple forecast horizons. This analysis provides insight into the temporal relevance of operational and sensor-derived features, guiding control and monitoring strategies. Additionally, the impact of hyperparameter tuning on TMP prediction performance is assessed for both direct and recursive RF modelling approaches. The proposed RF framework establishes a robust foundation for predictive monitoring and real-time optimization of UF operations, supporting sustainable and reliable water reuse.

direct potable reuse↗

DOE OSTI2012

Small-Scale Testing of Plutonium(IV) Oxalate Precipitation and Calcination to Plutonium Oxide to Support the MOX Feed Mission

The H-Canyon facility will be used to dissolve Pu metal for subsequent purification and conversion to plutonium dioxide (PuO 2 ) using Phase II of HB-Line. To support the new mission, SRNL conducted a series of experiments to produce calcined plutonium (Pu) oxide and measure the physical properties and water adsorption of that material. This data will help define the process operating conditions and material handling steps for HB-Line. An anion exchange column experiment produced 1.4 L of a purified 52.6 g/L Pu solution. Over the next nine weeks, seven Pu(IV) oxalate precipitations were performed using the same stock Pu solution, with precipitator feed acidities ranging from 0.77 M to 3.0 M nitric acid and digestion times ranging from 5 to 30 minutes. Analysis of precipitator filtrate solutions showed Pu losses below 1% for all precipitations. The four larger precipitation batches matched the target oxalic acid addition time of 44 minutes within 4 minutes. The three smaller precipitation batches focused on evaluation of digestion time and the oxalic acid addition step ranged from 25-34 minutes because of pump limitations in the low flow range. Following the precipitations, 22 calcinations were performed in the range of 610 – 690 °C, with the largest number of samples calcined at either 650 or 635 °C. Characterization of the resulting PuO 2 batches showed specific surface areas in the range of 5-14 m 2 /g, with 16 of the 22 samples in the range of 5-10 m 2 /g. For samples analyzed with typical handling (exposed to ambient air for 15-45 minutes with relative humidities of 20-55%), the moisture content as measured by Mass Spectrometry ranged from 0.15 to 0.45 wt % and the total mass loss at 1000 °C, as measured by TGA, ranged from 0.21 to 0.58 wt %. For the samples calcined between 635 and 650 °C, the moisture content without extended exposure ranged from 0.20 to 0.38 wt %, and the TGA mass loss ranged from 0.26 to 0.46 wt %. Of these latter samples, the samples calcined at 650 °C generally had lower specific surface areas and lower moisture contents than the samples calcined at 635 °C, which matches expectations from the literature. Taken together, the TGA-MS results for samples handled at nominally 20-50% RH, without extended exposure, indicate that the Pu(IV) oxalate precipitation process followed by calcination at 635-650 °C appears capable of producing PuO 2 with moisture content < 0.5 wt % as required by the 3013 Standard. Exposures of PuO 2 samples to ambient air for 3 or more hours generally showed modest mass gains that were primarily gains in moisture content. These results point to the need for a better understanding of the moisture absorption of PuO 2 and serve as a warning that extended exposure times, particularly above the 50% RH level observed in this study will make the production of PuO 2 with less than 0.5 wt % moisture more challenging. Samples analyzed in this study generally contained approximately 2 monolayer equivalents of moisture. In this study, the bulk of the moisture released from samples below 300 °C, as did a significant portion of the CO 2 . Samples in this study consistently released a minor amount of NO in the 40-300 °C range, but no samples released CO or SO 2 . TGA-MS results also showed that MS moisture content accounted for 80±8% of the total mass loss at 1000 °C measured by the TGA. The PuO 2 samples produced had particles sizes that typically ranged from 0.2 – 88 μm, with the mean particle size ranging from 6.4 – 9.3 μm. The carbon content of ten different calcination batches ranged from 190-480 μg C/g Pu, with an average value of 290 μg C/g Pu.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Reuse of Produced Water from CO 2 Enhanced Oil Recovery, Coal-Bed Methane, and Mine Pool Water by Coal-Based Power Plants

Power generation in the Illinois Basin is expected to increase by as much as 30% by the year 2030, and this would increase the cooling water consumption in the region by approximately 40%. This project investigated the potential use of produced water from CO 2 enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) operations; coal-bed methane (CBM) recovery; and active and abandoned underground coal mines for power plant cooling in the Illinois Basin. Specific objectives of this project were: (1) to characterize the quantity, quality, and geographic distribution of produced water in the Illinois Basin; (2) to evaluate treatment options so that produced water may be used beneficially at power plants; and (3) to perform a techno-economic analysis of the treatment and transportation of produced water to thermoelectric power plants in the Illinois Basin. Current produced water availability within the basin is not large, but potential flow rates up to 257 million liters per day (68 million gallons per day (MGD)) are possible if CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery and coal bed methane recovery are implemented on a large scale. Produced water samples taken during the project tend to have dissolved solids concentrations between 10 and 100 g/L, and water from coal beds tends to have lower TDS values than water from oil fields. Current pretreatment and desalination technologies including filtration, adsorption, reverse osmosis (RO), and distillation can be used to treat produced water to a high quality level, with estimated costs ranging from $2.6 to $10.5 per cubic meter ($10 to $40 per 1000 gallons). Because of the distances between produced water sources and power plants, transportation costs tend to be greater than treatment costs. An optimization algorithm was developed to determine the lowest cost pipe network connecting sources and sinks. Total water costs increased with flow rate up to 26 million liters per day (7 MGD), and the range was from $4 to $16 per cubic meter ($15 to $60 per 1000 gallons), with treatment costs accounting for 13-23% of the overall cost. Results from this project suggest that produced water is a potential large source of cooling water, but treatment and transportation costs for this water are large.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Extended Operations of the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Pilot-Scale Compact Reformer: Year 6 - Activity 3.2 - Development of a National Center for Hydrogen Technology

U.S. and global demand for hydrogen is large and growing for use in the production of chemicals, materials, foods, pharmaceuticals, and fuels (including some low-carbon biofuels). Conventional hydrogen production technologies are expensive, have sizeable space requirements, and are large carbon dioxide emitters. A novel sorbent-based hydrogen production technology is being developed and advanced toward field demonstration that promises smaller size, greater efficiency, lower costs, and reduced to no net carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional hydrogen production technology. Development efforts at the pilot scale have addressed materials compatibility, hot-gas filtration, and high-temperature solids transport and metering, among other issues, and have provided the basis for a preliminary process design with associated economics. The process was able to achieve a 93% hydrogen purity on a purge gasfree basis directly out of the pilot unit prior to downstream purification.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2013

Sample Results From The Interim Salt Disposition Program Macrobatch 7 Tank 21H Qualification MST Solids Sample

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) performed experiments on qualification material for use in the Interim Salt Disposition Program (ISDP) Batch 7 processing. The Marcrobatch 7 material was received with visible fine particulate solids, atypical for these samples. The as received material was allowed to settle for a period greater than 24 hours. The supernatant was then decanted and utilized as our clarified feed material. As part of this qualification work, SRNL performed an Actinide Removal Process (ARP) test using the clarified feed material. From this test, the residual monosodium titanate (MST) was analyzed for radionuclide uptake after filtration from H-Tank Farm (HTF) feed salt solution. The results of these analyses are reported and are within historical precedent.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2013

COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR QUARTER 3 SURFACE WATER SPLIT SAMPLES COLLECTED AT THE NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES SITE, ERWIN, TENNESSEE

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), under the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) contract, collected split surface water samples with Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) representatives on March 20, 2013. Representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation were also in attendance. Samples were collected at four surface water stations, as required in the approved Request for Technical Assistance number 11-018. These stations included Nolichucky River upstream (NRU), Nolichucky River downstream (NRD), Martin Creek upstream (MCU), and Martin Creek downstream (MCD). Both ORAU and NFS performed gross alpha and gross beta analyses, and Table 1 presents the comparison of results using the duplicate error ratio (DER), also known as the normalized absolute difference. A DER {<=} 3 indicates that at a 99% confidence interval, split sample results do not differ significantly when compared to their respective one standard deviation (sigma) uncertainty (ANSI N42.22). The NFS split sample report does not specify the confidence level of reported uncertainties (NFS 2013). Therefore, standard two sigma reporting is assumed and uncertainty values were divided by 1.96. In conclusion, most DER values were less than 3 and results are consistent with low (e.g., background) concentrations. The gross beta result for sample 5198W0012 was the exception. The ORAU result of 9.23 &plusmn 0.73 pCi/L from location MCD is well above NFS's result of -0.567 &plusmn 0.63 pCi/L (non-detected). NFS's data package included a detected result for U-233/234, but no other uranium or plutonium detection, and nothing that would suggest the presence of beta-emitting radionuclides. The ORAU laboratory reanalyzed sample 5198W0012 using the remaining portion of the sample volume and a result of 11.3 &plusmn 1.1 pCi/L was determined. As directed, the laboratory also counted the filtrate using gamma spectrometry analysis and identified only naturally occurring or ubiquitous man-made constituents, including beta emitters that are presumably responsible for the elevated gross beta values.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2012

Preliminary ILAW Formulation Algorithm Description (Rev. 1)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP), has contracted with Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) to design, construct, and commission the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site (DOE 2000). This plant is designed to operate for 40 years and treat roughly 50 million gallons of mixed hazardous high-level waste (HLW) stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site. The process involves separating the high-level and low-activity waste (LAW) fractions through filtration, leaching, Cs ion exchange, and precipitation. Each fraction will be separately vitrified into borosilicate waste glass. This report documents the initial algorithm for use by Hanford WTP in batching LAW and glass-forming chemicals (GFCs) in the LAW melter feed preparation vessel (MFPV). Algorithm inputs include the chemical analyses of the pretreated LAW in the concentrate receipt vessel (CRV), the volume of the MFPV heel, and the compositions of individual GFCs. In addition to these inputs, uncertainties in the LAW composition and processing parameters are included in the algorithm.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2014

Uranium Anodic Dissolution under Slightly Alkaline Conditions Progress Report Full-Scale Demonstration with DU Foil

Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is developing an alternative method for digesting irradiated low enriched uranium (LEU) foil targets to produce 99 Mo in neutral/alkaline media. This method consists of the electrolytic dissolution of irradiated uranium foil in sodium bicarbonate solution, followed by precipitation of base-insoluble fission and activation products, and uranyl-carbonate species with CaO. The addition of CaO is vital for the effective anion exchange separation of 99 MoO 4 2- from the fission products, since most of the interfering anions (e.g., CO 3 2- ) are removed from the solution, while molybdate remains in solution. An anion exchange is used to retain and to purify the 99 Mo from the filtrate. The electrochemical dissolver has been designed and fabricated in 304 stainless-steel (SS), and tested for the dissolution of a full-size depleted uranium (DU) target, wrapped in Al foil. Future work will include testing with low-burn-up DU foil at Argonne and later with high-burn-up LEU foils at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Low Activity Waste Feed Solids Characterization and Filterability Tests

The primary treatment of the tank waste at the DOE Hanford site will be done in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) that is currently under construction. The baseline plan for the WTP Pretreatment facility is to treat the waste, splitting it into High Level Waste (HLW) feed and Low Activity Waste (LAW) feed. Both waste streams are then separately vitrified as glass and sealed in canisters. The LAW glass will be disposed onsite in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). There are currently no plans to treat the waste to remove technetium in the WTP Pretreatment facility, so its disposition path is the LAW glass. Options are being explored to immobilize the LAW portion of the tank waste, i.e., the LAW feed from the WTP Pretreatment facility. Removal of 99 Tc from the LAW Feed, followed by off-site disposal of the 99 Tc, would eliminate a key risk contributor for the IDF Performance Assessment (PA) for supplemental waste forms, and has potential to reduce treatment and disposal costs. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is developing some conceptual flow sheets for LAW treatment and disposal that could benefit from technetium removal. One of these flow-sheets will specifically examine removing 99 Tc from the LAW feed stream to supplemental immobilization. The conceptual flow sheet of the 99 Tc removal process includes a filter to remove insoluble solids prior to processing the stream in an ion exchange column, but the characteristics and behavior of the liquid and solid phases has not previously been investigated. This report contains results of testing of a simulant that represents the projected composition of the feed to the Supplemental LAW process. This feed composition is not identical to the aqueous tank waste fed to the Waste Treatment Plant because it has been processed through WTP Pretreatment facility and therefore contains internal changes and recycle streams that will be generated within the WTP process. Although a Supplemental LAW feed simulant has previously been prepared, this feed composition differs from that simulant because those tests examined only the fully soluble aqueous solution at room temperature, not the composition formed after evaporation, including the insoluble solids that precipitate after it cools. The conceptual flow sheet for Supplemental LAW immobilization has an option for removal of 99 Tc from the feed stream, if needed. Elutable ion exchange has been selected for that process. If implemented, the stream would need filtration to remove the insoluble solids prior to processing in an ion exchange column. The characteristics, chemical speciation, physical properties, and filterability of the solids are important to judge the feasibility of the concept, and to estimate the size and cost of a facility.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2014

Characterization Of a Precipitate Reactor Feed Tank (PRFT) Sample From The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF)

A sample of from the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Precipitate Reactor Feed Tank (PRFT) was pulled and sent to the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in June of 2013. The PRFT in DWPF receives Actinide Removal Process (ARP)/Monosodium Titanate (MST) material from the 512-S Facility via the 511-S Facility. This 2.2 L sample was to be used in small-scale DWPF chemical process cell testing in the Shielded Cells Facility of SRNL. A 1L sub-sample portion was characterized to determine the physical properties such as weight percent solids, density, particle size distribution and crystalline phase identification. Further chemical analysis of the PRFT filtrate and dissolved slurry included metals and anions as well as carbon and base analysis.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗