Irradiation and Temperature Effects on Anti-Foam Agent Performance in a Non-Newtonian Waste Slurry Simulant

Abstract

Foaming tests were performed in a bench-scale foam column and 1/9th-scale mechanically-agitated mixing system at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for a simulant of waste slurry from the Hanford Tank 241-AZ-101. This featured additions of DOW Corning Q2-3183A antifoam agent (AFA) to prevent foaming, especially in the evaporators. These waste slurries (typically 15 wt% solids) are particularly prone to particle-stabilized foaming. Previous studies have shown that up to 20% of the polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) portion of the AFA mixture is degraded by radiation. The high temperature (90°C) for 48 hrs of a caustic leaching process may have a similar effect on the polymer. The objective of this study was to determine how well degraded AFA works. Key results are that: • Without addition of this AFA, the 1/9th-scale system had about 100% foaming at 1 mm/s air velocity and the bench-scale system had over 400% foaming for an air flow of 10 mm/s. • The effect of irradiating 350 ppm AFA was to increase foaming from 6% to 30% in the foam column and 7.6% to 13.7% in the 1/9th-scale system at an air flow of 1 mm/s at room temperature. • The effect of heating the AFA to 90°C was to increase foaming by a factor of 1.6 in the foam column. But while the effectiveness of the irradiated AFA was reduced, it still provided a significant reduction in foaming. AFA additions required to mitigate the combined effects of high temperature and radiation were also determined.