Abstract
Perlite is one of the major constituents of the radioactive thermal insulation waste (RTIW) originating from nuclear power plants and, for proper waste management, a significant reduction in its volume is required prior to disposal. In this work, the volume reduction of perlite is studied by high-temperature treatment method with using K2CO3 as a flux. The perlite is ground with 0–30 wt% K2CO3, and differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis is used to monitor the glass transition temperature (Tg) and weight loss. The Tg varied between ~772.2 and 837.1 °C with the minima at ~643.5 °C with the addition of ~10 wt% K2CO3. It is observed that compared to the pure perlite the volume reduction ratio (VRR) increases with the addition of K2CO3. The VRR of 11.20 is observed with 5 wt% K2CO3 at 700 °C, as compared to VRR of 5.56 without K2CO3 at 700 °C. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy are used to characterize perlite samples heat-treated without/with 5 wt% K2CO3 at 700 °C. Moreover, the atomic absorption spectroscopy indicates that the proposed heat-treatment procedure is able to completely retain the radionuclides present in the perlite RTIW.
Published Version
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