SUMMARY OF 2010 DOE EM INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM STUDIES OF WASTE GLASS MELT RATE ENHANCEMENT

Abstract

A collaborative study has been established under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management International Program between the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute (KRI) in St. Petersburg, Russia, to investigate potential improvements in melt rate via chemical additions to the glass frit. Researchers at KRI suggested a methodology for selecting frit additives based on empirical coefficients for optimization of glass melting available in the Russian literature. Using these coefficients, KRI identified B{sub 2}O{sub 3}, CuO, and MnO as frit additives that were likely to improve melt rate without having adverse effects on crystallization of the glass or its chemical durability. The results of the melt rate testing in the SMK melter showed that the slurry feed rate (used as a gauge of melt rate) could be significantly increased when MnO or CuO were added to Frit 550 with the SMR-2 sludge. The feed rates increased by about 27% when MnO was added to the frit and by about 26% when CuO was added to the frit, as compared to earlier results for Frit 550 alone. The impact of adding additional B{sub 2}O{sub 3} to the frit was minor when addedmore » with CuO. The additional B{sub 2}O{sub 3} showed a more significant, 39% improvement in melt rate when added with MnO. The additional B{sub 2}O{sub 3} also reduced the viscosity of the glasses during pouring. Samples of the glasses from the melt rate testing characterized at SRNL showed that there were no significant impacts on crystallization of the glasses. All of the glasses had very good chemical durability. Chemical composition measurements showed that the frit additives were present in concentrations below the targeted values in some of the glasses. Therefore, it is possible that higher concentrations of these additives may further improve melt rate, although the impacts of higher concentrations of these components on crystallization and durability would need to be determined. Overall, the results show an excellent potential for these additives to significantly improve waste throughput for DOE vitrification facilities. A complete report from KRI is included as an appendix to this document.« less