AWARD
B -- Procurement of Services to Test and Evaluate High-Level Waste (HLW) & Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Vitrification System Improvements
- Notice Date
- 4/10/2014
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- NAICS
- 541330
— Engineering Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Energy, Federal Locations, All DOE Federal Contracting Offices, Various, Various locations, 20585
- ZIP Code
- 20585
- Solicitation Number
- DE-EM0002103_Mod-004
- Archive Date
- 4/11/2014
- Point of Contact
- David R Garcia, Phone: 5093760370
- E-Mail Address
-
david_garcia@orp.doe.gov
(david_garcia@orp.doe.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- DE-EM0002103_Mod-004
- Award Date
- 3/27/2014
- Awardee
- EnergySolutions Federal EPC, INC, 2345 Stevens Drive, SUite 240, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- Award Amount
- $3,461,477.00
- Line Number
- 12-13-14-15-16-17
- Description
- CLIN 0012: Enhanced HLW Glass Property Composition Models - Phase 2 WTP has developed glass property-composition models to control glass compositions for HLW vitrification at the Hanford Site in Richland, WA. These models are based on data from crucible scale tests to the DM1200 HLW Pilot Melter tests, but focused mostly on high-Fe HLW. In addition, these models are based on the glass property-composition data collected under U.S. Department of Energy, ORP contract DE-AC27-01RV14136 (Design, Construction, and Commissioning of the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant), which have much lower waste loadings than compositions subsequently developed for ORP for HLW processing. More recently, Energy Solutions Federal EPC, Inc. has developed new high waste loading formulations with good processing characteristics for Hanford HLW with high concentrations of Fe, Al, Al+Na, Cr, Bi, S, and P. To utilize the advantages of these formulations for HLW processing at the WTP, the HLW glass property-composition models need to be updated to incorporate these new compositions. ORP has started a program to incorporate the new HLW glass property data into the models; Phase 1 of that work is on-going. The models of interest include PCT, T 1% (crystallization), TCLP, viscosity and electrical conductivity, of which T 1% is expected to be the most constraining with respect to waste loading. Nepheline formation during CCC heat treatment is another factor to be considered in models and is particularly important for high-Al and high-Al+Na HLW. Development of new HLW models is expected to be a multi-year task with various activities. The proposed work scope elements for FY14 are listed below: a) Assess the current database, including data from the on-going Phase 1 work, and identify composition spaces in the database that need augmentation. b) Develop statistically designed composition matrices to cover the composition regions identified in the above analysis. c) Prepare crucible melts of glass compositions (about 50) from the statistically designed composition matrix and measure the properties of interest. d) Incorporate the above property-composition data into the database. e) Assess existing models against the augmented dataset. Future work is expected to include preparation and characterization of additional crucible melts to address data gaps from the above assessment, and augmentation of property-composition databases with the new data followed by development of new models. Preparation and characterization of crucible melts in phases, with assessment of the data in between, is expected to be more efficient in addressing the data gaps and require fewer new crucible melts as compared to preparing and characterizing all of the crucible melts together. CLIN 0013: Redox Effects and Corrosion of High-Bi HLW Glass Hanford tanks contain a number of HLW streams that are high in bismuth and phosphorous. Under previous tasks funded by ORP, glass formulations were developed for some of these HLW streams and melter tests were conducted. The results from that work showed that these glasses are very sensitive to redox changes. Bismuth is a relatively easily reducible species that has the potential to form molten metal phases that can be detrimental to melter operations and melter lifetime. The test results have also shown that the HLW glasses with high bismuth contents can be quite corrosive towards metallic melter components such as Inconel 690. Severe corrosion was observed in the DM1200 bubbler, especially under partially reducing conditions. There is a need to determine the viable range of operating conditions that do not lead to formation of molten metal phases and to investigate the corrosion of metallic melter components and potential mitigation strategies. This task will focus on redox effects in high-bismuth HLW glasses and corrosion of metal components. High-bismuth HLW glasses will be subjected to various redox states in controlled atmosphere furnaces and characterized to determine the effect of the redox state on secondary phase formation, and especially the formation of metallic phases. A limited number of tests will also be conducted to explore potential additives to mitigate adverse effects of high bismuth in HLW glass. High-bismuth HLW glasses previously developed for ORP will be used in the studies. The results will be analyzed to determine potential operating ranges. A further aspect of the work will be to determine the effect of redox state of the high-bismuth HLW glass on the corrosion of alloys such as Inconel 690 and MA758 that are frequency used as melter materials of construction. Corrosion tests will be conducted under controlled redox conditions to determine the effect of redox state on alloy corrosion. CLIN 0014: Phosphorous and Calcium Constraints for HLW Glass A significant fraction of the projected HLW feed batches to the WTP HLW vitrification facility will have relatively high concentrations of phosphorus. In some composition ranges, high levels of phosphorus can lead to the formation of crystalline phases such as calcium phosphate. The calcium can originate from the waste itself or from the glass forming chemical additives. Since many of the high phosphorus HLW batches are also high in sulfur, there are potential benefits to the addition of calcium to increase sulfate solubility in the glass. However, this can also increase the tendency for calcium phosphate formation. Consequently, there is a need to develop constraints and/or models that can be used to define the acceptable ranges of phosphorus and calcium contents that avoid calcium phosphate crystallization over the likely range of HLW glass compositions. Previous ORP System Plan projections have employed a simple preliminary constraint for this purpose, but there is a need to extend the underlying data set in order to support the development of improvements on the present approach. In this task, existing data on calcium phosphate formation in HLW glass compositions will be reviewed and data gaps will be identified. This information will be used to develop a test matrix of new glass compositions to address those gaps. The new glasses will be prepared and characterized with respect to formation of crystalline phases on heat treatment. While the particular emphasis of this work will be on calcium phosphate, all crystalline phases that form will be identified and quantified since data on other phases are valuable for the development of other property-composition models. The new data will be combined with existing data and the data set will be used to develop improved models for the prediction of calcium phosphate formation in HLW glasses. Other phases that that may be limiting for high-phosphorus HLW streams will also be identified. CLIN 0015: Effect of the Form of Iron on HLW Melt Rate Previous testing performed for ORP has demonstrated that the form of aluminum in the HLW stream can have substantial effects on glass production rates during HLW vitrification. In view of the very high concentrations of iron in the Hanford HLW inventory and the complex chemistry involved in the production of the mix of iron species present in those wastes, there is significant potential for iron speciation to result in similar impacts on HLW melt rates. As is the case for aluminum, iron is likely present predominantly as various hydroxides, oxides, and oxy‑hydroxides. The majority of the existing melt rate data on high-iron HLW compositions have been obtained with simulants that were prepared using a precipitated iron source that is nominally ferric hydroxide but which likely consists of a mix of different phases. In this task, the previously used iron source will be characterized with respect to the types and quantities of the various phases that are present. The results will be used to identify other potential iron sources that differ significantly in the types and quantities of the phases that are present. In addition, the limited available characterization data on actual Hanford HLW samples will be reviewed for information on iron-containing phases. This information will be combined and used to develop a test matrix to assess the effects of different iron sources on glass production rates. A high-iron HLW composition and corresponding glass formulation will be selected for these tests. Simulants will be prepared that are identical except for the form of iron that is used. Melter feeds will be prepared and subjected to melt rate testing on a DM100 melter system. The data will be analyzed to determine the potential range of effects of iron source on melt rates in comparison to rates that are obtained with the extensively tested nominal iron source. CLIN 0016: Support for HLW Feeds The pretreatment requirements for waste solids will be determined based on benefit to the processing mission. This treatment will range from: simple solid-liquid separators to; oxidative leaching to remove chromium and caustic leaching to remove aluminum followed by solid-liquid separation. The degree of solids-liquid separation will impact the amount of interstitial soluble components such as sodium. There is also a need to understand the impacts on HLW melter performance and throughput of these HLW compositions. Hanford HLW inventory information will be reviewed to select a HLW stream with high plutonium content. The impacts of the increased supernate content and lower solids content in this feed option will be investigated in this task. A series of waste compositions and solids contents will be investigated that span the range of washing efficiencies between the baseline WTP full-wash option and the no-wash option. A series of crucible melts will be formulated and tested to investigate the effects on glass compositions and waste loadings. Based on those results, a range of wash options will be selected with ORP for subsequent testing on the DM100 melter system. These tests will assess the impacts on processability and melt rates as well as the need for redox control resulting from the higher levels of nitrates from the increased supernate fraction. Off-gas data will be collected to assess off-gas carryover and the potential impacts of increased NOx generation on the WTP HLW facility, which, unlike the WTP LAW facility, does not include an SCR NOx removal system. In addition, the ability of increased bubbling to compensate for the increased evaporative load will be investigated. One of the objectives will be to determine the extent to which the shortfall in feed solids content can be compensated by improved HLW melter bubbling. CLIN 0017: Effect of Feed Solids Content on LAW Melt Processing Although the baseline LAW melter feeds have relatively high solids content, it is likely that LAW glass production rates could be increased if the solids content in melter feeds could be increased. The limitation in the present WTP baseline derives from the potential effects of higher solids on the rheological properties of the melter feeds and the need for compatibility with the WTP feed mixing and transport systems. This is accomplished essentially by designing the melter feeds such that they all have similar solids contents and glass yields. Accordingly, melter feed for a LAW stream with high waste loading that requires less glass former additives will be prepared with a more concentrated waste, whereas a LAW stream with lower waste loading and more glass former additives will be prepared with a less concentrated waste. The required waste concentration for each LAW stream is, therefore, defined based on the waste loading. Thus, there is a need to determine the impact of increased solids content on LAW glass production rates and potential methods of compensating for the resulting changes in feed rheology. In addition, under the need to fully understand the spectrum of LAW feeds, it is possible that the LAW feeds to the vitrification facility will have lower concentrations than those projected under the present baseline. In this LAW feed processing flexibility, the pretreatment facility is bypassed and LAW is fed to the vitrification facility with minimal in-tank or near-tank pretreatment, which will likely involve ion-exchange and solids removal. Without the capability for evaporation, some feeds to the vitrification facility will be delivered at much lower than design concentrations. This can lead to issues such as feed settling and lower processing rate. Thus there is also a need to investigate the effects of lower feed solids contents. In this task, tests will be conducted on the DM100 melter system over a range of solids contents, both above and below the nominal, to assess the effects on glass production rates and melter operations. Tests will also be conducted to adjust the rheology of both highly concentrated and very dilute feeds using rheology modifiers and/or particle size adjustments so that the feeds have rheological properties within the WTP bounds. Steady-state production rates for the feeds at different solids contents will be determined so that the glass production rate at a specified solids content can be estimated. These data will be valuable in planning feed for the LAW flow-sheet for the WTP and for the assessment of potential LAW throughput enhancements.
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