Entrainment of Solvent in Aqueous Stream from CINC V-5 Contactor (2005)

Personnel completed a rapid study of organic entrainment during operation of a CINC V-5 contactor under prototypical conditions covering the range of expected MCU operation. The study only considered the entrainment of organic into the strip acid effluent destined for the Defense Waste Processing Facility. Based on this work, the following observations are noted: (1) Concentrations of total organic from the contactor discharge, based upon modifier measurements, in the acid typically averaged 330 ppm{sub m}, for a range to 190-610 ppm{sub m}. (2) Entrained droplet sizes remained below 18 microns for samples collected at the decanter outlet and below 11 microns for samples taken from the contactor discharge. (3) Scouting tests showed that a vendor coalescer material promotes coalescence of smaller size droplets from the decanter effluent. (4) Personnel observed a previously unreported organic impurity in the solvent used for this study. Additional efforts are needed to ascertain the source of the impurity and its implication on the overall process. (5) Process throughputs and planned operating conditions result in very stable hydraulics, suggesting that the MCU stripping stages will have spare operating capacity. (6) The V-5 contactors show operated with relatively cool surfaces under the planned operating conditions. (7) If operating conditions result in an imbalance of the relative mixing and separation conditions within the contactor, a very stable emulsion may result. In this instance, the emulsion remained stable for weeks. The imbalance in this study resulted from use of improperly sized weir plates. (8) Personnel demonstrated an effective means of recovering emulsified solvent following a non-optimal equipment configuration. The protocols developed may offer benefit for MCU and SWPF operations. (9) This study developed and demonstrated the effectiveness of several analytical methods for support of the Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction process including infrared spectroscopy and droplet size measurement by a MicroTrac{trademark} S3000. Interfacial tension measurements also showed sensitivity to purity of the solvent suggesting that this technique may prove valuable for future process diagnostics. The study highlighted limitations of the current gas chromatography configuration for determination of modifier content of samples. Additional development of analytical methods for determining composition--and particularly modifier content--of organic and mixed aqueous-organic samples is warranted. Infrared spectroscopy shows particular promise. Additional full-scale studies are warranted to investigate the entrainment of organic in the aqueous effluent from the extraction operation. Since waste composition may differ appreciably for the process, this stream may exhibit much wider variance in hydraulic behavior, organic entrainment, and may pose a greater risk for poor hydraulics. Conducting contactor studies at SRNL allowed numerous personnel to view operations and facilitated the training of staff members. Members of the Design Authority, Engineering, and Training groups benefited from tours. Consideration should be given to procuring and installing a full-scale contactor at SRNL for future support and for assistance during commissioning of the MCU. Additional study of surface and interfacial tension is recommended. This tool may also offer economical and rapid process diagnostics for future operations.