Molten salt oxidation (MSO) is a process in which organic wastes are oxidized. by sparging them with air through a bed of molten sodium carbonate (bp = 851°C) at >_900°C. This process is readily applicable to the mixed waste because acidic products from CI, S, P, etc., in the waste, along with most metals and most radionuclides, are retained within the melt as oxides or salts. Rockwell International has studied the application of MSO to various wastes, _including some mixed waste. 5 A unit used by Rockwell to study the mixed waste treatment is presently in use at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). ORNL's studies to date have concentrated on chemical flowsheet questions. Concerns that were studied included carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, NO x emissions, and metal retention under a variety of conditions. Initial experiments show that CO emissions increase with increasing NaCI content in the melt, increasing temperature, and increasing airflow. Carbon monoxide content is especially high (>2000ppm) with high chlorine content (> 10%). Thermal NO_ emissions are relatively low (<5 ppm) at temperatures < 1000°C. However, most (85-100%) of the nitrogen in the feed as organic nitrate or amine was released as NO x. The metal contents of the melt and of knockout pot samples of condensed salt show high volatilities of Cs as CsCl. Average condensed salt concentrations were 60% for barium and 100% for strontium and cobalt. The cerium disappeared-perhaps from deposition on the alumina reactor walls.
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Glass has become a preferred waste form worldwide for radioactive wastes;
however, there are limitations. Halogen-containing wastes can not be
converted to glass because halogens (chlorides, fluorides, etc.) form
poor-quality waste glasses. Furthermore, halides in glass melters often form
second phases that create operating problems. A new waste vitrification
process, the Glass Material Oxidation and Dissolution System (GMODS),
removes these limitations by converting halogen-containing wastes into
borosilicate glass and a secondary, clean, sodium-halide stream.
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