Laboratory research for high-temperature waste vitrification.

摘要

A series of experimental facilities were designed and developed to characterize the fundamental properties of high temperature glass for waste vitrification. The fundamental properties studied included viscosity, density, and partitioning behavior.; Two experimental units were built for viscosity measurement to suit different measurement needs. An accuracy of 13% was verified with measurement of reference glasses. A system for density measurement up to 1200°C was developed based upon Archimedean principle. An accuracy of 5% was obtained when measuring boron oxide. A facility being able to study the partitioning behavior of the high temperature glass up to 1700°C was built. Surrogates were proposed to study the behavior of radioactive elements.; These experimental units were employed to characterize an iron phosphate waste form. The iron phosphate, developed by researchers at UMR, may be a good alternative to conventional borosilicate glass for stabilization of high content phosphate and heavy metals wastes. Temperature dependence of the viscosity of 40 mol% Fe₂O₃–60 mol% P₂O₅ in the range of 1000–1200°C was obtained.; The partitioning experimental results show that the solubility of Ce and Sr in phosphate glasses is significantly higher than the solubility associated with borosilicate glasses. This again strengthened the conclusion that iron phosphate may be an economical alternative to borosilicate glass for immobilization of high heavy-metal-content wastes and actinide rich wastes.