Summary of 2010 DOE EM International Program Studies of Waste Glass Melt Rate Enhancement

摘要

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 added 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.