Dynamic air flow system for removing particulate bed material from a fluidized particulate bed reactor

摘要

A waste disposal system for radioactively contaminated salt solutions that includes a reaction chamber for interacting the contaminated salt solutions with a fluidized particulate bed to agglomerate salt molecules into bed-sized particles is illustrated herein. Excess bed material is removed during operation by an air flow pipeline system that includes two intersecting pipeline branches. One branch defines a gravity flow exit pathway for particulate bed material reaching a preselected level in the chamber, and the other provides an exit pathway for air and fine particles near the top of the chamber. Air flow through the exit pipeline branches causes fluidic mixing of fine particles with the larger bed- sized particles at the intersection of the two branches. The mixed particles are agglomerated by a centrifugal separator that also removes the particles from the air flow and deposits them into a storage container. The agglomeration of fine particles onto larger ones causes the deposited material to be a compact mass with a uniform density throughout. Control valve apparatus is positioned to inject air into the gravity flow pipeline in order to create a pressurization that prevents undesirable flow of solids or air into that branch from the reaction chamber, and thereby provides a controlled pressure seal that permits control of the volume of solids in the reaction chamber.