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Application 1039

Remediation of wastewater stored in High-Integrity Container (HIC)

Liquid waste is generated by many sources at a nuclear energy plant, during both operation and decommissioning. The waste is sometimes stored in high-integrity containers (HICs) or similar vessels, where it occupies valuable space and poses a liability that eventually needs to be dealt with.

The rotating bed reactor (RBR) is a tool for remediating contaminations in the nuclear sector and other industries. It is deployable in practically any liquid and in any container. After identifying the species to be remediated in the waste, a matching adsorbent (e.g. ion-exchange resin or inorganic material) is selected. The rotating bed reactor is then filled with this adsorbent and installed through any access port into the container, such as in an IBC (intermediate bulk container), drum, or a High-Integrity Container (HIC).

An IBC with a rotating bed reactor installed.

In an example, the RBR S14 was used to reduce ion concentrations (deionization) in 3,000 L of water stored in a High-Integrity Container (HIC). The adsorbent was made up of 7 L of mixed-bed resin (Purolite® MB400IND). The conductivity was halved after only about 30 min, and after 2 h it reached non-detectable levels.

An indispensable tool for cleanup operations and for decommissioning activities, the rotating bed reactor has been deployed in a number of ways offering background for HAZOPs. With the rotating bed reactor, our customers in the nuclear energy sector have been able to treat large volumes of problematic legacy waste to levels where it could be released to existing downstream treatment plants.

The rotating bed reactor is easily deployed in many vessels, both unique and standardized. Reach out to us today to get started with the rotating bed reactor technology.

Details

A high-integrity container (HIC) was filled with ca 3000 L of municipal water resulting in starting conductivity of 116.5 uS/cm. A RBR S14 was charged with mixed-bed resin MB400IND (7 L) from Purolite. The RBR was lowered into the HIC and spun at 340 rpm while monitoring the conductivity. The reaction was stopped after 2 h when the conductivity was down to our level of quantification (LOQ).