Nuclear Power is a decarbonated technology of electrical energy generation. Using nuclear energy as a power source is currently considered as the best option in the fight against climate change. But the radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plants and their related facilities are matter of concern. Though the high level and intermediate level activity wastes are contained in small volumes (≤10%), significant volumes of lower activity wastes are generated. Metallic wastes are a major component of these radioactive wastes with about 500,000 tons expected in France alone, including 130,000 tons from steam generators. Majority of these metals are made of Stainless steel 316 alloy or Inconel 600. Under the effect of the primary circuit thermal-hydraulic constraints and irradiation, these the resulting corrosion products may be activated when close to the fuel, and be transported throughout the circuit. These products can be deposited on the surface of other metal components, causing contamination of the latter. The contamination can be adsorbed on the surface but can also diffuse in the oxide layers and sub-surface. The oxide layer is composed of an inner layer of Cr oxide under a layer of Ni and Fe oxide. Chemical decontamination is preferred due to the possibility of decontamination of difficult geometries and tube bends. In order to decontaminate these materials, it is important to dissolve the oxide layers chemically and a few micrometers of base metal where it could have diffused. An existing chemical method used to treat these materials is studied in this article, Chemical Oxidation Reduction Decontamination (CORD). Surrogate steel samples were prepared using high temperature induction heating and water vapour after sample preparation and cleaning. The oxide layer was characterised before treatment of the samples in the batch method at different concentrations and its effects are observed on the dissolution of the oxide layers. A protocol is being developed for the treatment of secondary waste effluents by multi-stage precipitation with a goal to reduce the total waste volumes and thus the volumes of ion exchange resins that would otherwise be needed.
Because of its suitability for producing kaolinite nanoscrolls, the kaolinitecetyltrimethylammonium chloride intercalation complex is of interest in the research area of kaolinite nanocomposites. Experimental and molecular simulation analyses are used to investigate this intercalation complex, revealing its real structure formed through partially methoxy-modified kaolinite. Cost-efficient homogenization method is applied to synthesize the eco-friend kaolinite-urea pre-intercalation complex, which was found to be favorable to intercalate cetyltrimethylammonium chloride into the interlayer space of kaolinite. The influence of the pre-intercalated urea molecules, the partial modification of kaolinite structure with methoxy groups, and the presence of methanol molecules in the interlayer space of kaolinite on the intercalation of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride is characterized experimentally by X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. The kaolinite-cetyltrimethylammonium chloride complex is identified at the basal spacing of 3.82 nm with the chemical formula of Al 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 3.7 (OCH 3 ) 0.3 (CTAC) 1.6 (Me) 1.6 . Our molecular simulations predict methanolcontaining structures between methoxy-functionalized kaolinite layers with diffuse guest molecular arrangements.
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The present-day oil refining market has the potential to process opportunity crudes. The degree of corrosion and fouling issues has increased in terms of processing opportunity crudes. In the case of changing crude slates, predicting the impacts of crude oil on production is necessary to ensure safe and profitable processing. Crude oil can be characterized by the quantitative and qualitative analyses of saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes and contaminants as well as the determination of its physical and chemical properties. The complementary nature of these analyses is necessary to identify the root causes of fouling and corrosion problems and quantify the impact of them. In this study, analytical methods were developed to investigate the effect of crude oils on production in terms of fouling and corrosion, which can be used to characterize crude oil from different sources. The compatibility, emulsification tendency and fouling potential of crude oil were analyzed by the developed analytical methods. The measurement method to assess the compatibility of crude oils is based on the determination of the flocculation tendency of asphaltenes in oils. A Porla GLX Step Analyzer was used for the compatibility tests. Emulsification and fouling tendencies were measured by our in-house designed laboratory equipment. These measurements were conducted under typical operating conditions. The developed analytical methods were validated by crude oils from five different sources.
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