Fifth in situ vitrification engineering-scale test of simulated INEL buried waste sites

Engineering-scale in situ vitrification tests of simulated Oak Ridge National Laboratory buried wastes

“…Therefore, the on-site sealing mechanism employed in the l a and l b tests was suspected as not providing a sufficient seal to preclude premature rupture of the canister during processing. This is further corroborated by the results of previous engineering-scale ISV test which employed the same canister sealing apparatus (Bergsman et al 1992). Subsequent tests will, therefore, employ only factor-sealed canisters.…”

“…In addition, for those gases traveling through the melt, there would have been be more glass to displace. This erratic response has been experienced in previous engineering-scale ISV tests, however (Bergsman et al 1992).…”

“…The inability of these cans to produce plenum pressure/temperature events consistently was disconcerting. This inconsistency had been experienced in previous engineeringscale ISV tests involving similarly configured canisters, however (Bergsman et al 1992).…”

“…On occasion, application of ISV to sites containing sealed containers of waste has met with some difficulty, however (e.g. -Bergsman, et al 1992;Geosafe Corporation 1993;Thompson et al 1993). The heat required to vitrify the soil can produce excessive pressures in sealed containers that hold volatile materials even as benign as water.…”

“…Previous experience with processing sites containing sealed drums have produced significant plenum pressure and temperature transients in the off-gas hood of the ISV system (Bergsman et al 1992;Geosafe 1993;Thompson et al 1993). In these instances, the plenum transients were of greater consequence than anticipated.…”