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SANDIA REPORT *
SAND97-0771 ● Unlimited Release Printed April 1997
UC-721,
UC-51 O
Development and Properties of Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) Ion Exchangers for Radioactive Waste Applications
operated Issued by Sandia National Laboratories, Department of Energy by Sandia Corporation.
NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, nor any of their makes any warranty, subcontractors, or their employees, contractors, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any spec~lc commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, any agency thereof, or any of their contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, any agency thereof, or any of their contractors. Printed in the United States of America. directly from the best available copy.
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DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES OF CRYSTALLINE SILICOTITANATE (CST) ION EXCHANGERS FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE APPLICATIONS James E. Miller Catalysis and Chemical Technologies Department Norman E. Brown Hanford Environmental Technology Department Sandia National Laboratories P.O. Box 5800 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-0710
Crystalline silicotitanates (CSTs) are a new class of ion exchangers that were jointly invented by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University. One particular CST, known as TAM-5, is remarkable for its ability to separate parts-per-million concentrations of cesium from highly alkaline solutions (pH>14) containing high sodium concentrations (>5M). It is also highly effective for removing cesium from neutral and acidic solutions, and for removing strontium from basic and neutral solutions. Cesium isotopes are fission products that account for a large portion of the radioactivity in waste streams generated during weapons material production. Tests performed at numerous locations with early lab-scale TAM-5 samples established the material as a leading candidate for treating radioactive waste volumes such as those found at the Hanford site in Washington. Thus Sandia developed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) partnership with UOP, a world leader in developing, commercializing, and supplying adsorbents and associated process technology to commercialize and further develop the material. CSTs are now commercially available from UOP in a powder (UOP IONSIV IE-910 ion exchanger) and granular form suitable for column ion exchange operations (UOP IONSIV IE-911 ion exchanger). These materials exhibit a high capacity for cesium in a wide variety of solutions of interest to the Department of Energy, and they are chemically, thermally, and radiation stable. They have performed well in tests at numerous sites with actual radioactive waste solutions, and are being demonstrated in the 100,000 liter Cesium Removal Demonstration taking place at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with Melton Valley Storage Tank waste. It has been estimated that applying CSTs to the Hanford cleanup alone will result in a savings of more than $300 million over baseline technologies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors express their appreciation to the many people who contributed to the successful development and commercialization of crystalline silicotitanates and much of whose work is summarized within this document. In particular, the co-inventors of the CSTs were the late R. G. (Bob) Dosch (Sandia), Rayford G. Anthony and C. V. Philip (Texas A&M). From Sandia other contributors included Dan Trudell, Linda McLaughlin, Elmer Klavetter, Jim Krumhansl, Howard Stephens, Larry Bustard, Tina Nenoff, Steve Thoma, Jim Voigt, Carol Ashley, Mike Readey, Jeff Reich, Diana Lamppa, Scott Reed, Ernie Montoya, Fred Marsh, Bruno Morosin, Dave Tallant, Tom Headley, Mike Keenan, Bill Chambers, Willard Hareland, Sara Dempster, Mike Eatough, Bill Hammetter, Vic Chavez, Melicita Archuleta, Greg Cone, and Tim Stanley. From Texas A&M, other contributors included Ding Gu, Z. Frank Zheng, Catherine Thibaud-Erkey, David Ricci (deceased), Iqbal Latheef, Mike Huckman, and Luan Nguyen. From UOP contributors included Rich Braun, John Sherman, Dennis Fennelly, W. C. Schwerin, R. R. Willis, A. S. Behan, R. W. Fisher, N. Greenlay, F. G. Portenstein, T. M. Reynolds, and W. Zamechek. There were also a number of investigators at other laboratories deserving of recognition for experimental contributions and support. Those whose work is cited within include Lane Bray and Garrett Brown, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Zane Egan and Doug Lee at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dan McCabe at Savannah River, and Ted Boreck and William Connors at West Valley Nuclear Services Co. In addition to the experimentalists named, the support and contributions of numerous lab personnel at all the facilities is also acknowledged. The authors wish to acknowledge Jon Peschong and Steve Burnum of DOE-RL for early recognition and support of the potential application of CSTs to Hanford tank waste processing. The authors also wish to thank the Efficient Separations and Processing Cross-Cutting Program (Teresa Fryberger, EM-53, and Bill Kuhn, PNNL), and the Tank Waste Remediation System Pretreatment Program (Ken Gasper, John Appel, and Randy Kirkbride all of Westinghouse Hanford Co.) for programmatic support. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy at Sandia National Laboratories under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................................... 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................................................... 2 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CST ION EXCHANGERS ................................................................ 7 2.0 DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES OF TAM-5 (IE-910) POWDER ................................................. 11 2.1 SAMPLE IDENTIFICATION ................................................................................................................................. 11 2.2 SYNTHESIS, COMPOSITION, AND STRUCTURE .................................................................................................. 12 2.3 ION EXCHANGE PROPERTIES ........................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Procedure for Determination of Distribution Coefficients...................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Developmental Samples.......................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.3 Baseline Samples.................................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.3.1 Testing of Baseline Samples at Pacific Northwest Laboratory ........................................................................... 16 2.3.3.2 Testing of Baseline Samples at Savannah River ................................................................................................ 17 2.3.3.3 Testing of Baseline Samples at Oak Ridge National Laboratory ........................................................................ 18 2.3.3.4 Testing of Baseline Samples at Los Alamos National Laboratory ..................................................................... 19 2.3.3.5 Testing of Baseline Samples with Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Simulants ........................................ 20
2.3.4 Commercially Prepared Powder, IONSIV® IE-910 ................................................................................. 22
2.3.4.1 Testing of IONSIV IE-910 at Los Alamos National Laboratory........................................................................ 24 2.3.4.2 Testing of IONSIV IE-910 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory................................................................ 25 2.3.5 Other Ion Exchange Properties............................................................................................................................. 26 2.3.5.1 Ion Exchange Capacity...................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.5.2 Ion Exchange Kinetics ...................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.5.3 Regeneration .................................................................................................................................................... 27 2.3.5.4 Reversibility..................................................................................................................................................... 27 2.3.5.5 Effect of Temperature....................................................................................................................................... 28 2.3.5.6 Effect of Initial Form ........................................................................................................................................ 28
2.4 STABILITY ...................................................................................................................................................... 29 2.4.1 Chemical Stability .................................................................................................................................. 29 2.4.2 Thermal Stability .................................................................................................................................... 30 2.4.3 Radiation Stability.................................................................................................................................. 31 2.5 OTHER PROPERTIES ......................................................................................................................................... 32 2.5.1 Physical Properties................................................................................................................................. 32 2.5.2 Toxicology.............................................................................................................................................. 32 3.0 DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES OF ENGINEERED FORM TAM-5 (IE-911) ............................ 33 3.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................ 33 3.2 SYNTHESIS AND COMPOSITION......................................................................................................................... 33 3.3 Ion Exchange Properties ........................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.1 Developmental Engineered Forms ......................................................................................................... 35 3.3.1.1 Sandia Developed Forms .................................................................................................................................. 35 3.3.1.2 Texas A&M Developed Forms.......................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1.3 UOP Developed Forms ..................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1.3.1 Testing at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories ......................................................................... 36 3.3.1.3.2 Actual Waste Test at West Valley Nuclear Services ................................................................................. 37
3.3.2 Baseline Engineered Form .................................................................................................................... 38 3.3.2.1 Testing at Sandia National Laboratories........................................................................................................... 38 3.3.2.1.1 Batch Testing .......................................................................................................................................... 38 3.3.2.1.1 Column Testing ....................................................................................................................................... 39 3.3.2.2 Testing at Los Alamos National Laboratory...................................................................................................... 41 3.3.2.3 Testing at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ............................................................................................ 41 3.3.2.4 Testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory ....................................................................................................... 42
3.3.3 Commercial CST Engineered Form, IONSIV® IE-911............................................................................ 43 3.4 STABILITY ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 3.5 OTHER PROPERTIES ......................................................................................................................................... 45 3.5.1 Physical Properties................................................................................................................................. 45 3.5.2 Strength and Attrition Resistance............................................................................................................ 45 3.5.3 Ion Exchanger Fouling ........................................................................................................................... 45 3.5.4 Economics .............................................................................................................................................. 46 4.0 MODELING OF CST ION EXCHANGE PERFORMANCE.................................................................... 47 4.1 EQUILIBRIUM MODEL ...................................................................................................................................... 47 4.2 COLUMN MODEL ............................................................................................................................................. 49 5.0 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................ 50
LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: TAM-5 POWDER SAMPLE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 11 TABLE 2: APPROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF UOP IONSIV ION EXCHANGER TYPE IE-910 ....................................... 13 TABLE 3: COMPOSITION OF SIMULATED DOUBLE SHELL SLURRY FEED (DSSF) WASTE USED BY PNL TO CHARACTERIZE DEVELOPMENTAL TAM-5 SAMPLES ..................................................................................... 16 TABLE 4: CESIUM DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENT VALUES IN A SIMPLE WASTE SIMULANT (5.7M NA, 5.1M NO3, 0.6M OH, 100 PPM CS)......................................................................................................................................... 16 TABLE 5: 5.6M AQUEOUS SALT SOLUTION UTILIZED FOR SAVANNAH RIVER TESTS ................................................... 17 TABLE 6: CESIUM DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS AS A FUNCTION OF CONTACT TIME IN SIMULATED SAVANNAH RIVER WASTE ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 TABLE 7: CST CESIUM LOADING DETERMINATIONS .............................................................................................. 18 TABLE 8: EFFECT OF K ON CS KD MEASUREMENTS ................................................................................................ 18 TABLE 9: COMPOSITION OF W-25 SUPERNATE (MAJOR COMPONENTS) .................................................................... 19 TABLE 10: KD VALUES (ML/G) FOR DG-111 AT 6 HOURS IN HANFORD TANK 102-SY SIMULANTS ............................ 20 TABLE 11: COMPOSITION OF INEL TANK FARM WASTE SIMULANT ........................................................................ 21 TABLE 12: UPTAKE OF CESIUM AND STRONTIUM BY DG-141 IN INEL TANK FARM WASTE SIMULANT .................... 21 TABLE 13: UPTAKE OF OTHER ELEMENTS BY DG-141 IN INEL TANK FARM WASTE SIMULANT .............................. 21 TABLE 14: RESULTS FOR CONTACTING DG-141 WITH DISSOLVED ICPP PILOT PLANT CALCINES ............................ 22 TABLE 15: DSSF-7 SIMULANT COMPOSITION........................................................................................................ 23 TABLE 16: DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS (ML/G) FOR IE-910 AT 6 HOURS IN HANFORD TANK 101-SY (APPROXIMATELY 3.5M NA) SIMULANTS ................................................................................................................................. 25 TABLE 17: DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS (ML/G) FOR IE-910 AT 6 HOURS IN HANFORD COMPLEXANT CONCENTRATE (DILUTED TO APPROXIMATELY 2.0 M NA) SIMULANTS................................................................................... 25 TABLE 18: RESULTS OF CHEMICAL STABILITY EVALUATIONS, THREE MONTH CONTACTS ....................................... 29 TABLE 19: CESIUM DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENT (ML/G) AS A FUNCTION OF HEAT TREATMENT FOR DG-112 IN SIMPLE SIMULANT. .................................................................................................................................................. 30 TABLE 20: CESIUM LEACHED (µ µG CS/G CST) FROM HEAT TREATED IE-910 SAMPLES ............................................ 31 TABLE 21: APPROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF UOP IONSIV ION EXCHANGER TYPE IE-911 .................................... 34 TABLE 22: COMPOSITION OF SIMULATED THOREX WASH SOLUTION .................................................................... 37 TABLE 23: RESULTS OF 241-AW-101 ACTUAL WASTE TESTS (5M NA, 0.48M K, NA/CS = 78,000) ........................ 41 TABLE 24: RESULTS OF DUPLICATE TBP FOULING TESTS USING MVST W-29 ACTUAL WASTE ............................... 45 TABLE 25: WASTE COMPOSITIONS AND RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS PREDICTED BY THE CST EQUILIBRIUM MODEL ................................................................................................................................... 49
LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. CS DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS (KD) IN 3M NANO3, 100 PPM CS SOLUTIONS AS A FUNCTION OF THE LARGEST LATTICE SPACING (D-SPACING) AS DETERMINED BY POWDER X-RAY DIFFRACTION FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT CRYSTALLINE SILICOTITANATES..................................................................................................... 8 FIGURE 2. BLOCK DIAGRAM OF IE-910 PREPARATION. ........................................................................................... 12 FIGURE 3. DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS OF FIRST-GENERATION (DG44) AND SECOND-GENERATION (DG71) TAM-5 AS A FUNCTION OF PH. SOLUTIONS WERE 5.7M NA, OH AS SHOWN, 100 PPM CS, BALANCE NO3. ................... 15 FIGURE 4. CESIUM ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS FOR IONSIV IE-910 IN DSSF SIMULANTS. ...................................... 23 FIGURE 5. EFFECT OF POTASSIUM (AS KCL OR KOH + KNO3, SEE TEXT) ON CESIUM UPTAKE BY IONSIV IE-910 FROM DSSF-5 SIMULANTS WITH VARYING INITIAL CESIUM CONCENTRATIONS. ............................................. 24 FIGURE 6. CESIUM UPTAKE AS A FUNCTION OF TIME BY IONSIV IE-910 FROM THREE WASTE SIMULANTS AT DIFFERENT INITIAL CESIUM CONCENTRATIONS. ............................................................................................ 27 FIGURE 7. BLOCK DIAGRAM OF IE-911 PREPARATION. .......................................................................................... 34 FIGURE 8: BREAKTHROUGH CURVES FOR THREE SEQUENTIAL COLUMNS WITH BASELINE SAMPLE 07398-38B AND DSSF-5 SIMULANT (10 PPM CS) AT 3.75 CV/HR AND ROOM TEMPERATURE................................................... 39 FIGURE 9: BREAKTHROUGH CURVE FOR 07398-38B AND MELTON VALLEY W-27 SIMULANT (10.1 PPM CS) AT 3 CV/HR AND ROOM TEMPERATURE. ............................................................................................................... 40 FIGURE 10: BREAKTHROUGH CURVES OBTAINED BY ORNL FOR SEVERAL CESIUM SORBENTS IN ACTUAL MVST W-27 WASTE, PH =13.3......................................................................................................................................... 42 FIGURE 11: PERFORMANCE OF IE-911 (9990-96-810001) IN DSSF-5 SIMULANT (10 PPM CESIUM) AT 3 CV/HR AND ROOM TEMPERATURE IN TWO DIFFERENT COLUMN TESTS. ............................................................................ 43 FIGURE 12: BATCH TITRATIONS OF IE-911 LOT 9990-96-810004........................................................................... 44 FIGURE 13: PREDICTED EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN A DSSF-5 SIMULANT COMPOSITION ON CESIUM DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS FOR IE-910............................................................................................................................ 48
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Within the Department of Energy (DOE) complex, there are hundreds of tanks used for processing and storing radioactive waste byproducts generated by weapons material production facilities. These tanks contain tens of millions of gallons of highly radioactive supernate liquid containing molar concentrations of sodium (Na+) in a highly alkaline solution (pH>14), along with solid salt cake (primarily NaNO3 and NaNO2), and sludge that is a complex mixture of insoluble metal oxides and hydroxides. Most of the highly soluble cesium salts and small amounts of strontium salts are present in the liquid supernate. Some of the wastes, primarily at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), are in acidic solutions or in calcine that is proposed for acidic dissolution and reprocessing. Removal of cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) from all of these wastes will be an important processing step in preparing these wastes for long term safe storage. This is because these elements are partially present in the form of strong gamma and beta emitting isotopes. In addition to the radiation hazard, the decay energy from these isotopes is a major contributor to the heat generation in the radwastes. Cesium is a fission by-product and consists of several isotopes: stable Cs-133, Cs-134 with a halflife of 2.065 years, Cs-135 with a half-life of 3 x 106 years, and Cs-137 with a half-life of 30.17 years. Since most DOE wastes are at least 20 years old, essentially all of the Cs-134 has decayed, leaving Cs-137 as the major radiation source with low activity due to the Cs-135. The total Cs concentration (Cs-133, 134, 135, and 137) in the Hanford and other DOE wastes is 3 to 4 times higher than the concentration measured as Cs-137 activity. Ion exchange processes do not significantly differentiate between isotopes. Therefore an ion exchange process applied to the Hanford waste will be required to remove 3 to 4 times the amount of cesium as indicated by gamma emission. Presently, demonstrated processes for removal of Cs from the highly alkaline, high Na+ wastes are limited and extensive studies are in progress to develop more efficient and less complex processes. Ion-exchange processes offer several advantages for performing this separation. 1) The processes are versatile in that both continuous flow systems (ion-exchange columns) or batch processing (in-tank) can be used, 2) ion exchange is efficient and solution decontamination factors of many orders of magnitude can be achieved in columns, 3) ion exchange processes and equipment are simple, compact, and a mature technology that can be implemented as either stationary (plant) or mobile waste treatment systems, and 4) the processes introduce no hazardous organic solvents into the waste stream. The use of inorganic ion exchangers offers many advantages over the use of regenerable organic ion exchangers. The inorganics are much more resistant to chemical, thermal and radiation degradation. Also, the more uniform ion exchange sites achievable in crystalline inorganics can lead to remarkable selectivities. The high selectivities result in more efficient operations offering the possibility of a simple single-pass operation. Once the desired separations are accomplished, a number of options for disposal of the radwaste loaded inorganic ion exchangers are possible. The options range from interim storage in liquid wastes, dry interim storage, possible long term 6
radwaste storage, to incorporation into HLW glass and disposal in a Federal repository. In contrast to the single-pass concept for an inorganic material, regenerable organic ion exchangers require additional processing equipment to handle the regeneration liquids and the eluant with the dissolved Cs. Furthermore, if interim storage is required, the eluted cesium must be stabilized, by exchange onto a zeolite for example. Also, disposal of the contaminated exchanger after its performance is degraded by radiation and chemical reactions may be complicated by possible classification as a mixed waste. Despite their advantages, inorganic exchangers have not been available or perfected for all radwaste applications. Zeolite ion exchangers were used very successfully at Three Mile Island and the West Valley Nuclear Services facility. However, those exchangers will slowly decompose and dissolve in alkaline solutions with a pH>12 and are very unstable in solutions with pH>13 such as are present at Hanford. Amorphous titanate ion-exchangers are stable in the highly alkaline solutions encountered in defense waste processing and have been used to sorb Sr and Pu, however they do not sorb Cs. This report is a non-proprietary summary of the development and performance, particularly ion exchange performance, of a stable, cesium-selective crystalline silicotitanate (CST) known as TAM-5. TAM-5 is highly selective for removing Cs from solutions throughout the pH spectrum, and selective for strontium in alkaline and neutral solutions. This material has been commercialized and is available as UOP IONSIV IE-910 and IE-911 ion exchangers, hereafter referred to as IONSIV IE-910 and IE-911 or IE-910 and IE-911. IE-910 is a fine powder form of the material, and IE-911 is a granular form of the material suitable for column ion exchange operations. The material's superior performance and stability make it extremely attractive for processing many typical radioactive waste solutions. 1.2 A Brief History Of The Development of CST Ion Exchangers Amorphous hydrous titanium oxide (HTO) materials were developed at Sandia in the 1960s and 1970s to prepare electroactive ceramic materials for defense applications. They were investigated for use in radioactive waste stabilization because of their ion exchange properties and their potential for conversion to a stable ceramic form.1-4 Work with HTO ion-exchange materials in the context of nuclear waste processing began at Sandia National Laboratories in 1975 and focused on conversion of high level waste (waste obtained by reprocessing spent commercial reactor fuel using the flowsheet developed for the Barnwell facility in South Carolina) to a stable, ceramic form.5-7 The HTO absorbed most cationic radionuclides but had essentially no affinity for highly soluble and radioactive Cs. This program was carried to the point of obtaining spent reactor fuel, reprocessing it with a bench scale Purex process, adsorbing the radioactive waste on the HTO using an ion exchange column, and hot pressing the radwaste-loaded HTO into a monolithic ceramic. The effort was performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories. The program to develop amorphous bulk HTO for radioactive waste isolation was redirected after 1977 to studies involving wastes at the Hanford site.8,9 Tests conducted at Sandia National Laboratories and Hanford showed the HTO materials to be extremely effective in removing Sr 7
and Pu from dissolved salt cake and salt cake simulants; however Cs remained in solution and was not removed in an ion exchange column. Samples of the HTO material were also supplied to the Savannah River Site for evaluation. Sr removal data from Savannah River agreed with the observations at Sandia and Hanford. A five hundred pound batch of HTO ion exchanger was prepared by Cerac, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and part of this batch was converted to extrudates by Norton Co. in Akron, Ohio. This work was performed to demonstrate that the HTOs could be produced using commercial suppliers and existing equipment.
Cs Distribution Coefficient (mL/g)
About 1980, the Sandia program to develop amorphous HTO ion exchangers for application to nuclear wastes was concluded based on the DOE's decision to select glass and not ceramics as the baseline wasteform. As a result of this work at Sandia National Laboratories and Savannah River, HTO materials were tested and are being used for in-tank precipitation of Sr and Pu at the Savannah River Site.10-12 Further development of HTO materials at Sandia National Laboratories for use as catalysts for coal liquefaction and other applications was continued through funding from the DOE Fossil Energy Program.13 17 As part of this catalysis effort, a new class of ion exchangers called crystalline silicotitanates (CSTs) was prepared by Robert G. Dosch (Sandia) and Rayford G. Anthony and C. V. Philip (Texas A&M University). Testing at Sandia and Texas A&M showed this new class of inorganic ion exchangers to have a large affinity for Cs in the presence of high sodium (Na) concentrations. A Sandia Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project allowed further development of this material for radwaste applications. Texas A&M was a partner throughout these LDRD activities.
100000 10000 1000 100 10 1 0.6
Largest d-Spacing in Materials (nm) Figure 1. Cs distribution coefficients (Kd) in 3M NaNO3, 100 ppm Cs solutions as a function of the largest lattice spacing (d-spacing) as determined by powder X-ray diffraction for several different crystalline silicotitanates.
One result of the LDRD was that an effect of lattice spacing on Cs selectivity, as shown in Figure 1, was identified for the different CST phases.18 The two data points in Figure 1 with the highest distribution coefficients are for a CST phase known as TAM-5. The definition and determination of distribution coefficients is discussed in section 2.3.1. The results suggested that an ion sieving effect may be partially responsible for the high selectivity of TAM-5 for Cs. Although the Na atom is smaller than the Cs atom, the hydrated Na ion (approximate radius of 2.76 Å) is larger than the hydrated Cs ion (approximate radius of 2.28 Å).19 Thus, it was speculated that the hydrated sodium ion may be excluded from the pores in TAM-5 unless it is partially dehydrated (requiring energy for activation), while the cesium atom may be admitted in the fully hydrated form. The crystal structure, solved at a later date, is consistent with this interpretation. A second result of the LDRD was that samples were provided to Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNL, now PNNL) for testing with waste simulants. This initial simulant testing revealed poor Cs selectivity for the material in highly alkaline solutions. Subsequently, the TAM-5 formulation was modified to optimize the cesium removal performance in highly alkaline solutions. The synthesis of this "second-generation material" was then scaled-up, the sensitivity of the synthesis to various parameters was evaluated, and a patent application was prepared and submitted. Unless otherwise stated, the CST considered in this report is the "second generation" form of TAM-5. After the first year of the LDRD, additional funding was provided by DOE's Efficient Separations Program (ESP, Office of Environmental Management, Office of Science and Technology, EM-53). Funding was also obtained from the Department of Energy, Richland Field Office in FY93 and continued in FY94 and FY95 from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory Technology Development Program Office (TDPO) and the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS). This additional funding was primarily focused on applications and commercialization issues. For CST technology to be considered for large-scale radwaste processing, it was essential that a commercial source of a granular material suitable for column ion exchange processes be developed. Towards this aim, Sandia and Texas A&M entered into an agreement allowing Sandia to seek industrial partners to commercialize CST technology. An advertisement for an industrial partner to assist in the further development and commercialization of CST was placed in the Commerce Business Daily on March 23, 1993. After an extensive bid and selection process, UOP, Des Plaines, IL, was selected as the technology transfer partner. An 18 month Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Sandia and UOP was signed on March 2, 1994. A license to produce and market the CST technology was also negotiated and awarded to UOP. The stated objectives of the CRADA were 1) to develop a capability to commercially produce TAM-5 powder, 2) to develop a capability to commercially produce an "engineered form" TAM-5 product, 3) to evaluate commercially produced CSTs, and 4) to qualify these materials for radwaste applications. Engineered form was defined to mean a stable granular material suitable for standard industrial ion exchange operations. The CRADA statement of work outlined the tasks and responsibilities considered necessary to achieve these goals. Sandia was to provide UOP with the technical information necessary to 9
produce the CST powder. UOP was then to synthesize enough powder to supply Sandia with 5 kg of TAM-5 powder and 5 kg of the eventual engineered form. Performance goals for the engineered form were to be jointly defined, taking into account the needs of the anticipated DOE user sites. UOP was then to evaluate technologies for producing an engineered form, supply Sandia with 5 kg of an engineered form, and prepare a non-proprietary description of the manufacturing process. Sandia was to help in evaluating and selecting the final engineered form. The participants were to jointly participate in characterizing the materials prepared in the above tasks and comparing them against the performance goals, with the exception of evaluating the radiation stability which was to be carried out by Sandia. Sandia was also to identify appropriate waste streams and realistic test conditions for evaluating the materials as well as identifying and coordinating opportunities for testing with actual radioactive wastes at DOE facilities. Both partners were to participate in simulant evaluations of the materials. Throughout the CRADA, Texas A&M assisted Sandia in completing its tasks with financial support through Sandia. Rapid progress towards commercialization was achieved under the CRADA. In September of 1994, UOP prepared the first large scale batch of TAM-5 consisting of 1800 lbs of material. This material was given the name UOP IONSIV Ion Exchanger Type IE-910 and declared to be a commercial product in October 1994. Analysis revealed this material to be nearly identical to materials prepared at the laboratory scale. This rapid success was in large part due to the extensive CST synthesis studies carried out at Texas A&M. In January, 1995, UOP delivered the first of many engineered forms (known collectively as IONSIV IE-911) to Sandia for evaluation. Meetings were held with potential DOE users, Sandia, Texas A&M, and UOP to define the desired properties of the engineered form. In May of that year, a highly successful test was carried out with actual radioactive waste and one of the developmental engineered forms at West Valley Nuclear Services in New York. In June, baseline forms of IE-911 were identified and supplied to PNL for actual waste testing. This same baseline material was supplied to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for actual waste testing shortly thereafter. The CRADA was completed in September, 1995. However work to evaluate and improve the engineered form continued, with particular emphasis placed on improving the ion exchange kinetics and thus the column breakthrough characteristics of the IE-911. By December 1995, a final formulation had been selected for IE-911 and the material had been declared commercial. Characterization and testing of the IE-911 has continued to the present time. As a result of these efforts, the material is being recognized as the preferred choice for a number of important DOE applications. In February of 1996, IE-911 was chosen to be the only material used for the 25,000 gallon Cesium Removal Demonstration (CsRD) scheduled to begin in September and to be carried out with actual Melton Valley storage tank waste at ORNL. In August of 1996, IE-911 outperformed its competitor by a factor of almost 50 in actual waste column testing carried out at Hanford. An independent study conducted by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)20 concluded that the use of IE-911 for the Hanford cleanup effort would result in over $300 million in savings over the baseline process. These positive results led to TAM-5 CST, in the form of IONSIV IE-910 and IE-911, being awarded a 1996 R&D 100 award as "one of the 100 most technologically significant products of the year." 10
2.0 DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES OF TAM-5 (IE-910) POWDER 2.1 Sample Identification A large number of CST powder preparations have been conducted by Sandia, Texas A&M and UOP. This section is provided as a reference to aid in sample identification. The general class of crystalline silicotitanates originally prepared by Sandia and Texas A&M are collectively called CSTs and are comprised of seven phases or mixtures of phases individually known as TAM-1, TAM-2, TAM-3, TAM-4, TAM-5, TAM-7, and TAM-8. TAM-4 is not a unique Sandia-Texas A&M phase as it has been previously reported in U.S. Patent No. 5,015,453.21 As work has focused on TAM-5 it has also individually come to be known as CST. There are two primary forms of TAM-5 which were identified as "first-generation" and "second-generation" or MTAM-5 materials. Unless otherwise noted, CST, TAM-5 and MTAM-5 all refer to "secondgeneration" TAM-5. It is this material that was commercialized as UOP IONSIV IE-910 and IE-911. Preparations to develop the "second-generation" TAM-5 were primarily carried out at Sandia by Dr. Robert (Bob) Dosch and Linda McLaughlin and are identified with the prefix SNL. Preparations carried out by Dr. Ray Anthony's group at Texas A&M are identified with the prefix DG, a reference to a Ph.D. student, Ding Gu. Commercially prepared materials are identified as UOP material, IE-910 and may have an associated lot number. All samples of IE-910 utilized in this work were from lot 993794040002. Table 1 summarizes the many TAM-5 powder samples prepared in this effort. Table 1: TAM-5 Powder Sample Summary Sample Designation SNL TAM-5 #1-130 DG-4 to 110 DG-111 to 115 DG-116 to 140 DG-141 DG-142 to 212 DG-213 to 216 UOP material UOP IONSIV® IE-910
Description Small scale preparations to develop second-generation improved TAM-5 (20-100 cc reactors) First and second-generation TAM-5 for evaluation, prepared in small quantities Baseline samples prepared in 1 gallon autoclave under identical conditions for detailed testing, 750 gram/lot small scale preparations to optimize synthesis parameters and kinetics Prepared in 5 gallon autoclave under same conditions as DG111-115 Small scale preps to optimize synthesis conditions, properties and to evaluate kinetics Additional preps in 5 gallon reactors Small scale (5 gallon) commercial confirmation batches Prepared by UOP under commercial conditions, 1,800 pounds of CST prepared in first batch
2.2 Synthesis, Composition, and Structure CST materials are prepared22,23 by a combination of sol-gel chemistry and hydrothermal synthesis. This is in contrast to the amorphous HTO ion exchangers, that are prepared solely by sol-gel chemistry. The CST materials are prepared by reacting alkyl titanates, alkyl silicates, and other materials with aqueous and/or methanol solutions of alkali metal hydroxides and alkylammonium hydroxides and bromides, followed by hydrothermal treatment. Although CST ion exchangers are usually prepared in the sodium form, other exchangeable counter ions, such as potassium, can also be used. Details of the preparation of TAM-5 are currently proprietary. Much of the information has been or is being compiled into reports and it is anticipated that these will be made public following the issuance of relevant patents. During the development process, a baseline composition was selected and five lots (DG-111-115) were prepared under identical conditions. The objective of this effort was to evaluate process reproducibility, synthesis scale-up, and to make sufficient material for testing at the various DOE laboratories. Lots DG-141 and DG-213-216 were later prepared in a larger autoclave to provide samples and to study issues associated with process scale-up. Extensive testing was conducted on the DG-111-115 lots and it was concluded that the composition and their performance was essentially identical based upon distribution coefficient measurements (see section 2.3.3 Baseline Samples), x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Lot DG-141 was subsequently tested at several facilities and the ion exchange performance was slightly improved. The phase purity (typically > 95% by volume as determined by TEM for all TAM-5 preparations) and other physical and chemical characteristics were similar. Based upon these data, it was concluded that the process for preparing CSTs is reproducible and scaleable.
Figure 2. Block diagram of IE-910 preparation.
The synthesis conditions for CST powder were transferred to UOP under a CRADA and developmental lots prepared in 5 gallon reactors at UOP were tested at Sandia to measure performance. Testing confirmed the conclusion arrived at from the Texas A&M synthesis studies that high quality CST powder could be prepared in large scale processing equipment. Subsequently, an 1,800 pound batch of CST was prepared by UOP, called IONSIV® IE-910. Samples of the IONSIV® IE-910 were evaluated and found to have performance comparable to the baseline samples. A nonproprietary block diagram of the procedure used by UOP to commercially produce IE-910 is shown in Figure 2. The structure and composition of TAM-5 has been well characterized.24 However this information is currently proprietary. An approximate composition taken from the MSDS of the IE-910 material is given in Table 2 below. Detailed compositional information can be provided to those demonstrating a need for the information by executing a nondisclosure agreement with UOP. Table 2: Approximate Composition of UOP IONSIV Ion Exchanger Type IE-910 ∼ Weight % 10-25 25-40 10-20 15-25
Material Silicon dioxide Titanium dioxide Sodium oxide Trade Secret material
2.3 Ion Exchange Properties 2.3.1 Procedure for Determination of Distribution Coefficients A primary metric of an ion exchanger's performance is a distribution coefficient (Kd) measured in a batch contact experiment. The distribution coefficient is a quantitative measure of a material's capability to remove an ion from solution, and is the ratio of the concentration of the ion adsorbed on the ion exchange material to the concentration of the ion remaining in solution. Much of the work performed at Sandia was conducted with accurate compositional simulants of the waste solutions at the various DOE facilities. However, in the early developmental work, a "simple simulant" was used, typically consisting of 5.1M NaNO3, 0.6M NaOH, and 100 ppm Cs. These and other solutions were used in studies at Texas A&M to obtain information about the fundamental behavior of the CST for use in modeling the equilibrium performance of the material. The procedures used to determine batch Kd values at Sandia and Texas A&M University are described below. Similar procedures are used at other laboratories mentioned in this work, including PNNL, ORNL, and Savannah River. To avoid difficulties in measuring concentrations on solids, the distribution coefficient was determined using only solution analyses and the following relation: K d ( ml / g ) =
V × (C f − Cs )
W × Cs
Where: V = volume of simulant (ml) Cf = concentration of ion in feed (ppm) W = mass of ion exchanger (g) Cs = concentration of ion in post contact supernate (ppm) Typical parameters for conducting the experiment were 10 ml of solution, 0.1 g of ion exchanger, and initial Cs concentrations from 1 to 100 ppm. Contact times of 24 and 72 hours with mild agitation were typical. Samples were passed through a 0.2 µm syringe filter prior to analysis. Early testing at Sandia utilized atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) for solution analysis; however the Cs concentrations were close to the Cs detection limit, particularly for complex simulants containing 10 ppm or less Cs. Subsequently, most of the Sandia testing was performed with an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP/MS). Detection limits for Cs and Sr in high Na solutions are in the ppb range and are comparable to those measured radiochemically by other DOE facilities. Kd measurements at Texas A&M were typically performed with higher Cs concentrations, e.g. 100 ppm, and the Cs concentration measured by AAS. Comparison tests were routinely conducted between the two methods and comparable Kd values were measured. No attempt to correct for volatiles content or loss-on-ignition (LOI) was made for any of the data collected by Sandia or Texas A&M. Most Kd measurements have focused on Cs, although measurements have been performed to characterize the affinity for other elements such as strontium, an important radionuclide in many wastes, or elements such as potassium, rubidium, and barium that may compete with cesium for exchange sites. Limited work was conducted at other laboratories, e.g. PNNL and West Valley Nuclear Services on plutonium sorption. For comparing the ion exchange kinetics of materials, a related set of experiments was performed. Batch Kd measurements were performed for a series of samples with contact times ranging from a few minutes to 72 hours. Alternately, this experiment was occasionally performed by removing a small sample from a larger volume batch Kd experiment at timed intervals. 2.3.2 Developmental Samples Characterization of the developmental samples was generally limited to Cs distribution coefficient measurements and other simple tests with the goal of improving selectivity and capacity for Cs. A wide variety of TAM-5 modifications were evaluated in the effort to optimize the synthesis and the performance of the material in alkaline solution. Figure 3 illustrates the improvement in distribution coefficient in the alkaline regime that was achieved by modifying the TAM-5 material (second-generation material). Further documentation on these studies is currently limited to laboratory notebooks and internal memos and reports. A report detailing these experiments is in preparation and will be available after relevant patents have been issued. Several samples of first- and second-generation TAM-5, including SNL TAM-5 #11, 22, 24, 25, 31, 35, 40, 42, 43, 70, and 74 were sent to Lane Bray, PNL for confirmation of the ion-exchange properties using simulated wastes. Test solutions used at PNL were formulated to represent Hanford waste from double shell slurry feed (DSSF) tanks. Table 3 shows a representative composition of the simulated DSSF waste. The free hydroxide shown in the table is calculated 14
by assuming that all the Al3+ in solution is present in the form Al(OH)4-. Distribution coefficients were determined in a manner similar to that described above, however cesium concentrations were determined by radioisotopic tracer techniques. For several tests with first generation CST materials, tracer concentrations of radioisotopes of Sr and Pu were also used to determine the distribution coefficients for these elements. In addition, one of the first CST samples (firstgeneration material) sent to PNL was contacted with the simulated waste solution for an extended time to determine the stability of the material.
Distribution Coefficient (ml/g)
First Generation Second Generation
Figure 3. Distribution coefficients of first-generation (DG44) and second-generation (DG71) TAM-5 as a function of pH. Solutions were 5.7M Na, OH as shown, 100 ppm Cs, balance NO3.
Results of these evaluations25 confirmed that the TAM-5 ion exchange material has an excellent capacity to remove Cs+ from DSSF waste solutions. The second-generation CST material exhibited Cs distribution coefficients of 2,400 ml/g at 25 o C in the simulated DSSF waste solutions. Cesium distribution coefficients exceeding 8,000 ml/g for first-generation materials and 20,000 ml/g for second-generation materials were observed after adjusting the pH of the simulated DSSF solutions to 10.8 by carbon dioxide addition. This suggests that use of CST materials, with partial neutralization of waste solutions by a reagent such as CO2, could result in an even more efficient ion-exchange process for removal of cesium. The tests with firstgeneration CST materials and tracer amounts of Sr and Pu in the DSSF waste simulants yielded distribution coefficients of 2700 for Pu and greater than 100,000 for Sr (based on detection limits for Sr). In addition, the first-generation CST material that was contacted with the simulated DSSF waste simulant at 40 oC for a period of 16 weeks showed no degradation in performance with respect to retention of cesium. 15
Al3+ OH-(total) OH-(free) NO2NO3SO4 2CO32F-
0.34 2.7 1.3 0.34 1.23 0.12 0.16 0.07
2.3.3 Baseline Samples The baseline TAM-5 preparations (DG 111-115) were carried out at Texas A&M University in a one gallon autoclave. Cesium distribution coefficients for the baseline samples in a simple waste simulant composed of 4.2M NaNO3, 1.4M NaOH and 100 ppm cesium are shown in Table 4. These data were used to show that the CST synthesis and properties are reproducible, and can be scaled to produce large quantities. DG-141 was prepared in a five gallon autoclave. Table 4: Cesium Distribution Coefficient values in a simple waste simulant (5.7M Na, 5.1M NO3, 0.6M OH, 100 ppm Cs) Sample Number DG-111 DG-112 DG-113 DG-114 DG-115 DG-141
Kd (ml/g) 953 890 809 900 835 1010
2.3.3.1 Testing of Baseline Samples at Pacific Northwest Laboratory Samples of DG-111 and DG-112 were tested by Lane Bray at PNL in 5M NaNO3 with 0.0001M Cs or Sr test solutions for their ability to sorb these ions as a function of pH.25 Similar to the results for the second-generation materials shown in Figure 3, the Cs Kd values varied from 8,000 ml/g at pH 0, to >80,000 ml/g at pH 4 to 7 to >2,000 ml/g at a pH 14. The Sr Kd values varied from 10 ml/g at pH 0 to about 100 ml/g at pH 7 to 5,000 ml/g at pH 14. These values confirmedthe high performance measured at Sandia and Texas A&M.
2.3.3.2 Testing of Baseline Samples at Savannah River Several samples (DG-112, 113, and 114) were tested at Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) with simulated waste having the composition shown in Table 5.26 This composition is representative of a solution that is currently being decontaminated at Savannah River by precipitating Cs with tetraphenylborate (TBP) and exchanging Sr onto sodium titanate (ST). Were the CST to be introduced into this process, its' incorporation into glass at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) would be required for final disposal. Table 5: 5.6M aqueous salt solution utilized for Savannah River tests Component Na2SO4 NaNO2 NaNO3 NaOH KNO3 Na2CO3 Al(NO3)3 CsNO3
Concentration (M) 0.17 0.71 1.2 2.9 0.015 0.2 0.38 0.00024
Distribution coefficients were measured at contact times of 48 and 120 hours. Four replicate experiments were performed for each baseline sample at the 48 hour contact time. Since the operations at Savannah River are batch type, long contact times are representative of the actual application scenario. The results are shown in Table 6. It was concluded that there was a statistically different Kd at 120 hours than at 48 hours, and that the exchange was 90% complete at 48 hours. Table 6: Cesium Distribution Coefficients as a Function of Contact Time in Simulated Savannah River Waste CST Batch DG-112 DG-113 DG-114
Kd 48 hours (ml/g) 1948 1779 1780
Standard Deviation (ml/g) 113 33 48
Kd 120 hours (ml/g) 2180 2041 1945
DG-112, was selected for Cs loading experiments, termed "capacity measurements" by Savannah River. The purpose of the test was to determine the amount of Cs that was loaded onto the CST under relevant conditions, and to calculate the waste processing rates based upon glass compatibility. The test was conducted in triplicate in the solution of Table 5 with varying cesium concentrations. The results are shown in Table 7. .
Table 7: CST Cesium Loading Determinations [Cs]initial (mg/L) 28.25 48.67 63.17 74.41 117.2 139.0
[Cs]final (mg/L) 5.86 10.01 12.49 16.02 36.92 46.32
Kd (ml/g) 1948 1971 1980 1796 1094 988
Std Dev. (ml/g) 113 51 90 85 64 92
Cs/g CST (mg) 11.59 19.73 24.7 28.76 40.31 45.61
Std Dev. (mg) 0.19 0.47 0.25 1.07 0.74 1.39
The Cs loading varied from about 11.6 mg per gram of CST at an initial concentration of 0.00021M Cs to about 45.6 mg per gram of CST at a concentration of 0.001M Cs. In this and other tests it has been observed that the Cs loading is very dependent on the solution composition and testing is required to estimate the equilibrium Cs capacity of CSTs. In order to minimize the testing required, a model is being developed to predict the effect of solution composition on CST ion exchange performance.27 The effect of the potassium concentration on the Cs distribution coefficient was also measured for DG-112. Potassium is chemically similar to Cs, and is expected to strongly compete with Cs for ion exchange sites on most exchangers. KNO3 was systematically added to the solution composition shown in Table 5. The results of triplicate Kd measurements are shown in Table 8. Table 8: Effect of K on Cs Kd Measurements [K] (mM) 6.2 10 24 46
Kd (ml/g) 2200 2100 1700 1600
Std Dev. (ml/g) 9 15 57 34
These tests show that K has a small but significant effect on the removal of Cs. By comparison, tetraphenylborate (TBP) forms a stoichiometric compound with K and significant increases in the amount of TBP are required to compensate for this interaction. 2.3.3.3 Testing of Baseline Samples at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Tests on DG-114 were conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to evaluate and compare TAM-5 with other Cs exchangers (e.g. CS-100 resin, RF resin, and Potassium Cobalt Hexacyanoferrate) in the Melton Valley W-25 supernate.28 The composition of the W-25 waste is shown in Table 9. Distribution coefficient values for Cs removal were determined with mixing times of 0.25 hours to 144 hours. Cs removal was determined to be almost completed in about 2 hours. Kd values were 451 ml/g at 15 minutes, 662 ml/g at 2 hours, 672 ml/g at 24 and 72 hours, and 958 ml/g at 144 hours. Isotherms were generated on CSTs and other exchangers at various initial Cs concentrations ranging from 0.024 to 86 mg/L. Cs loadings on the CST varied from 0.13 meq/kg at a supernate to CST ratio of 100 ml/g to 1.9 meq/kg at a ratio of 5000 ml/g. 18
Table 9: Composition of W-25 Supernate (Major components) Component Na+ K+ Al3+ Cs+ Sr2+ Ca2+ NO3ClSO42F-
Concentration (M) 3.87 0.358 0.017 0.0014 0.0046 0.232 3.81 0.106 0.025 0.020
Tests were also conducted to assess the effect of K concentration, the Na/K ratio, the Na/Cs and K/Cs ratios on ion exchanger effectiveness. It was observed that increasing the K and Cs concentrations had no effect on the CST performance. This is probably due to the ranges of solution compositions investigated. The other exchangers showed changes under these test conditions. It was concluded by the ORNL investigators that the CSTs have the necessary properties and characteristics required to process radwastes at Oak Ridge and Hanford. However, when the report was written, final development of the engineered form IONSIV® IE-911 was not complete and the report stated that additional testing on the final material would be required. 2.3.3.4 Testing of Baseline Samples at Los Alamos National Laboratory Detailed testing of a wide range of ion exchangers and absorbers was conducted by Fred Marsh, Zita Svitra, and Scott Bowen at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Evaluation of preliminary and 29 developmental CST samples were an integral part of the program.29 32 In one of the first studies, testing was conducted in three different simulant solutions: acid dissolved sludge with a pH of 0.58, acidified supernate with a pH of 3.5 and alkaline supernate as found in Hanford Tank 102-SY with a pH of 13.85. Contact times of 30 minutes, 2 and 6 hours were used. Radiotracers of the following 14 elements were used to measure the relative adsorption and kinetics: Ce, Cs, Sr, Tc, Y, Cr, Cs, Fe, Mn, Zn, Zr, U, Pu, and Am. Results for the DG-111 sample in the 102-SY simulant are shown in Table 10 below. Additional studies were carried out with baseline powder samples and Double-Shell Slurry Feed (DSSF)30 and Neutralized Current Acid Waste (NCAW)31 simulants. The reader is referred to the referenced reports for further details and results. In general these tests provided an indication of the very high specificity of CSTs for Cs and Sr removal from alkaline solutions and a high specificity for Cs from acidic solutions. The data indicates that sorption of other species from radwastes would be limited. However, due to 19
variations in concentration and speciation, detailed conclusions on sorption of other radionuclides would require additional testing. Table 10: Kd values (ml/g) for DG-111 at 6 hours in Hanford Tank 102-SY Simulants Element Ce Cs Sr Tc Y Cr Co Fe Mn Zn Zr U Pu Am
Alkaline Supernate pH 13.58 >300 3076 >4600
Report "CST - Sandia National Laboratories"