Fluid bed dryer

This report describes the design and operation of the Aerojet Energy Conversion Company (AECC) Fluid Bed Dryer System which converts radioactive liquid wastes to an anhydrous, free-flowing salt suitable for packaging and offsite shipment when combined with a suitable binder. In addition to design information for the system, the report includes data obtained from operation of a full-scale 20 gph prototype fluid bed dryer system. The principal findings in the report are that (1) the fluid bed dryer is capable of safely processing liquid radioactive wastes generated by BWRs and PWRs, (2) the solid waste product is homogeneous and contains no free liquids, (3) the overall fluid bed dryer system (including the exhaust gas filter assembly) has a decontamination factor (DF) of 4 x 106 to 1 x 107 for particulate material and of 3 x 104 for iodine, (4) the expected annual release of radioactive materials in gaseous releases from the fluid bed dryer system is 0.02 Ci/yr and 0.003 Ci/yr for BWR and PWR reactors, respectively, and (5) the annual releases of radioactive materials from the fluid bed dryer system are below those allowed by Federal regulations