Evaluation of performance characteristics of a hull drying unit

In the back end of the fuel cycle, hull compaction is an important waste management practice for volume reduction of hull waste. The hull waste should be completely dried of wash solution before high pressure compaction to avoid radiolysis and corrosion phenomena. A Hull Drying Unit was designed, fabricated and installed and the influence of the operating parameters on the performance of this unit was investigated experimentally. This experimental study helped to optimize the design and operating parameters of the hull drying system. The study also shows that direct contact hot air heating is a promising technique for drying of hull waste and can be adopted in the Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility. (author)