Aerosols generated by releases of pressurized powders and solutions in static air

Safety assessments and environmental impact statements for nuclear fuel cycle facilities require an estimate of potential airborne releases caused by accidents. Aerosols generated by accidents are being investigated by Pacific Northwest Laboratory to develop the source terms for these releases. An upper boundary accidental release event would be a pressurized release of powder or liquid in static air. Experiments were run using various source sizes and pressures and measuring the mass airborne and the particle size distribution of aerosols produced by these pressurized releases. Two powder and two liquid sources were used: TiO2 and depleted uranium dioxide (DUO); and aqueous uranine (sodium fluorescein) and uranyl nitrate solutions. Results of the experiments showed that pressurization level and source size were significant variables for the airborne powder releases. For this experimental configuration, the liquid releases were a function of pressure, but volume did not appear to be a significant variable. During the experiments 100 g and 350 g of DUO (1 μm dia) and TiO2 (1.7 μm dia) powders and 100 cm3 and 350 cm3 of uranine and uranyl nitrate solutions were released at pressures ranging from 50 to 500 psig. The average of the largest fractions of powder airborne was about 24%. The maximum amount of liquid source airborne was significantly less, about 0.15%. The median aerodynamic equivalent diameters (AED) for collected airborne powders ranged from 5 to 19 μm; liquids ranged from 2 to 29 μm. All of the releases produced a significant fraction of respirable particles of 10 μm and less. 12 references, 10 figures, 23 tables