Waste Slurry Particle Properties for Use in Slurry Flow Modeling

Hanford's tank farm piping system must be substantially modified to deliver high-level wastes from the underground storage tanks to the Waste Treatment Plant now under construction. Improved knowledge of the physical properties of the solids was required to support the design of the modified system. To provide this additional knowledge, particle size distributions for composite samples from seven high-level waste feed tanks were measured using two different laser lightscattering particle size analyzers. These measurements were made under a variety of instrumental conditions, including various flow rates through the sample loop, various stirring rates in the sample reservoir, and before and after subjecting the particles to ultrasonic energy. A mean value over all the tanks of 4.2 (micro)m was obtained for the volume-based median particle size. Additional particle size information was obtained from sieving tests, settling tests and microscopic observations