Candidate Reagents for Dissolution of Hanford Site Tank Sludges-Scoping Studies with Simulants Using Single Reagents and Their Mixtures

Chemical agents were investigated for their efficacies in dissolving metal compound phases known to be present in Hanford tank waste sludges. The phases included Fe(OH)3, Cr(OH)3, Al(OH)3, MnO2, and Na2U2O7. In conjunction with laboratory testing, a survey of the technical literature also was performed to identify candidate reagents. The tests were conducted in three campaigns. First, scoping tests investigated individual agents identified in the literature review along with other candidate agents. Based on the scoping test results, follow-up testing was performed to investigate the efficacies of mixed citric/oxalic acids (CITROX) and mixed nitric/oxalic acids (NITROX). Overall, oxalic acid is the most effective single reagent, dissolving all of the solid phases to some extent. However, for MnO2 and Na2U2O7, reprecipitation soon followed dissolution. The MnO2 also oxidized at least two of organic acids tested, oxalic acid and citric acid, as shown by the evolution of gas during the tests with these reagents. The CITROX and NITROX tests failed to show beneficial synergistic effects in dissolving sludge phases. Instead, the findings suggest that the sequential addition of individual pure reagents (e.g., first citric acid to dissolve MnO2 and Na2U2O7 and removal of the solution followed by oxalic acid to dissolve the Fe, Cr, and Al hydroxides) may be more effective than individual or blended reagents