Archimedes Mass Filter Vaporizer
Abstract
Archimedes Technology Group, Inc., is developing a plasma mass separator called the Archimedes Filter that separates waste oxide mixtures ion by ion into two mass groups: light and heavy. Since high-level waste at Hanford has 99.9its radioactivity associated with heavy elements, the Archimedes Filter can effectively decontaminate over three-quarters of that waste. The Filter process involves some preprocessing followed by volatilization and separation by the magnetic and electric fields of the main plasma. This presentation describes the approach to volatilization of the waste oxy-hydroxide mixture by means of a very high heat flux (q > 10 MW/m2). Such a high heat flux is required to ensure congruent evaporation of the complex oxy-hydroxide mixture and is achieved by injection of small droplets of molten waste into an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch. This presentation further addresses different issues related to evaporation of the waste including modeling of droplet evaporation, estimates of parameters of plasma torch, and 2D modeling of the plasma. The experimental test bed for oxide vaporization and results of the initial experiments on oxide evaporation in 60 kW ICP torch will also be described.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001APS..DPPKP1053P