Process and apparatus for the volume reduction of PWR liquid wastes
US4444680A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 26, 1981 |
| Grant date | Apr 24, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 26, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S159/12
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for the volume reduction of radioactive liquid waste solutions such as evaporator waste bottoms containing boric acid or sodium sulfate and trace quantities of radioactivity through a vacuum evaporative cooling crystallization process or an evaporative crystallization process. A crystallization unit has an internal baffle which separates the center portion of the unit into a quiescent zone where crystallization can be effected and an inner chamber into which the liquid waste is tangentially introduced. The waste is circulated from the bottom of the crystallization unit through a heat exchanger which adjusts the temperature of the liquid waste and maintains the temperature within a predetermined range. The vacuum draws off a portion of the solvent in the solution. Upon the crystallization of the liquid waste solution to a degree which renders a solid-liquid slurry, the slurry is removed from the apparatus for further treatment.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.