Evaluation and Development of Innovative High-Level Waste Pipeline Unplugging Technologies - 10136

In this paper, the experimental results and data analysis of AIMM Technologies’ Hydrokinetics™ method are presented. A heavily instrumented 3-inch diameter pipeline was used with three types of plugs that replicated the material properties typical of Department of Energy (DOE) high-level waste (HLW). One of these plug types was a Bentonite-water mixture typically used in emulating slurry mixes. Two additional salt crystallized plugs were selected for their ability to withstand greater hydraulic pressures. One was based on potassium-magnesium-sulfate and the second was based on sodium-aluminum-silicate (recommended by the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) engineers). Three different test bed lengths (310, 646, and 1822 ft) were utilized to determine the effectiveness of the Hydrokinetics™ method with respect to distance from the pipeline inlet to the blockage. Testing trials demonstrated that pressure pulses and vibrations were significantly attenuated from the inlet to the plug. The Hydrokinetics™ method was generally successful in removing the Bentonite plugs but had difficulty removing the crystallized salt plugs. Additionally, FIU is currently evaluating two proposed alternative pipeline unplugging methods that may remove blockages in pipelines. These are an asynchronous pulsing system, and an in situ peristaltic crawler technology. The asynchronous pulsing method is based on the idea of creating pressure pulses in the pipeline filled with water from both ends of the blocked section. The pulses are created asynchronously in order to shake the blockage as a result of the unsteady forces exerted by the pulses. The peristaltic crawler is a pneumatic-operated crawler that propels itself by a sequence of pressurization/depressurization of cavities (inner tubes). These pressurization sequences translate to forward/reverse propagation of the crawler by the peristaltic movements. The inner tubes are mounted on a flexible skeleton emulating a spine. This allows it to turn around elbows. Once the crawler reaches the plug it can employ different unplugging technologies (water drilling, chemical dispensing, pressure waves, etc.).