Evaluation of Innovative High-Level Waste Pipeline Unplugging Technologies - 9477

In this paper, we review the pipeline unplugging methods that have been evaluated at Florida International University (FIU) since 2000 and present the results from recent tests in 2008. Pipelines of various lengths and configurations were constructed at FIU and used to simulate the Department of Energy, (DOE) waste transfer lines and plugging scenarios which were generated by inserting plugged pipe sections at various locations along the pipelines. A total of 8 different unplugging methods were tested from 2000 to 2002 using various blockage materials that were selected according to their physical and chemical properties that simulated the plugs that are observed in DOE transfer lines. In 2007 and 2008, two of the most promising technologies for removing plugs thousands of feet from the few access points in transfer lines were tested more rigorously with guidance from DOE site engineers.