Organic Tank Safety Project: Effect of water partial pressure on the equilibrium water content of waste samples from Hanford Tank 241-U-105

Water content plays a crucial role in the strategy developed by Webb et al. to prevent propagating or sustainable chemical reactions in the organic-bearing wastes stored in the 20 Organic Tank Watch List tanks at the US Department of Energy`s Hanford Site. Because of water`s importance in ensuring that the organic-bearing wastes continue to be stored safely, Duke Engineering and Services Hanford commissioned the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to investigate the effect of water partial pressure (P{sub H2O}) on the water content of organic-bearing or representative wastes. Of the various interrelated controlling factors affecting the water content in wastes, P{sub H2O} is the most susceptible to being controlled by the and Hanford Site`s environmental conditions and, if necessary, could be managed to maintain the water content at an acceptable level or could be used to adjust the water content back to an acceptable level. Of the various waste types resulting from weapons production and waste-management operations at the Hanford Site, Webb et al. determined that saltcake wastes are the most likely to require active management to maintain the wastes in a Conditionally Safe condition. A Conditionally Safe waste is one that satisfies the waste classification criteria based on watermore » content alone or a combination of water content and either total organic carbon (TOC) content or waste energetics. To provide information on the behavior of saltcake wastes, two waste samples taken from Tank 241-BY-108 (BY-108) were selected for study, even though BY-108 is not on the Organic Tanks Watch List because of their ready availability and their similarity to some of the organic-bearing saltcakes.« less