Computational and experimental studies into the hydrodynamic operation conditions of container filters for ion-selective treatment

Formation of radioactive waste (RW) is specific to the NPP operation. Liquid radioactive waste (LRW) forms in the process of the reactor plant operation, and in decontamination of equipment, rooms and overalls. The radionuclides found mostly in vat residues are 134, 137 Cs in the form of ions and 60 Co and 54 Mn isotopes in the form of chelates including substances used for equipment decontamination. Among the well-known conditioning techniques, selective sorption provides for the greatest reduction of LRW amounts. The efficiency of using the amount of the filter material can be increased by supplying the treated medium simultaneously to several sorbent layers. The paper presents computer simulation results for three proposed options of improved container filter designs for ion-selective treatment differing in the ways used both to separate the treated water flows and to deliver these to the sorbent layers. The improved efficiency of the sorption processes in the proposed designs was estimated using computer simulation in SolidWorks Flow Simulation. Three sorbent grades from NPP Eksorb were used for the study. A series of experimental studies of the flow through the sorbent layer was undertaken to determine the hydraulic resistance of the studied samples. The obtained experimental data was added to the Solidworks Flow Simulation engineering database for simulation of the earlier presented designs. Representative parameters of the flow inside of container filters were obtained as a result of the simulation.