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Title: Silo 3 Vacuum Wand Demonstration Test Final Report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/910738· OSTI ID:910738

Silo 3, a freestanding, pre-stressed concrete, domed cylindrical tank, located at the Fernald Closure Project near Cincinnati, Ohio, contains approximately 5,100 cubic yards of metal oxide waste generated from Fernald operations that extracted uranium from ore material. The baseline for the Silo 3 Project is to remove a portion of this material from the silo pneumatically by inserting vacuum retrieval wands and/or hoses in existing manways on the silo dome. After the loose material has been removed by the pneumatic system, the project intends to cut an opening in the silo wall and use a mechanical excavator to complete removal of the remaining material, including possible combination with pneumatic retrieval. Fluor Fernald previously requested that the Department of Energy Environmental Management Office of Science and Technology provide a Technical Assistance Team to review this approach. One of the key recommendations made by this team was to assess the wand operability, effectiveness, reliability, and safety in a mock-up test. A team was convened to develop the test plan, build the demonstration test loop, and perform the tests. The tests focused primarily on the operability of the system, and to a significantly lesser extent process performance. This report documents the results for the testing completed in April 2003. Based upon the testing performed, the team identified several key issues to be incorporated into the design and operation of the retrieval system.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE - EM
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC07-99ID-13727
OSTI ID:
910738
Report Number(s):
INEEL/EXT-03-00773; TRN: US0800521
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English