Retention of hydrogen bubbles generated from water radiolysis in carbonate slurry

水の放射線分解から発生した水素の炭酸塩スラリーによる保持

伊藤 辰也  ; 永石 隆二 ; 桑野 涼*

Ito, Tatsuya; Nagaishi, Ryuji; Kuwano, Ryo*

福島第一原子力発電所の多核種除去設備における凝集沈殿(共沈)プロセスから排出される放射性廃棄物のような強アルカリ条件下で、水の放射線分解によって発生した水素(H)気泡の保持を、マグネシウムとカルシウムの混合沈殿物である懸濁物固体(SS)からなる炭酸塩スラリーの高粘度懸濁液中で定量的に研究した。親水性の異なる2種類の炭酸塩スラリー、親水性の「現行型」と疎水性の「返送型」についてH保持特性を評価し、それらの特性を別の懸濁液であるベントナイトの粘土懸濁液の特性と比較した。SS粒子表面の化学吸着量とスラリー中のHOの量の比較から、SS粒子間でHO分子が共有されている必要があり、この共有により粘土懸濁液中で微細な粘土鉱物間の静電的な結合が形成する粘性とは異なる構造粘性が形成されることが確認された。スラリー中のH気泡の保持は、Co線照射後のスラリーの撹拌前後で観測されたH発生量の差から評価した。親水性スラリー、疎水性スラリー、粘土懸濁液、処理水の保持特性の比較から、親水性スラリー中のH気泡は構造粘性だけでなく立体障害によっても保持されると示唆された。

The retention of hydrogen (H) bubbles generated by water radiolysis was quantitatively studied in a high-viscous suspension of carbonate slurry consisting of a mixture of suspended solid (SS) of magnesium and calcium precipitates under strongly alkaline conditions, like the radioactive wastes discharged from the coagulation sedimentation (co-precipitation) process at the multinuclide removal equipment in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The H retention properties were evaluated in two types of carbonate slurry with different hydrophilicity: the hydrophilic "current type" and the hydrophobic "return type". Then, their properties were compared with those in another suspension of clay suspension of bentonite. From the comparison between the amounts of chemical adsorption and HO in the slurry, it was confirmed that HO molecules must be shared among the SS particles, and this sharing formed the structural viscosity in the slurry, different from that in the clay suspension where electrostatic bonding between the fine clay minerals forms the viscosity. The retention of H bubbles in (by) the slurry was evaluated from the difference in the amount of H observed with and without stirring the slurry after Co -irradiation. From the comparison of the retention properties of the hydrophilic slurry, the hydrophobic slurry, the clay suspension, and treated water, it was suggested that H2 bubbles were retained not only by the structural viscosity but also by the steric hindrance in the hydrophilic slurry.