Experimental verification of operational conditions for the 3rd glass melter in TVF

Asahi, Yoshimitsu; Fukuda, Shigeki; Shiramizu, Daiki; Miyata, Koshi; Tone, Masaya; Katsuoka, Nanako; Maeda, Yuta ; Aoyama, Yusuke; Niitsuma, Koichi; Kobayashi, Hidekazu ; Kodaka, Akira

A glass melter for the vitrification process of highly active liquid waste in the Tokai Reprocessing Plant, TVF's 3rd melter, was built, and the glass of 18 vitrified waste canisters in weight was melted and poured through a cold test operation. The molten glass surface was covered by a cold cap from feeding fiberglass cartridges saturated with non-radioactive simulant liquid waste as raw material, whose components are equivalent to actual waste. Differences in inherent characteristics of the thermal behavior between the 2nd and the 3rd melter due to the difference in design were considered to establish the procedure to control the new melter. The melter's condition was stabilized at a higher glass temperature and the cooling of 1 kW less in each of the two main electrodes, compared to the 2nd one. Under 39 kW joule heating of the main electrodes with 26 Nm3/h coolant flow rate, it showed the capability to finish heating the bottom furnace in 5 hours before pouring, 2 hours shorter than the 2nd melter. Measurements of the temperature distributions in molten glass and casing surface yielded data that is efficient for developing a simulation model. After Platinum Group Elements (PGE) concentration saturates in the molten glass, feeding raw material and discharging glass were suspended to examine a holding state, indicating PGE settling could retard. During the holding test, observation of the melting process of the cold cap declared that the surface was covered by a thin layer with almost non-fluidity. It will be a reason for choosing the no-slip condition of a fluid calculation, even in the hot-top condition. The investigation of PGE discharging behavior by analyzing the elemental composition of poured glass showed the accumulated PGE amount in the 3rd melter is small compared to the 2nd melter. Inspection of the melter inside after draining out concluded that there were neither significant residual glass nor refractory fragments.