RICHLAND, Wash. - A critical piece of equipment recently arrived at the Hanford Site to help advance the EM Office of River Protection ’s (ORP) mission of safely and efficiently managing radioactive and chemical tank waste.
ORP contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) received a new spare reboiler for the 242-A Evaporator. The reboiler will be stored until it is needed to replace the facility’s existing reboiler. The spare reboiler is 15 feet, 4 inches long, up to 50 inches in diameter and weighs about 10,200 pounds.
The 242-A Evaporator creates needed storage space in the double-shell tank storage system by periodically concentrating liquid tank waste. The reboiler is a key component of that process. As waste slurry passes through the reboiler’s 364 internal tubes, it is heated by steam and then flows into the main evaporator vessel, where water in the heated slurry is boiled off under a partial vacuum.
“Evaporator operations are critical to successful tank waste management at the Hanford Site," said Paul Hernandez, ORP 242-A Evaporator program manager. “The spare equipment will help ensure operations continue without delays should the existing reboiler fail."
In early May, WRPS completed its first 242-A Evaporator campaign of the year, creating approximately 166,000 gallons of valuable double-shell tank storage space. A second evaporator campaign is set to begin June 22.
Since beginning operations in 1977, the evaporator has removed 85 million gallons of liquid from the tank waste.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
