July 3, 2001 SRT-EDS-2001-00012

 

M. T. Terry

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

P. O. Box 999, MSIN K9-919

Richland, WA 99352

 

Dear Mr. Terry:

 

 

Alternative Filtration Technology Sharing Exchange During FY01 (U)

 

Technology Sharing with the LLNL Bio –Terrorism Facility

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) contacted the Alternative Filtration Program on technology sharing of the filter media development. Dr. Werner Bergman is currently involved in developing a bio-aerosol facility at LLNL. The research involves countering bio-terrorism. Due to the nature of the materials being dealt with, the design of the aerosol facility will require an extremely robust ventilation system with the capabilities of cleaning the filter in situ. The design has assumed that the conventional glass fiber high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters will periodically blow out due to weakening from moisture. Thus, the program is looking for a stronger alternative HEPA media.

 

The sintered nickel or ceramic filter media developed during the Alternative Filtration Program has the HEPA qualities of filtering out 99.97% of particles 0.3 m m or larger. The ceramic filter media has a relatively low-pressure drop and has proved to be very robust in moisture laden filtering applications as demonstrated at the Savannah River Technology Center. The Alternative Filtration Program has sent two ceramic filters (one (1) 1"X12" small-scale element and one (1) 5.66" x 12" full-scale element) to LLNL for pressure drop and airflow testing purposes.

 

The Alternative Filtration Program is planning to send additional full-scale ceramic filters to LLNL for their simulant testing. Before shipment, the filters must successfully pass the particle retention test at the Oak Ridge Filter Test Facility with > 99.97% efficiency. The particle retention test is scheduled for August 2001.

 

Work is ongoing between LLNL and the Principal Investigator of the Alternative Filtration Program and is expected to go into FY02. The Task Integration Manager (M. T. Terry) of the Alternative Filtration Program has scheduled a meeting with LLNL in late July to discuss the design of their aerosol facility.

 

 

Technology Sharing INEEL, Calcine Retrieval Solids Separation System

The technology sharing with the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) INEEL Calcine Retrieval Project has been scaled back due to the possibility of going to a vitrification process versus the current calcine retrieval process. Using existing facilities at INTEC in FY01, proof-of-concept tests will be conducted with existing filters and the ceramic filter developed by CeraMem Corporation during the Alternative Filtration Program. Testing will be performed with limestone that closely matches the required particle size distribution. The cleanability of the filters will be tested using reverse air pulse technology. The Principal Investigator of the alternative filtration research will be involved throughout the testing and evaluation program.

 

 

Paper Presented at The TIE Workshop

The Principal Investigator (D. J. Adamson) presented a paper at the Twelfth Technical Information Exchange (TIE) Workshop sponsored by the Department of Energy. The workshop was conducted November 14-16, 2000 in Augusta, Georgia. The Paper titled "Alternative HEPA Filter Media" was presented at the Tanks Panel Session, T. S. Gutmann, Chair of Session. The paper was well received at the conference.

 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this information in detail, please feel free to contact me at (803) 725-5307.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Duane J. Adamson, Fellow Engineer

Engineering Development Section

 

 

DA:dja

 

 

cc: TTG, Electronic Mail, http://www.tanks.org/DocumentSubmittalForm.htm

 

Tanks Focus Area Technical Team, c/o B. J. Williams, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,

P. O. Box 999, MSIN K9-69, Richland, WA 99352

 

Tanks Focus Area Program Manager, c/o T. P. Pietrok, U. S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, P. O. Box 550, MS: K8-50, Richland, WA 99352

 

Tanks Focus Area Headquarters Program Lead, c/o Kurt Gerdes, DOE Office of Science and Technology, 19901 Germantown Road, 1154 Cloverleaf Building, Germantown, MD 20874-1290

 

T. S. Gutmann, U. S. Department of Energy, Savannah River Operations Office, P. O. Box A,

Aiken, SC 29802

 

J. P. Morin, Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Savannah River Technology Center,

Building 703-H, Aiken, SC 29808

 

J. L. Malhotra, U. S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory,

3610 Collins Ferry Road, P. O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880

 

D. B. Burns, 786-5A

 

S. T. Wach, 773-42A

 

EDS file room, 773-42A