Water Cleaning System for the Exhaust Pipe of HLW Glass Melter (LFCM) - 17180
Vitrification technology has been generally applied to stabilize High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) generated from spent fuel reprocessing. In Japan, Joule Heated Liquid Fed Ceramic Melter (LFCM) system is selected for HLW vitrification and the recent active test has been successfully demonstrated its stable operation. The higher reliability of off-gas treatment system (OGTS) which consists of wet scrubber, absorbers and filters connected to the LFCM is also important to ensure long term system operation. The OGTS removes radioactive gases, mists and dust generated by LFCM and maintains radioactive containments by keeping negative pressure inside. In the past active and inactive tests, it was observed that differential pressure in the exhaust pipe attached to LFCM gradually increased during continuous operation and some deposits were observed inside the off-gas pipe. So the cleaning operation needs to be improved and more frequent in order to avoid the exhaust pipe clogging. Therefore we investigated several cleaning systems and operational methods for the exhaust pipe of LFCM. As a result, we have successfully developed the modified water cleaning system. In this presentation we will introduce our water cleaning system. In addition, we will present the result of inactive mock-up tests for the visualization of this water cleaning system. (authors)