Assessment of fire and explosion safe use of the anion exchange resin AV-17-8 in nitrate form in a sorption column

Introduction. Ion exchange resins are widely used at nuclear fuel cycle facilities. During the exploitation of resins in nitric acid solutions, its self-decomposition at high temperatures is not excluded, which can lead to accidental situations. It is known that anion exchange resins in nitrate form decompose with heat release with the value higher than 300 J/g at the temperatures above 220 °С, which may pose a potential danger to technologies of extraction, separation and purification of radionuclides.

Aims and objectives. In this study, the problem was set to assess boundary conditions of fire and explosion safe use of AV-17-8 anion exchange resins in a sorption column. The objectives included the following steps: investigation of thermal stability of the anionite by differential scanning calorimetry; assessment of the kinetic parameters of the ongoing oxidation reactions; modeling of the process of the heat release in a sorption column. Based on the data obtained, the assessment of the boundary condition for a thermal explosion occurrence in equipment with AV-17-8 was carried out.

Methodology. For the investigation of the samples under study thermal stability, the heating was conducted in synchronous thermal analyzer STA 449 F3 Jupiter. Subsequent data analysis was performed in the Arks specialized software CJSC “Khiminform”, the stages of which included primary processing (base line subtraction, deconvolution of the heat flow signal, determination of thermal effects values), and modeling of the heat release in the column filled with sorbent with certain geometric and thermophysical parameters.

Results and discussion. It was determined by differential scanning calorimetry that the AV-17-8 resin in nitrate form decomposes in two stages at the temperature ranges of 100–200 and 200–320 °С with the heat release values of 148 ± 13 and 425 ± 43 J/g respectively. For these two exothermic effects, the kinetic parameters of the anionite decomposition, with the use of which the boundary temperatures of a thermal explosion in the sorption column depending on its radius are determined.

Conclusion. The Arks software provides an opportunity to simulate conditions for a thermal explosion occurrence in technological equipment. Considering the estimated parameters, it is possible to predict the development of uncontrolled exothermic reactions which determine fire and explosion safety of anion exchange resins application.

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