13
A
Fiber Optic Multipass Raman Probe and Instrumentation for Monitoring Flammable
Gases in High Level Waste Tanks—EIC
Laboratories, Inc., 111 Downey Street, Norwood, MA
02062-2612; 781-769-9450
Dr.
Job M. Bello, Principal Investigator, bello@eiclabs.com
Mr.
Jeffrey L. Bursell, Business Official, jefbursell@eiclabs.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-05ER84278
Amount:
$749,931
The
Department of Energy (DOE) has 280 underground tanks used to process and store
over 90 million gallons of high-level radioactive chemical waste.
The conditions in the tanks are conducive to the formation of flammable
gases such as hydrogen, ammonia, and methane, as well as fire accelerants
(oxidizers) such as nitrous oxide. An
accumulation of these flammable gases above their lower flammability limit (LFL)
increases the risk of fire and explosion. To
mitigate these risks, this project will develop
a Raman instrument that can be deployed inside the tanks for monitoring the
concentration of these hazardous gases below their lower flammability limit. Phase
I showed that flammable gases such as hydrogen and methane can be detected at
concentrations below their lower flammability limit in near real time with a
multipass retroreflector Raman cell. In
its current configuration, the limit of detection of the multipass Raman probe
is at 10% of the gases lower flammability limit. Phase
II will involve refinements to the multipass Raman gas probe design and the
associated Raman instrumentation, in order to permit gas detection at
concentrations lower than 10% of the lower flammability limit. A
deployable probe and instrument will be developed for field-testing in a high
level waste tank at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).
Commercial
Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee:
In addition to the application to tank monitoring, the probe could be used by the DOE as an in-line
monitor for hydrogen isotopes and other gases in tritium facilities, such as the
hydrogen-tritium thermal cycle absorption process. A
sensitive Raman probe also could benefit the private sector in relation to:
(1) pollutant monitoring, where the probe could be used to monitor the
release of hazardous gases from industrial sites for regulatory purposes; and
(2) process control, such as in furnace atmosphere control monitoring, where the
control and monitoring of such gases as nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen,
ammonia, carbon dioxide, oxygen and other hydrocarbon gases are required.