MEASUREMENT OF AMMONIA RELEASE FROM SALTSTONE

SRNL was requested by WSRC Waste Solidification Engineering to characterize the release of ammonia from saltstone curing at 95 C by performing experimental testing. These tests were performed with an MCU-type Tank 50H salt simulant containing 0, 50, and 200 mg/L ammonia. The testing program showed that above saltstone made from the 200 mg/L ammonia simulant, the vapor space ammonia concentration was about 2.7 mg/L vapor at 95 C. An upper 95% confidence value for this concentration was found to be 3.9 mg/L. Testing also showed that ammonia was chemically generated from curing saltstone at 95 C; the amount of ammonia generated was estimated to be equivalent to 121 mg/L additional ammonia in the salt solution feed. Even with chemical generation, the ammonia release from saltstone was found to be lower than its release from salt solution only with 200 mg/L ammonia.