Year
2016
Abstract
At Los Alamos National Laboratory, there was a need to test the filters installed in the lids of the canister which store nuclear material. The two types of containers the research efforts focused on are the SAVY-4000 and Hagan style container. Currently the need for the Hagan style has decreased but the capabilities to test are still crucial. This need was driven by both a surveillance and lifetime extension goal. At the start of this project, it was found that no current system existed. The specification for storage containers requires that the filter shall capture greater than 99.97% of a 0.45-micron mean diameter dioctyl phthalate (DOP) aerosol at the rated flow with a DOP concentration of 65 ± 15 micrograms per liter. The flowrate for this system is 200 accm (actual cc/min). The filters must also have a pressure drop of less than 0.25 kPa (1 inch water column) at this flowrate. These parameters lead to the development of a new system. Two systems were built; one to provide data on in use containers and one to use for various experiments for improving the design. Both systems were built by utilizing instruments used to test large air flow rates (1000 ACFM), but were re-engineered to function with our lower flowrate of 200 cc/min. Presently, the filter test system has been in use for two years. In that time, the systems have added valuable information in the justification of lifetime extension and have shown that the in-use items under surveillance have been, and continue, to perform to the specification given for the containers.