Cold cap monitoring and management system for low-temperature melting furnace

Abstract

The cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a low-temperature melting furnace for vitrifying intermediate and low-level radioactive waste; a monitoring device for controlling a cold cap formed on top of molten glass in the low-temperature melting furnace to improve the capture ratio of volatile nuclides in the molten glass; a mechanical adjustment device for mechanically adjusting the size of the cold cap in accordance with a monitoring result from the monitoring device; and a control device for controlling the monitoring device, the mechanical cold cap adjustment device, and the low-temperature melting furnace.

Description

Cold Cap Monitoring and Management System for Low-Temperature Melting Furnaces

[0001] The present invention relates to a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace, and more specifically, to a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace comprising an ultrasonic measuring device for monitoring a cold cap on the upper part of a molten glass inside a low-temperature melting furnace, an infrared sensor device for measuring the temperature of the cold cap, and a drill-type removal device for mechanically controlling or adjusting the cold cap area.

[0002] The vitrification facility forms molten glass inside a low-temperature melting furnace and processes low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.

[0003] Through this, it has the characteristic of easily ensuring suitability for disposal and significantly reducing volume.

[0004] When vitrifying radioactive waste containing the volatile radionuclide cesium, cesium is generated as a gas, so it must be removed through exhaust gas treatment facilities.

[0005] The low-temperature melting furnace generates thermal energy from the molten glass through an induced current generated by a high-frequency generator placed externally.

[0006] An interface in contact with air is formed at the upper part of the low-temperature melting furnace, forming a cold cap.

[0007] The cold cap formed on the top of the molten glass blocks contact with air, serving to trap volatile radionuclides such as cesium (Cs) inside the molten glass.

[0008] Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to solve these problems, and the objective of the present invention is to provide a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace that can monitor and manage the area of ​​a cold cap formed on the upper part of the low-temperature melting furnace so as to efficiently maintain the thermal energy of the molten glass in the low-temperature melting furnace and vaporize volatile radionuclides such as cesium to remove them through an exhaust gas treatment facility.

[0009] A cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a low-temperature melting furnace for vitrifying low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste; a monitoring device for monitoring a cold cap formed on the upper part of the molten glass to improve the capture ratio of volatile nuclides in the low-temperature melting furnace; a mechanical control device for mechanically adjusting the size of the cold cap according to the monitoring result of the monitoring device; and a control device for controlling the low-temperature melting furnace.

[0010] The monitoring device includes at least one of an optical camera, an ultrasonic measuring instrument, and an IR camera positioned above the molten glass, and monitors the size and temperature of the cold cap, and the monitoring device may be installed at each of the four corners of a square above the low-temperature melting furnace.

[0011] The above mechanical cold cap adjustment device is a drilling device capable of pivoting at a predetermined angle and can be installed at each of the four corners of a square on the upper part of the low-temperature melting furnace.

[0012] The mechanical cold cap adjustment device and the monitoring device may be offset from each other so as not to interfere with each other, and the four corners of the square formed by the monitoring device may be positioned at the center of each side of the square formed by the mechanical cold cap adjustment device.

[0013] According to the cold cap monitoring and management system of a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, radioactive waste containing volatile nuclides can be safely treated through effective vitrification during the vitrification process of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.

[0014] According to a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, volatile radionuclides can be effectively managed by flexibly adjusting the size of the cold cap as needed during the vitrification process.

[0015] According to the cold cap monitoring and management system of a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, the cold cap can be effectively removed after the vitrification process is completed, thereby improving operational efficiency and enabling rapid execution.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 2 is an upper conceptual diagram of FIG. 1,

[0018] FIG. 3 is an operating state diagram of the drill-type removal device of FIG. 1,

[0019] Figure 4 is a photograph of a case where the cold cap of a low-temperature melting furnace is large area,

[0020] Figure 5 is a photograph of the case where the cold cap of the low-temperature melting furnace has a small area.

[0021] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. The drawings presented below are provided as examples to ensure that the concept of the present invention is sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the drawings presented below and may be embodied in other forms. Furthermore, throughout the specification, the same reference numerals indicate the same components. It should be noted that the same components in the drawings are indicated by the same reference numerals wherever possible. Additionally, unless otherwise defined, technical and scientific terms used have the meaning commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and descriptions of known functions and configurations that could unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present invention are omitted in the following description and the accompanying drawings.

[0022] Now, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0023] As illustrated in FIG. 1, in a cold cap monitoring and management system (100) for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, a low-temperature melting furnace (101) for vitrifying low-to-medium level radioactive waste has an upper cover (102) placed on the upper side, an induction current (103) formed around the low-temperature melting furnace (101), and a corrosion protection film (104) formed inside the low-temperature melting furnace (101). When radioactive waste is introduced into the molten glass formed inside by a waste input device (108) formed on the upper cover (102), the induction current (103) is activated to proceed with thermal decomposition and vitrification.

[0024] Cooling water is introduced into the low-temperature melting furnace (101), circulates around the low-temperature melting furnace (101), and then discharged through the cooling water discharge section (107) to reduce the amount of inorganic fly ash deposited during combustion.

[0025] The above low-temperature melting furnace (101) is configured to supply oxygen through an oxygen supply pipe (181) so that combustible waste can be reacted on molten glass under an oxygen atmosphere to remove organic matter.

[0026] When radioactive waste is exposed to high temperatures, thermal decomposition occurs, and some volatile nuclides volatilize and move to the exhaust gas treatment facility through the exhaust gas pipe (105).

[0027] An operating process is applied to form a cold cap on top of the molten glass to increase the capturing ratio of volatile nuclides.

[0028] The cold cap is positioned at the interface between the top of the molten glass and air, reducing the contact surface area between the molten glass and air, thereby enabling volatile nuclides to be trapped inside the molten glass.

[0029] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a cold cap monitoring and management system (100) of a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a monitoring device (110) for monitoring the characteristics of the cold cap of the molten glass, a mechanical control device (130) for mechanically controlling the size of the cold cap according to the monitoring result of the monitoring device (110), the monitoring device (110), the mechanical cold cap control device (130), and a control device (150) for controlling the low-temperature melting furnace.

[0030] The monitoring device (110) includes an optical camera (111), an ultrasonic measuring instrument (113), and an IR camera (115) positioned above the molten glass, and monitors the characteristics of the cold cap, such as size, temperature, etc., as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0031] To this end, the monitoring device (110) is characterized by having four units each placed at the four corners of a square so as not to have a blind spot above the molten glass, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0032] When a cold cap is placed on top of the molten glass, volatile radionuclides can be limited, but there is a process disadvantage that limits the throughput of the vitrification process by limiting the contact surface area between the waste introduced from the top and the molten glass during the vitrification process. The mechanical cold cap control device (130) is placed on top of the molten glass and can mechanically control the size of the cold cap.

[0033] As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mechanical cold cap control device (130) may be placed at each of the four corners of a square above the molten glass to solve this problem, and may be arranged to form a second square with vertices in the middle of each side of the first square formed by the monitoring device (110) so as to operate quickly according to the monitoring result of the monitoring device (110) and not interfere with the monitoring of the monitoring device (110).

[0034] Typically, the cold cap on the upper part of the molten glass can be controlled by purging oxygen or air from the lower part of the low-temperature melting furnace (101), but this requires a lot of energy and time. However, by drilling the cold cap while rotating the drill-type removal device (131), which is the mechanical cold cap control device (130), up to a range of 45 degrees at each corner, the energy and time can be reduced by mechanically and rapidly reducing the area from a large area as shown in FIG. 4 to a small area as shown in FIG. 5.

[0035] According to the cold cap monitoring and management system of a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, radioactive waste containing volatile nuclides can be safely treated through effective vitrification during the vitrification process of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.

[0036] According to a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, volatile radionuclides can be effectively managed by flexibly adjusting the size of the cold cap as needed during the vitrification process.

[0037] According to the cold cap monitoring and management system of a low-temperature melting furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention, the cold cap can be effectively removed after the vitrification process is completed, thereby improving operational efficiency and enabling rapid execution.

Claims

1. A low-temperature melting furnace for the vitrification of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, and, A monitoring device for monitoring a cold cap formed on the upper part of the molten glass to improve the capture ratio of volatile nuclides in the molten glass in the above low-temperature melting furnace, and A mechanical adjustment device that mechanically adjusts the size of the cold cap according to the monitoring result of the above monitoring device, and A cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace, comprising the above monitoring device, the above mechanical cold cap adjustment device, and a control device for controlling the above low-temperature melting furnace.

2. In Paragraph 1, The above monitoring device comprises at least one of an optical camera, an ultrasonic measuring instrument, and an IR camera positioned above the molten glass, and is a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace that monitors the size and temperature of the cold cap.

3. In Paragraph 2, The above monitoring device is a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace, installed at each of the four square corners above the low-temperature melting furnace.

4. In Paragraph 1, The above mechanical cold cap adjustment device is a drilling removal device capable of pivoting up to 45 degrees, and a cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace installed at each of the four square corners above the low-temperature melting furnace.

5. In Paragraph 4, A cold cap monitoring and management system for a low-temperature melting furnace, wherein the mechanical cold cap adjusting device and the monitoring device are offset from each other so as not to interfere with each other, and the four corners of the square formed by the monitoring device are positioned at the center of each side of the square formed by the mechanical cold cap adjusting device.

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