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Liquefaction of Latex Glove Waste for Volume Reduction

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Abstract

The accumulation of dry active wastes such as latex gloves in nuclear facilities has become a serious issue because of the high cost and limited storage area for their management. In this study, the liquefaction of latex gloves, which mainly comprise rubber and CaCO3, was investigated as a waste reduction technique. When liquefaction occurred at > 270 °C, the latex gloves decomposed into gaseous, liquid, and solid products. Cs-, Sr-, and Co-contaminated latex gloves were liquefied at 350 °C, and the solid product was subsequently recovered via distillation. Notably, the contaminants only remained in the solid product (~33.3 wt%) comprising CaCO3 and char; thus, the gaseous and liquid products could be regarded as non-radioactive, thereby reducing the volume of radioactive waste (~ 92.7% reduction after compression). Liquefaction is favorable compared to conventional incineration because it generates less harmful gases by converting the organic components to condensed phases.

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Abbreviations

DAW:

Dry active waste

RI:

Radioactive isotope

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MISP) (RS-2022-00155421).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 989-111 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34057, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Wook Kim, Maeng-Kyo Oh & Min Ku Jeon

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  1. Sung-Wook Kim
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  2. Maeng-Kyo Oh
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Correspondence to Sung-Wook Kim.

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Kim, SW., Oh, MK. & Jeon, M.K. Liquefaction of Latex Glove Waste for Volume Reduction. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 41, 1503–1511 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-024-00046-z

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