Predicting Peak Hydrogen Concentrations from Spontaneous Gas Releases in Hanford Waste Tanks

Buoyant displacement gas release events (BDGRE) are spontaneous gas releases that occur in a few of the Hanford radioactive waste storage tanks when gas accumulation makes the sediment layer buoyant with respect to the liquid. BDGREs are assumed to be likely if the ratio of the predicted sediment gas fraction and neutral buoyancy gas fraction, or buoyancy ratio, exceeds unity. Based on the observation that the buoyancy ratio is also an empirical indicator of BDGRE size, a new methodology is derived that formally correlates the buoyancy ratio and the peak headspace hydrogen concentration resulting from BDGREs. The available data on the six historic BDGRE tanks, AN-103, AN-104, AN-105, AW-101, SY-103, and SY-101, are studied in detail to describe both the waste state and the corresponding distribution of BDGREs. The range of applicability of the buoyancy ratio-based models is assessed based on the modeling assumptions and availability of tank data. Recommendations are given for extending the range of the models applicability.