Westinghouse Electric Corporation

The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

Herbert A Burgman

Edward Jean Lahoda

Thomas S Snyder

David C Grant

Young J Kwon

Peter T Chiang

Edward Mitchell

Martin D Nahemow

Carmine M Mancuso

A method for stabilizing in-situ soluble heavy metal contaminants in carbonate-containing land or submarine formations which comprises introducing into the carbonate-containing formation an aqueous solution of calcium chloride, wherein the solution contains a stabilizing amount of calcium ions. The contaminants and the carbonate form coprecipitates with the calcium ions which are insoluble in formation fluids, therefore substantially inhibiting the remobilization of the heavy metals with groundwater. The method is effective with heavy metals which exist in both anionic and cationic form in carbonate-containing land or submarine formations. The method may be used to treat land formations hundreds of feet below the surface, landfill deposits, or submarine formations to reduce soluble heavy metal contaminants to a few parts per million.

In-situ restoration of contaminated soils and groundwater using calcium

Disclosed is a method of making an ion exchange material. A ceramic material is ion implanted with sulfur, carbon, phosphorus, or nitrogen, which is oxidized to sulfate, carboxylate or carbonate, phosphate, or nitrate, respectively, or the nitrogen is reduced to amine amide. Alternatively, a mixture of ceramic powder and a binder containing sulfur, carbon, phosphorus, or nitrogen is heated in a nonoxidizing atmosphere to a temperature up to 1000.degree. C. The sulfur is then oxidized to sulfate, the carbon to carboxylate or carbonate, phosphorus to phosphate, and nitrogen to nitrate, or the nitrogen is reduced to amine or amide. Also disclosed is an ion exchange material made by these methods and a method of treating acidic aqueous solutions containing dissolved radioactive materials by passing them through an ion exchange column containing the ion exchange material.

Ion exchange resin for immobilizing radioactive waste

Disclosed is a method of reducing the volume of a material containing addition polymerizable bonds by contacting the material with sufficient butyrolactone to dissolve the soluble organic material therein and form a slurry. About 0.1 to about 2% by weight, based on the slurry weight, of an addition polymerizable catalyst is added to polymerize and solidify the slurry. About 10 to about 50% by weight, based on total slurry weight, of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, such as styrene, can be added to aid in the polymerization process. The process is especially suited to filter elements containing radioactive contaminants.

Filter element reduction method

Disclosed is a method for making silane. A silicon tetrahalide having the general formula SiX.sub.4 is reacted with a compound which can be alcohols to C.sub.4, alkanes to C.sub.4, alkenes to C.sub.4 alkenes to C.sub.4 or a mixture thereof, where X is independently selected from the halogens, to produce a product having the general formula SiR.sub.4, where each R is independently selected from alkoxy to C.sub.4, alkyl to C.sub.4, alkylene to C.sub.4 and alkenyl to C.sub.4. The SiR.sub.4 is then reacted with hydrogen to produce the silane.

Manufacture of silane

A process and apparatus for separating an isotope of an element from other isotopes of the element in a compound, where the compound is deposited as a monolayer on small glass beads, and the coated beads entrained in a carrier gas containing a scavenger gas. The entrained, coated beads are exposed to light from a laser that excites the one isotopic compound and causes reaction thereof with the scavenger gas, to form a reaction product, while the other isotopic compounds remain stable. The other isotopic compounds are then separated from the reaction product and the reaction product removed from the beads to provide the desired isotope.

Process and apparatus for isotopic enrichment using lasers

A solvent extraction-exchange process for the enrichment of either the zirconium 90 isotope component or the zirconium 91-96 isotope component of an aqueous feed stream containing both components is described. An aqueous feed stream of zirconium complexes such as that from a thiocyanate separation process is contacted with an organic solvent to preferentially extract one of the isotope components, resulting in an aqueous raffinate enriched in the other isotope component. The organic phase is further contacted with an aqueous phase enriched in said one isotope component to exchange the other isotope component from the organic phase with the one isotope component in the aqueous phase and produce a further enriched organic phase. The one isotope component in the further enriched organic phase is then stripped with an aqueous acidic strip medium, and zirconium enriched in said one isotope component separated therefrom.

Process for separating zirconium isotopes

The injection of an ammonium sulfite or bisulfite solution increases the permeability of an uranium ore bed that has suffered permeability losses during the in-situ mining of uranium with an alkaline leach solution containing a peroxide or dissolved oxygen oxidant. Such an injection recovers much of the lost formation permeability, thus decreasing costs and effort required to put needed restoration solutions or further leach solutions through the ore bed. In addition, uranium contamination of the ground water normally occurring after cessation of leaching is significantly lowered by such injection.

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Murrysville, PA, United States of America

Herbert A Burgman