Health Physics Systems, Inc.

Quadrex Hps Inc.

Recovery Technology LP

Joseph A Capella

David E Fowler

Dennis R Morrison

Disclosed is a system and method for cleaning radioactively contaminated articles, including tools and like items of hardware. The system includes a cleaning chamber for receiving and sealing therein the contaminated articles, a high pressure spray gun disposed within the cleaning chamber for spraying the contaminated articles with a clean solvent to dislodge and dissolve the contaminants, and a system for decontaminating the solvent for reuse. The cleaning chamber includes a drain having the capacity to remove contaminated solvent at a rate at least as great as that at which the solvent is sprayed into the chamber, such that substantially no contaminated solvent collects in the cleaning chamber.

Tool decontamination apparatus

A closed cycle recovery system and apparatus for continuously recovering residual products which have been washed or flushed from tank trucks, tank cars, and other transportation or storage containers while simultaneously separating and recovering the water, solvent or other fluids which are used to wash or flush such tanks and containers in which a mixture of the water, solvent, and other fluids, and the residual product is separated by evaporation of the water, solvent, or other fluids by passing the mixture through a distillation chamber having a series of tube and flat plate heat exchange surfaces so that the individual fluids and product may be purified and separately stored for further use.

Product separation and recovery system

Tool decontamination method

Garments are deposited in a cleaning drum and the drum is agitated during a wash cycle. A dry cleaning solvent is continuously added to the drum during the wash cycle and continuously removed from the drum during the wash cycle to flush the radioactive particulate material separated from the garments into a sump. The solvent is pumped from the sump for addition to the drum during the wash cycle and the pumped solvent is filtered to remove substantially all of the radioactive particulate material suspended in the solvent. The apparatus for decontaminating the radioactive garments comprises a sump for supporting a dry cleaning solvent. A drum for supporting the radioactively contaminated garments during a wash cycle which separates the radioactive particulate material from the garments means are provided for continuously pumping the dry cleaning solvent from the sump to the drum and for continuously removing the solvent and separated particulate material from the drum into the sump. A filtering means is used to continuously remove substantially all of the particulate material suspended in the solvent that is carried to the drum.

Growing community of inventors

Crystal River, FL, United States of America

Joseph A Capella