IONEX Research Corporation may be a small business, but it provided big solutions in the design and manufacture of a complex filtration system for the Vit Plant that will help protect people and the environment.
Based in Lafayette, Colorado, IONEX designed, engineered and manufactured a thermal catalytic oxidizer (TCO) skid for the Vit Plant. Similar to a catalytic converter on a car, the TCO eliminates pollutants from exhaust to ensure it meets state regulations before being released into the atmosphere.
“We are a solutions-based company,” said Angie Carrasco, senior project manager at IONEX Research Corporation. “This was a very complex piece of equipment, and we worked closely with the Vit Plant on different iterations so we could make our equipment integrate as well as possible.”
The Vit Plant, formally called the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant project, will use a process called vitrification to safely treat and store a portion of the 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste generated at Hanford during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. The waste is mixed with silica and other glass-forming materials, heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit in one of two melters, and poured into stainless steel containers. The treated low-activity waste will be disposed of at Hanford in permitted trenches covered with soil.
Founded in 1978, IONEX Research Corporation specializes in the design and manufacture of high-performance filtration and treatment equipment used in the processing of chemical and nuclear waste. The company has 76 employees and a 44,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lafayette.
IONEX has worked with the Vit Plant since 2002, supplying critical items such as gloveboxes, fume hoods, and a transfer cart and tunnel that carries waste into the radiation zones in the facility.
The $13 million TCO skid took two years to design and build and was constructed to rigorous Nuclear Quality Assurance (NQA-1) standards, the requirement for equipment used in nuclear facilities. The skid is located in the Low-Activity Waste Facility, where vitrification occurs. It performs a critical step in treating exhaust that comes from the melters.
“We have highly skilled welders, who, along with our welding program, are qualified to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers standards,” Carrasco said. “It was very complex equipment involving extensive commercial grade dedication and complex factory acceptance testing within our NQA-1 program.”
Commercial grade dedication (CGD) is a process where a commercial grade item is qualified through verification of its critical characteristics for dedicated nuclear use. CGD is typically performed on items required for safety applications.
“Our partnership with the Vit Plant has been very successful,” Carrasco said. “We enjoy the challenge of the complexity of the buildings and the processes they are doing.”
“IONEX Research Corporation has been a valuable partner as we move from construction to commissioning and startup,” said Rick Holmes, general manager of the Waste Treatment Completion Company, which oversees the physical work at the Vit Plant and is a subcontractor to Bechtel National. “Their technical and scientific expertise has contributed critical equipment to the Vit Plant.”