Book Description
To comply with restrictions on the storage of old compressed gas cylinders, the environmental management organization of Lockheed Martin Energy Systems must dispose of several thousand kilograms of compressed gases stored on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) because the cylinders cannot be taken off-site for disposal in their current configuration. In the ORR Site Treatment Plan, a milestone is cited that requires repackaging and shipment off-site of 21 cylinders by September 30, 1997. A project was undertaken to first evaluate and then either recontainerize or neutralize these cylinders using a transportable compressed gas recontainerization skid (TCGRS), which was developed by Integrated Environmental Services of Atlanta. The transportable system can: (1) sample, analyze, and identify at the site the chemical and radiological content of each cylinder, even those with inoperable valves; (2) breach cylinders, when necessary, to release their contents into a containment chamber; and (3) either neutralize the gas or liquid contents within the containment chamber or transfer the gas or liquids to a new cylinder. The old cylinders and cylinder fragments were disposed of and the gases neutralized or transferred to new cylinders for transportation off-site for disposal. The entire operation to process the 21 cylinders took place in only 5 days once the system was approved for operation. The system performed as expected and can now be used to process the potentially thousands of more cylinders located across the US Department of Energy (DOE) complex that have not yet been declared surplus.