Download or read book Supercritical-fluid Carbon Dioxide (SCCO2) Cleaning of Nuclear Weapon Components written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SCCO2) has been evaluated as a cleaning solvent for the cleaning of plutonium (Pu) metal parts. The results of the evaluation show that SCCO2 is an effective alternative to halogenated solvents that are conventionally used for removing organic and inorganic contaminants from the surface of these parts. The cleaning process was demonstrated at the laboratory scale for steel and uranium substrates and has been found to be compatible with Pu. The efficacy of this cleaning method is found to be dependent on process conditions of pressure, temperature, fluid-flow rate, as well as cleaning time. Process parameters of P> 2,500 psi, T> 40 C, and moderate fluid flow rates, produced good cleaning results in less than 10 minutes using a simple flow-through process configuration. Within the parameter range studied, cleaning efficiency generally improved with increasing process pressure and flow rate. SCCO2 cleaning is suitable for a variety of component cleaning tasks and is adaptable to precision cleaning requirements. The SCCO2 cleaning process is currently being developed for deployment for weapons production at LANL.