CX-270074: Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) Stack Sampling Tracer Gas Testing

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) is considering increasing the flow rate in their Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) Stack at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) from 34,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) up to 50,000 CFM. BEA has already used Engineering Calculations and Analysis (ECAR)-2403, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations program, to predict the tracer gas concentration profile at 34,000 CFM and 50,000 CFM. The ECAR-2403 analysis showed that at the current sampling location the tracer gas concentration is higher than the average concentration across the stack, and hence, the current stack sampling system would provide a conservative sample at a stack flow rate of 50,000 CFM. However, before approving the higher flow rate of 50,000 CFM, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested that a set of tracer gas tests be performed. BEA has awarded a contract to HI-Q to perform the required tracer gas tests at 34,000 CFM and 50,000 CFM to validate the ECAR-2403 model and also write a report to present to EPA for approval. The objective of the activities and/or tests is to evaluate the current stack sampling location within the HFEF stack for assurance that the tracer gas concentration at the sampling location is higher than the average concentration across the 20 grid points across the stack.