- The University of Manchester – School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences
- Academic Supervisors: Tom L. Rodgers, Claudio P. Fonte
- Industrial Supervisor: Jay J. Dunsford, Genevieve Boshoff
- Project timeline: Sep 2017 to Sep 2021
- Research areas of interest: Membrane Technology, Nuclear Decommissioning, Process Modelling and Optimisation
- Academic Qualifications: Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Aston University; Master of Science in Advanced Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester
- University profile, LinkedIn page
Effluent treatment Ultrafiltration System optimisation for nuclear decommissioning
The decontamination process of waste radioactive effluent in the Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant (EARP) at the Sellafield site focuses on the chemical precipitation (CP) of ferric floc and ultrafiltration (UF) process, in which separation of ferric floc is achieved in a two-stage dewatering process. My PhD research aims the optimisation of an ultrafiltration system for the separation of active effluent waste produced during spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and derived from Post Operational Clean-Out (POCO) decommissioning activities at the Sellafield site. A computational and experimental study will assess the UF performance of the fouling deposition on the surface and inside the pores of the membrane. The ultra-filtration properties of different ferric floc compositions at different concentrations will also be evaluated and compared. A new UF rig has been designed and built in Year 1 of my PhD studies for the experimental work and located at NNL Workington. I have completed BEng and MSc studies in chemical engineering with experiences in research and industrial process engineering teams. I have a special interest in solid-liquid and liquid-liquid separation processes at a lab and an industrial scale.
Outputs
Conference poster and oral presentation: Hadjidemetriou, K, Dunsford, J, Fonte, C. & Rodgers, T. (2019). Effluent Treatment Ultrafiltration System Optimisation for Nuclear Decommissioning. ChemEngDayUK 2019, Edinburgh, UK.
