| Following use, the OREX materials are treated using a chemical oxidation process. The patented proprietary process results in ultimate conversion of the original material to primarily carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Radioactive materials present in the effluent are removed via mechanical filtration prior to release.
The process technology is often referred to as the OREX Processing System or MICROBasix™ Treatment System. There are several system configuration options available depending on the specific application. Several years were spent developing the MICROBasix technology for treatment of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) materials.
One of the outstanding properties of PVA is that solubility of the material can be varied according to its molecular weight and degree to which its monomer, vinyl acetate, is hydrolyzed in the manufacturing process. For example, materials made from PVA can be soluble in cold water or, conversely, they can be made insoluble in cold water and soluble only at temperatures above 90°C. A customer desiring a bag to contain and launder radioactive laundry may prefer a bag that is cold water-soluble. However, customers needing mop heads for cleaning up radioactive spills would prefer a mop head that is hot water soluble only. Both the mop head and the plastic bag used to contain the contaminated mop head, in this example, must be able to hold water without dissolving. The mop head would also need to exhibit significant liquid absorbency to be effective for its intended use. Inherent PVA characteristics and manufacturing techniques make it possible to develop a multitude of non-woven, woven and film-based products which exhibit desired performance characteristics suitable to specific industry application.
MICROBasix process technology first dissolves the soiled PVA products and converts them to liquid form. Soiled PVA materials are loaded into the treatment system in bulk form. Pre-sorting the material, though recommended, is not necessary provided Certified Soluble bags are used to package the contaminated materials. Non-soluble materials are mechanically segregated through process action alone and are recovered separately following the first treatment step. The second step of the treatment process chemically converts the PVA solution to a more suitable form for subsequent decontamination and release.
See the OREX processing
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