RFID helps nuclear decontamination and decommissioning work more effectively and greener
chrispeng [ad_1]
East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), after holding a one-year RFID pilot project-adopts a set of RFID solutions to manage and track materials, as ETTP’s largest decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) measure, Bechtel Jacobs is now expanding The scope of use of this technology. This program-known as the “Fully Automated Electronic Shipment System”-is used to improve the efficiency of transportation operations within the organization.
Bechtel Jacobs is responsible for the cleaning of ETTP. The decommissioning and decontamination of K-25 comprehensive buildings, various auxiliary and supporting buildings are the main content of the contract. The K-25 project alone is expected to generate more than 300,000 cubic yards of packaging, transportation and one-time waste (over 30,000 shipping)
The solution combines GlobeRanger’s iMotion platform with passive EPC Gen 2 RFID tags and readers.
The cleaning activities of the Oak Ridge Reservation of the U.S. Department of Energy solved the environmental problems left over by the Manhattan Project and nuclear energy research. These activities include environmental remediation, decontamination and decommissioning of radioactively contaminated sites, and disposal of radioactive waste. The process of transporting and handling contaminated and hazardous materials needs to comply with multiple types of transportation, health and safety, radiation, security, classification, and nuclear material control and liability requirements. During the D&D process, garbage transportation requires garbage, transportation trucks, and inspection result information. Once the garbage is sent to the disposal site, other information must be obtained to record the reception and disposal of the garbage. According to D. Dean Newton, director of information technology at Turnkey Transportation, the latter is responsible for managing Bechtel Jacobs’ RFID project.
U.S. speeds up decontamination and decommissioning at East Tennessee Technology Park
Bechtel Jacobs transports approximately 3.5 million pounds of construction debris to the disposal site every day. This month, Newton stated that based on current D&D efforts, the system tracks 136 shipments per day. The system eliminates the paperwork required for each shipment, while improving operational efficiency, and establishes the best operating mode for the Department of Energy’s environmentally sustainable projects.
“We have seen that each truck saves more than 25 minutes of delivery time and also reduces manual data input errors,” Newton said. Fully automated on-site observation and weighing operations ensure stable data quality.
Bechtel Jacobs decided to use Alien Technology’s EPC Gen 2 passive RFID tags (including Higgs 3 RFID chips), Alien fixed readers and Motorola 9090G RFID handhelds.
When a truck is used for the first time, its identity data and tare weight are written into the vehicle’s RFID tag. After the truck is loaded, the on-site transportation expert uses a Motorola handheld to select specific transportation information, based on the task arrangement and the type of goods carried. When the expert completes the visual inspection, the project transportation data is encrypted and written into the RFID tag of the vehicle. This process-which originally required three types of transport documents and a total of 8 sheets-now requires only one reusable passive RFID tag. A portable RFID sensor kit-a 6.5-foot high tower with Alien fixed readers-reads the tags of each vehicle entering the aisle. The truck is weighed, the system automatically records the gross and net weights, and adds the information to Bechtel Jacobs’ waste management system (WTMS).
Currently, Bechtel Jacobs has adopted 8 sets of portable RFID sensors. Each set contains two Alien 9900 readers, 8 Alien circular polarized antennas, a network switch, an internal temperature control, an inverter/current management system, a 48-hour backup battery, a vehicle detector, and external solar energy Panel solar controller, external low-voltage signal lighting, remote diagnosis and reporting functions, and internal and external temperature, temperature, vibration and interference sensors.
Managers observe the movement of the vehicle through a set of interactive dashboards. The truck moves quickly through the system, and only needs to stop once for weighing, so that the vehicle can go to the processing site without interruption. When the truck arrives at the processing site, the processing site unit operator reads the RFID tag, writes processing data in the tag, and identifies and monitors the processing activities of the unit.
“Our goal is to enable the processing yard to receive and process 240 shipments per day, adapt to the increasingly frequent D&D activities, and support the US Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act Act,” Newton explained, “With this system, we can achieve this goal. Eliminates time-consuming manual processes, allowing us to focus more on the health and safety of our employees”
According to Newton, a single tag of a vehicle is written about 6-8 times a day, while the number of reads is 40-50 times.
All collected data is sent to GlobeRanger software and placed on a Bechtel Jacobs back-end server. This system provides two sets of management dashboard options. A set of trucks are displayed in the system, and an alarm will be displayed when specific conditions are met; according to the on-site information collected by portable sensors, symbols are used to indicate the location of each truck.The other dashboard is used by the processing yard to display the estimated arrival time of all vehicles, similar to an advance delivery notice, allowing the processing yard management staff to prepare in advance the processing tasks of various arriving vehicles based on the resources on hand
This system eliminates manual paperwork in the waste transportation process, reduces truck idle time, and supports Bechtel Jacobs’ sustainable development goals, Newton said. In the past 12 months, he claimed that the RFID system has reduced fuel usage by 350,000 pounds. The paperless process avoids about 100 pounds of air pollution and 2 tons of paper, Newton says, saving 40 trees, 12,500 gallons of water and 7,500 kilowatts of electricity.
[ad_2]
