Technology Name: Blade Plunging Cutter

Demonstration Name:Glovebox mockup | Demonstrated on: 9/1/2001
Demonstration Site: Applied Research Center (formerly HCET)

Demo Objective

To establish whether the Mega-Tech Blade Plunging Cutter,BPC-4, could safely and effectively remove legs and appurtenances of different materials and sizes from a glovebox mock-up and to compare the performance and cost to the baseline technology. Reduced generation of airborne secondary waste relative to the baseline technology Increased cutting rate relative to the baseline Reduced worker health risks associated with dismantlement tasks.

Demo Results

The Mega-Tech Blade Plunging Cutter, BPC-4, successfully cut all the glovebox legs (pipe and Unistrut) with an average cutting rate of 70 seconds for pipe legs and 18 seconds for Unistrut. The Tiger Saw required 29 seconds to cut the Unistrut and 117 seconds for the pipe legs. • Minimal airborne contamination was noted during the BPC-4 demonstration, but there was airborne emission from the reciprocating saw near the end of blade life. • The BPC-4 was judged to reduce health and safety hazards to the technicians performing the cutting. IUOE health and safety personnel indicated a slight advantage to the ergonomic factors for BPC-4 A cost estimate was developed for comparison of the BPC-4 and the baseline assuming full year operation in the LANL DVRS process at a two gloveboxes per week production rate. The Mega-Tech, BPC-4, provides a slight overall cost advantage with compared to the baseline technology on an annual basis using the DVRS production rate as shown below.

Pictures

	Variable speed Tiger saw.
	Variable speed Tiger saw.

Videos