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BackgroundThe research of low temperature detergent is of great significance for the operating and decommissioning of nuclear facilities at low temperature environment.PurposeThis study aims to explore the fluid characteristics and decontamination characteristics of polyvinyl butyral detergent at low temperature.MethodsThe low temperature detergent was prepared by using polyvinyl butyral as solute, ethanol and ethyl acetate as solvent and citric acid as decontamination additives. The viscosity, fluidity, sprayability and wettability of the detergent on the surface of different materials were measured in experiment. Four simulated U(VI) contaminated plate samples were prepared by the dyeing of the uranyl nitrate solution on the base of glass, stainless steel, ceramic tile and alkyd paint, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to characterize the decontamination films on the surface of these four samples, and study the decontamination mechanism. Finally, the decontamination characteristics of the detergent for the simulated U(VI) pollution on surface of different materials were studied at low temperature, and the effects of temperature, detergent dosage and surface roughness on decontamination rate were discussed.ResultsExperimental results show that the decontamination rates of the detergent for the simulated U(VI) pollution on the surface of glass, stainless steel, ceramic tile and alkyd paint board are above 97.3%, 93.6%, 95.5% and 88.9%, respectively, in the temperature range of -15~10 ℃, that the temperature and the detergent dosage have little effect on the decontamination rate and that the decontamination film formed by the detergent have good strippability.ConclusionsThe detergent has a good application potential at the decontamination of radioactive pollution in low temperature environment.