Additives from Wastes

As stated earlier, in general data on emissions of additives from waste processes are scarce. 

Figure 10.7 shows the basic tradeoff to be considered as additional feed and product materials are recovered from waste streams and recycled. As the fractional recovery increases, the cost of the separation and recycle increases. On the dther hand, the cost of the lost materials decreases. It should be noted that the raw materials cost is a net cost, which means that the cost of lost materials should be adjusted to either... 

Olefins are produced primarily by thermal cracking of a hydrocarbon feedstock which takes place at low residence time in the presence of steam in the tubes of a furnace. In the United States, natural gas Hquids derived from natural gas processing, primarily ethane [74-84-0] and propane [74-98-6] have been the dominant feedstock for olefins plants, accounting for about 50 to 70% of ethylene production. Most of the remainder has been based on cracking naphtha or gas oil hydrocarbon streams which are derived from cmde oil. Naphtha is a hydrocarbon fraction boiling between 40 and 170°C, whereas the gas oil fraction bods between about 310 and 490°C. These feedstocks, which have been used primarily by producers with refinery affiliations, account for most of the remainder of olefins production. In addition a substantial amount of propylene and a small amount of ethylene ate recovered from waste gases produced in petroleum refineries. 

Some beehive ovens, having various improvements and additions of waste heat boilers, thereby allowing heat recovery from the combustion products, may stiU be in operation. Generally, however, the beehive oven has been replaced by waH-heated, horizontal chamber, ie, slot, ovens in which higher temperatures can be achieved as well as a better control over the quality of the coke. Modem slot-type coke ovens are approximately 15 m long, approximately 6 m high, and the width is chosen to suit the carbonization behavior of the coal to be processed. For example, the most common widths are ca 0.5 m, but some ovens may be as narrow as 0.3 m, or as wide as 0.6 m. 

A considerable quantity of oil can be extracted from waste material from shelling and processing plants, eg, the inedible kernels rejected during shelling and fragments of kernels recovered from shells. About 300 t of pecan oil and 300—600 t of English walnut oil are produced aimuaHy from such sources. The oil is refined and used for edible purposes or for the production of soap the cake is used in animal feeds (see Feeds and feed additives). Fmit-pit oils, which closely resemble and are often substituted for almond oil, are produced on a large scale for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes (143). For instance, leaves, bark, and pericarp of walnut may be used to manufacture vitamin C, medicines, dyes and tannin materials (144). 

Clinker production requires large quantities of fuel. In the United States, coal (qv) and natural gas are the most widely used kiln fuels but fuels derived from waste materials, eg, tires, solvents, etc, are increasing in importance (53) (see Fuels fromwaste Gas,natural). In addition to the kiln fuel, electrical energy is required to power the equipment. This energy, however, amounts to only about one-ninth that of the kiln fuel. The cement industry carefully considers all measures that can reduce fuel demand. 

The ductility of GRT-polyethylene blends drastically decreases at ground rubber concentration in excess of 5%. The inclusion of hnely ground nitrile rubber from waste printing rollers into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) caused an increase in the impact properties of the thermoplastic matrix [76]. Addition of rubber powder that is physically modihed by ultrasonic treatment leads to PP-waste ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) powder blends with improved morphology and mechanical properties [77]. 

It has been shown, however, that such catalysts may contain protons, either by design or because of the difficulty in removing all traces of moisture, and these protons have been shown to be superacidic with Hammett acidities up to —18. These protons will also play some role in the catalytic activity of these ionic liquids in practical situations. Ionic liquids in which superacidic protons have deliberately been generated by addition of small amounts of water, HCl or H2SO4 have been used to catalytically crack polyethene under relatively mild conditions. The main products are mixed C3-C5 alkanes, which would be a useful feedstock from waste polyethene recycling. In contrast to other cracking procedures no aromatics or alkenes are produced, although small amounts of polycyclic compounds are obtained. 

Cold-pressed essential oils from the peel are some of the most important by-products recovered during the processing of Citrus fruits. The presence of limonene in the aqueous discharges, with its antimicrobial activity [1], decreases the effectiveness of the waste treatment system and increases the time necessary for the biological breakdown of the organic matter produced in the peel oil recovery system [2,3]. Additional recovery of essential oils from waste water would increase industry s returns and reduce the pollution problems associated with the disposal of waste water [4,5]. Several methods for reducing the levels of residual essential oils in the aqueous effluent have been developed over the years [6-11]. 

A. A. Shatov, N. Kh. Karimov, M. R. Mavlyutov, F. A. Agzamov, A. V. Voronin, and I. D. Maltseva. Plugging solution for cementing oil and gas wells—contains Portland cement, waste from production of calcined soda, water and additionally slag waste from metallurgical industry. Patent RU 2059791-C, 1996. 

Worldwide, most waste is landfilled. Emissions from landfill occur via evaporation and leaching. Landfill sites can be managed to reduce those emissions, but in many cases they are not. Data on leaching and evaporation of additives from landfill sites are scarce. 

A second recommendation is to complete LCI databases with data on additives. Both production data of additives and emission data of additives from compound materials in the use and waste phase are missing and should be supplemented. An important role in this data remediation process should be played by industry. 

The main aims of this chapter are to provide estimates for the amounts of pollutants emitted from processed electronic waste (e-waste) and assess the magnitudes of human exposure to these pollutants. Specifically in this chapter, e-waste is defined as the sum of discarded personal computers, electronic/electrical equipment, electronic entertainment devices, cell phones, television sets, and refrigerators. In another word, e-waste explicitly refers to electronics at their end of life cycle and disposed by end users rather than surplus electronics (brand new products). In addition, e-waste also does not include reusable (e.g., repairable electronics or second hand electronics) and secondary scraps (e.g., noble metals, plastics, and rubbers). 

As a result of human health concerns, production of mirex ceased in 1976, at which time industrial releases of this chemical to surface waters were also curtailed. However, releases from waste disposal sites continue to add mirex to the environment. Virtually all industrial releases of mirex were to surface waters, principally Lake Ontario via contamination of the Niagara and Oswego Rivers. About 75% of the mirex produced was used as a fire retardant additive, while 25% was used as a pesticide. As a pesticide, mirex was widely dispersed throughout the southern United States where it was used in the fire ant eradication program for over 10 years. 

There are five specific listed hazardous wastes (K list) generated in refineries, K048 to K052. Additional listed wastes, those from nonspecific sources (F list) and those from the commercial chemical product lists (P and U), may also be generated at refineries. Because of the mixture and derived-from rules, special care must be taken to ensure that hazardous wastes do not contaminate nonhazardous waste. Under the mixture rule, adding one drop of hazardous waste in a container of nonhazardous materials makes the entire container contents a hazardous waste. 

Environmental applications of HRP include immunoassays for pesticide detection and the development of methods for waste water treatment and detoxification. Examples of the latter include removal of aromatic amines and phenols from waste water (280-282), and phenols from coal-conversion waters (283). A method for the removal of chlorinated phenols from waste water using immobilised HRP has been reported (284). Additives such as polyethylene glycol can increase the efficiency of peroxidase-catalyzed polymerization and precipitation of substituted phenols and amines in waste or drinking water (285). The enzyme can also be used in biobleaching reactions, for example, in the decolorization of bleach plant effluent (286). 

Following biological degradation, the extract is exposed to photochemical degradation, which removes uranium from solution as polyuranate. The metals and uranium are captured in separate treatment steps, allowing for the separation of wastes into radioactive and nonradioactive waste streams. This treatment process does not create additional hazardous wastes and allows for the reuse of the contaminated soil. The technology has been the subject of bench-scale tests and is not currently commercially available. 

Release rate data from actual radioactive waste forms is needed to evaluate the safety of emplacing nuclear wastes in geologic media. However, in addition to waste form development studies, such as the leach test just described, a comprehensive program was started to obtain release data from candidate waste forms for geologic disposal. 

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