Chemical plant operations, waste

Waste Reduction for Chemical Plant Operations Qualitative Methods. 

Chemical processing activities involve the recovery of plutonium from Rocky Flats Plant scrap, waste materials and residues, and effluent streams. The final product of this recovery and purification effort is high-purity plutonium metal for use in foundry operations. 

Hinchley (1975) discusses the design and operation of waste heat boilers for chemical plant. Both fire tube and water tube boilers are used. A typical arrangement of a water tube boiler on a reformer furnace is shown in Figure 3.12 and a fire tube boiler in Figure 3.13. The application of a waste-heat boiler to recover energy from the reactor exit streams in a nitric acid plant is shown in Figure 3.14. 

Chemical plants are a series of operations that take raw materials and convert them into desired products, salable by-products, and unwanted wastes. Fats and oils obtained from animals and plants are hydrolyzed (reacted with water) and then reacted with soda ash or sodium hydroxide to make soaps and glycerine. Bromine and iodine are recovered from sea water and salt brines. Nitrogen and hydrogen are reacted together under pressure in the presence of a catalyst to produce ammonia, the basic ingredient used in the production of synthetic fertilizers. 

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