Incineration disposal

INCINERATION. Disposal of solid and liquid organic waste materials by burning at temperatures 1200 to ISOCC. This method is approved by the EPA for use on very toxic organic chemicals and chemical wastes. Use of specially equipped incinerator ships for burning chemical wastes at sea has become common place. 

The need to design inherently safer plants has been expanded to encompass designing evironmentally acceptable plants. Environmentally acceptable plants generate minimum quantities of potentially hazardous wastes either as potential emissions to the environment or as materials requiring disposal. Wastes are recycled and reused where possible. If this is not possible, they may be treated to reduce or eliminate the hazard or destroyed through incineration. Disposal in a secure landfill is the final option. 

The following information from the RCRA permit for the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF) is based on 40 CFR 264.343(c) and is typical of the permits for other baseline incinerator disposal facility sites. The phases apply to each incinerator at each site, except as noted in the discussion below. 

The disposal of contaminated activated carbon in the JACADS facility used a micronization process followed by incineration. Communications from technical managers involved with this process stated that the micronization and incineration disposal process presented many technical challenges and required a significantly longer investment of time and effort to complete than anticipated.18 No alternative to on-site micronization has been identified, but one is likely to be needed at both TOCDF and UMCDF. 

In this domain of non-proliferation and disarmament, as in many others, the majority of available information originates in the United States. Chemical weapons destruction programmes in other countries will be addressed but with less depth and fewer examples. Although much of the US controversy revolves around issues of the risk associated with incineration versus non-incineration disposal technologies, my intention in this chapter is not to make a new technical assessment of the two. I shall address how technical and scientific assessments regarding chemical weapons disposal have been communicated, viewed and utilized by the pubhc. 

The disposal of municipal and industrial wastes has become an important problem because the traditional means of disposal, landfill, has become environmentally much less acceptable than previously. In addition, special incinerator systems are required to meet environmental standards for disposal by incineration. Disposal of wastes by landfill or incineration also includes a potential loss of energy sources and, in some cases, valuable mineral resources. New, much stricter regulation of these disposal methods will make the economics of waste processing for resource recovery much more favorable. 

Spent activated carbon was shipped offsite for treatment, recovery, and/or disposal from the ABCDF after closure. All wastes generated during closure of the ABCDF were disposed of at appropriate permitted facilities. The currently operating baseline incineration disposal facilities all ship selected wastes, including brine solutions, metal that has been tested to the established waste clearance level, and spent activated carbon, to permitted offsite facilities. 

DISPOSAL AND STORAGE METHODS absorb liquid in sand or inert absorbent, and place in a secured, sanitary landfill should be handled as a hazardous waste and sent to a RCRA approved incinerator dispose of container and unused contents in accordance with federal, state and local regulations store in a cool, dry location use only with adequate ventilation outside storage is preferred keep containers closed containers should be bonded and grounded for transfers to avoid static sparks separate from strong oxidants, strong bases, strong acids, and nitrates keep away from any area where the fire hazard may be acute. 

Nevertheless, most disposal companies are moving toward incineration disposal, particularly for the kinds of hazardous waste generated by laboratories. Their typical variety of different wastes, usually in small quantities, makes incineration a favorable option. Laboratory waste can often be incinerated in its shipping Lab Packs without any further handling. Commingled flammable solvents are commonly blended with the incinerator fuel and thus destroyed as they provide energy for the burning process. 

Disposal is most difficult for the very small amount of chemical-biological waste that is EPA-regulated as chemically hazardous or contains a chemical, such as lead, that is inappropriate for an animal or medical waste incinerator. Disposal of tissue specimens preserved in ethanol or another flammable solvent is also difficult. In most cases, storage of this waste is limited to 90 days and must be managed at an EPA-permitted chemical waste facility. However, few chemical waste facilities are prepared to handle waste that is putrescible, infectious, or biohazardous. 

The preferred method of disposal of ethylene oxide is incineration. Disposal of ethylene oxide by neutralizing, scrubbing, incineration or by other means, may be subject to permitting by federal, state or provincial regulations. Persons involved with disposal of ethylene oxide should check with the environmental authorities having jurisdiction to determine the applicability of permitting regulations to disposal activities. 

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