Reclamation operations

Verma DK, Shaw DS, McLean JD. 1992. An evaluation of airborne concentrations of selected hydrocarbons at an oil refinery land reclamation operation. Ann Occup Hyg 36(3) 307-315. 

Norris, P. J. (1998). Water reclamation operations in a zero effluent mill. TAPPI Proc.— Environmental Conf. Exhibit Proc. 1998 TAPPI Int. Environmental Conf. Exhibition, Part 3, April 5-8 1998, Vancouver, Canada, 3, 1045-1050, TAPPI Press, Norcross, GA. 

Reclamation operations are complex and extensive. The time sequence for reclamation activities in surface coal mining is summarized as follows ... 

Erosion is controlled by grading to create terraces and diversions that decrease slope lengths and direct runoff water to safe outlets. During backfilling, the permeability of the fill can be controlled to achieve the desired degree of water percolation. The requirements for backfill and grading in reclamation operations should be considered in the selection of mining method. 

Liquid and solid wastes generated by crude oil and tank bottom reclaimers (Note Although non-E P wastes generated from crude oil and tank bottom reclamation operations (e.g., waste equipment cleaning solvent) are non-exempt, residuals derived from exempt wastes (e.g., produced water separated from tank bottoms) are exempt.)... 

Organic matter released or stirred up during dredging and reclamation operations will reduce the levels of dissolved oxygen in a water body as a result of aerobic oxidation. Because of its importance to all life forms, a shortage of oxygen may have serious implications for the natural environment. 

Hydraulic transport through floating pipelines is the most common method of transport in reclamation operations. Part of the floating pipeline may be a sinker line to reduce hindrance to other shipping, to limit the pumping distance and to mitigate the effects of swell, waves and currents. 

Usually the Contractor selects or proposes the most cost-effective and suitable construction method to realise the fill mass properties according to the performance requirements and within the boundary conditions. It is essential, however, that the designer of a hydraulic fill also has a thorough understanding of the possibilities and limitations of the various construction methods including dredging and reclamation operations and soil improvement techniques. 

Sedimentation equipment can be divided into batch-operated settling tanks and continuously operated thickeners or clarifiers. The operation of the former is simple. Whereas use has diminished, these are employed when small quantities of Hquids are to be treated, for example in the cleaning and reclamation of lubricating oil (see Recycling, oil). Most sedimentation processes are operated in continuous units. 

Health and safety factors in in situ operations are associated with high temperature, high pressure steam, or high pressure air. Environmental considerations relate to air and water quaUty and surface reclamation. In some environmentally sensitive areas such as the oil sands deposits in Utah, environmental considerations may make development unfeasible. 

The rig selection will dictate the basic layout of the pad. Based on the necessary area needed to support its functions, ancillary equipment may be added in space conservative measures. In addition to the placement of various stationary rig site components, other operations such as logging, trucking and subsequent completion operations must be provided for. The most environmentally sensitive design will impact the least amount of area, and in that it will be the most economic. Potential pad sites and access routes should be laid out on a topographic map prior to the actual survey. At this time, construction costs can be estimated and compared. Figure 4484 shows such a layout. The cost of building a location includes the cost of reclamation such as any remediation. 

Plutonium Scrap Processing. In addition to recovering plutonium from irradiated reactor fuel, a Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF)( 7,8) is operated at the Hanford site to recover, separate, and purTfy kilogram amounts of plutonium from a wide range of unirradiated scrap materials. A 20 percent TBP-CC1 k solution is used to extract Pu(IV) from HN03-HF-A1(N03)3 solutions of dissolved scrap. 

Table 5 Membrane specifications and operation conditions for UF stage in WWTP hybrid process for industrial reuse water reclamation...

At some plants the blast furnace dust is recycled as feedstock to the sinter plant. At plants without sintering operations, blast furnace dust is sometimes mixed with other byproduct residues, briquetted, and recycled back to the blast furnace. In other plants, the dust is landfilled or stockpiled.1 Several techniques are available for removing the zinc and lead. The majority of blast furnace sludge is land disposed as solid waste or stockpiled. Because of the similarity between wastewater sludges generated by sinter plants and blast furnaces, these streams are commingled and cotreated.1 The blast furnace slag is cooled and processed to be reused for various applications such as onsite in-land reclamation and landfill construction. 

Precious Metals Recovery Metal recovery units engaged in precious metals recovery are also conditionally exempt from Part 266, Subpart H. Precious metal recovery is defined as the reclamation of economically significant amounts of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, or any combination of these metals. Provided the owner/operator complies with the alternative requirements, the unit would be exempt from all BIF requirements except for the regulations concerning the management of residues. 

Lakeside Reclamation Landfill, Beaverton, OR Construction debris Operational 1990... 

This sample is included because it is an interesting departure from the odorous emissions more commonly associated with water reclamation works. Aqueous dairy waste sampled at this time and subsequently analysed by the same techniques demonstrated that none ol the listed osmogenes were present. The odorous emission was thus a function of the filtration unit and its mode of operation rather than directly originating from the effluent being treated. The key osmogenes are believed to be -... 

Much of the resin reclamation and reprocessing technology comes from overseas, as the Europeans and Japanese have been involved in recycling for a longer period of time. There are other reclamation processes for different resins, which have been developed by or licensed to private companies, but because these are usually proprietary the details of their operations are not known. 

Genpak, a plastic products manufacturer, and Mobil are in the process of opening and operating one of the first plants to recycle polystyrene foam items such as food containers, cups, and cutlery. The materials are being collected from Massachusetts schools and institutions by New England CRInc, a major reclamation firm and recycled materials end-use manufacturer. The plant has a capacity to recycle 3 million lb per year of polystyrene resin, which will be reused by the companies or sold to producers of insulation, fence posts, and flower pots. The new company is expecting a profit by 1992. 

The MRU technology is not applicable to heavy-metal-contaminated soils nor to radioactive waste contamination. The one exception to heavy-metals remediation is mercury. The vaporization temperature for mercury is well within the operating range of the MRU, and because of closed chamber construction, it is ideally suited for the removal and reclamation of mercury from contaminated soil. 

Although the challenges and methodologies are essentially the same in both cases, the term reclamation is typically applied to applications concerning spoil heaps formed by deep mining operations, whereas restoration is the preferred... 

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