Solid waste from laboratories

The AEC employed several methods for handling and disposing of low- and intermediate-level liquid and solid wastes in its own operations. It packaged solid materials within concrete fifty-five-gallon drums or in concrete boxes. It buried most of the containers at its installations at Oak Ridge, Hanford, Los Alamos, Arco, or Savannah River it also dumped solid wastes from Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of California Radiation Laboratories in the ocean. By 1960 the agency had disposed of about twenty-three thousand drums at sites off the Atlantic coast and about twenty-four thousand drums and concrete boxes... 

Wash effluents from nitration installation can cause problems due to the high nitrophenol concentrations, their high toxicity to sewage bacteric and their general resistance to biodegradation. Electrochemical pretreatment tests in the laboratory showed a reduction in toxicity, and improvement of the color smell, etc. The electrochemical pretreatment is also attractive because of the absence of solid waste coproducts and its ease of operational control, [135]. 

The main objectives of this chapter are to (1) review the different modeling techniques used for sorption/desorption processes of organic pollutants with various solid phases, (2) discuss the kinetics of such processes with some insight into the interpretation of kinetic data, (3) describe the different sorption/ desorption experimental techniques, with estimates of the transport parameters from the data of laboratory tests, (4) discuss a recently reported issue regarding slow sorption/desorption behavior of organic pollutants, and finally (5) present a case study about the environmental impact of solid waste materials/complex... 

Brookhaven National Laboratory s (BNL s) biochemical recovery of radionuclides and heavy metals is a patented biochemical recovery process for the removal of metals and radionuclides from contaminated minerals, soil, and waste sites. In this process, citric acid, a naturally occurring organic complexing agent, is used to extract metals and radionuclides from solid wastes by the formation of water-soluble, metal-citrate complexes. The complex-rich extract is then subjected to microbiological biodegradation that removes most of the extracted heavy metals. 

Our method for measuring leach rates is thought superior to other methods currently in use. Meaningful leach rate data can be obtained using relatively simple laboratory scale equipment coupled with standard NAA techniques. More detailed information can be procured by applying radiochemical separations and more sophisticated counting methods. The experimental technique described here is applicable to the measurement of leach rates for the elements of interest, from any solid waste form, in any potential storage environment. 

It was observed that EDAR index values and intervals (Tables 2 and 4) did not change markedly with the deletion of two toxicity tests. Results of applying the EDAR index to waste samples indicate that values and ranks relate to the solubility of toxicants in aqueous phases. Based on this evaluation, wastes from photographic and X-Ray laboratories were observed to be extremely hazardous in contrast to hydrocarbon-containing waste leachates, described as either slightly hazardous or hazardous. The existence of sub-levels for an equivalent hazard description allows for better sample discrimination (e.g., Pharmaceutical solid waste leachate versus liquid waste with pesticides in Table 5). 

Three bioassays a) 48h and 96h acute crustacean test (Daphnia pulex) b) 96h acute fish test (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Oncorhynchus nerka) c) residual oxygen fish test (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Oncorhynchus nerka) Municipal solid waste (MSW) leachates originating from a) Landfills b) Laboratory lysimeters (downward) c) Field lysimeters (downward) Unspecified pretreatment... 

There is no current commercial biologic process for the production of succinic acid. In past laboratory systems, when succinic acid has been produced by fermentation, lime is added to the fermentation medium to neutralize the acid, yielding calcium succinate (2). The calcium succinate salt then precipitates out of the solution. Subsequently, sulfuric acid is added to the salt to produce the free soluble succinic acid and solid calcium sulfate (gypsum). The acid is then purified with several washings over a sorbent to remove impurities. The disposal of the solid waste is both a directly economic and an environmental concern, as is the cost of the raw materials. Some key process-related problems have been identified as follows (1) the separation of dilute product streams and the related costs of recovery, (2) the elimination of the salt waste from the current purification process, and (3) the reduction of inhibition to the product succinic acid on the fermentation itself. Acetic acid is also a byproduct of the fermentation of glucose by Anaerobiospirillium succiniciproducens almost 1 mol of acetate will be produced for every 2 mol of succinate (3). Under certain cultivation conditions by a mutant Escherichia coli, lesser amounts of acetate can be produced (4,5). This byproduct will also need to be separated. 

Control of Outputs. The objective is to control risks to people outside from activities within the laboratory or products and services generated by the laboratory. For example, the quality of analytical tests or synthesised products, control of the emissions of gases and liquids and the disposal of solid wastes. 

Li et al. [16] also stndied the influence of pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis products derived from solid waste in a rotary kiln reactor. They used an externally heated laboratory-scale rotary kiln pyrolyser (Figure 19.8). The length of the rotary kiln was 0.45 m with an internal diameter of 0.205 m. Kiln rotation speed can be adjusted from 0.5 to 10 rpm. The raw materials used in this study were polyethylene (PE), wood and waste tyres. The results obtained by Li et al. [16] reiterated that as the reaction temperature profile changes so does the product yield (Figure 19.9). 

Solid wastes containing long-lived a emitters and other actinides), including wastes from handling these radionuclides in the laboratory, require application of special procedures, such as wet oxidation by a mixture of H2SO4 and HNO3 followed by solvent extraction and isolation of the a emitters. 

Cleaning Up In the not-too-distant past it was common practice to wash all unwanted liquids from the organic laboratory down the drain and to place all solid waste in the trash basket. Never a wise practice, for environmental reasons this is no longer allowed by law. 

Before a chemical manufacturer in the United States can scale up production of Grignard reagents from the laboratory to the plant, appropriate federal, state, and local air, wastewater, and solid waste permits must be obtained, or existing permits modified. Required approval periods will vary depending on the jurisdiction. 

Hathaway, S, A, Recovery of Energy from Solid Waste at Army Installations, U.S. Amy Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, IL, Technical Manuscript E-118 (August 1977). 

Most of the effort at China Lake was directed toward demonstrating, at the bench scale, that polymer gasoline could indeed be made noncatalytically from the olefins formed by the selective pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW). Funding for the bench-scale demonstration was provided by the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory (IERL) of the Environmental Protection Agency, beginning in 1975 (EPA-IAG-D6-0781). 

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been burying solid wastes on site for many years. Trenches 10 X 200 X 15 feet deep, are dug. Packaged trash and equipment, can be transferred into the trenches from the backs of trucks, by a crane. The trenches are then backfilled with 3 to 4 feet of earth. Occasionally, auger holes 1 foot in diameter and 15 feet deep are dug, for the disposal of especially radioactive pieces of equipment. The use of an auger hole reduces the back-scatter of radiation to the bulldozer operator. The area is gridded and recorded, and this procedure is followed both for permanent marker purposes and for the occasional recovery of valuable equipment after burial. 

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