STABILIZATION OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

MENT, WHICH IS THE STABILIZATION OF SLUDGES HOLDING ORGANIC POLLUTANTS. SUCH SLUDGES REQUIRE STABILIZATION FOR COMPLI- ANCE TO REGULATORY GUIDELINES FOR FINAL DISPOSAL IN A SECURELANDFILL. FOR THIS PURPOSE, PRESENT TECHNOLOGY IS NOT SUIT-ABLE BECAUSE HYDRAULIC FIXATIVES COMMONLY EMPLOYED FOR TOXICWASTES STABILIZATION ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH ORGANIC POLLUTANTS. IT IS PREFERABLE TO ELIMINATE SLUDGES HOLDING ORGANIC POLLU-TANTS ARE NOT COST-EFFECTIVE CANDIDATES FOR COMBUSTION. ANDHALOGENATED AND METALED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE TECHNICALLY DIFFICULT TO COMBUST AND MAY YIELD TOXIC RESIDUES. IN THIS INVESTIGATION, THE FOLLOWING APPROACH TO STABILIZA- TION OF SLUDGES CONTAINING ORGANIC POLLUTANTS WILL OCCUR. FIRST, THE SLUDGE WILL BE SOLIDIFIED AND FORMED INTO PARTI- CLES. NEXT, THE RESULTING PARTICLES WILL BE EMBEDDED IN THERMOSETTING POLYBUTADIENE RESIN YIELDING AGGLOMERATES, AN AND FINALLY THE AGGLOMERATES WILL BE ENCAPSULATED IN HIGH- DENSITY POLYETHLYLENE. THE PROCESS YIELDS MODULES OF WASTESEACH 48-GALLONS IN VOLUME, CONSISTING OF A CORE OF AGGLOMER-ATED CONTAMINANTS IN HIGH CONCENTRATION, ENCAPSULATED BY 1/4INC POLYETHYLENE RESIN. MODULES FABRICATE READILY AND COST-EFFECTIVELY. THE BENEFITS ARE THAT CONTAMINANTS ARE REN- DERED SAFELY MANAGEABLE BY CONVENTIONAL BULK PRODUCT MANAGE-MENT TECHNIQUES, COMPACTED FOR COST-EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT AND FINAL DISPOSAL, STABILIZED TO WITHSTAND DELOCALIZATION STRESSES IN A LANDFILL AND READILY RETRIEVABLE IF THAT OPTION BECAME NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE. A LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN PHASE I TOSHOW FEASIBILITY OF THE TECHNICAL APPROACH TO MANAGE ORGANICPOLLUTANTS. WITH SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION ON A BENCH-SCALE A PILOT PLANT STUDY WILL BE PROPOSED IN PHASE II TO OBTAIN OBTAIN DATA FOR PRODUCING FULL-SIZE MODULES HOLDING ORGANIC POLLUTANTS. IN THIS RESPECT, A PROTOTYPE APPARATUS FABRI- CATED UNDER DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) SPONSORSHIP FOR MAN- AGING LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES IS EMPLOYABLE, AND IT WOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE BY DOE FOR PILOT PLANT STUDIES OF ORGANIC PLLUTANTS MANAGEMENT. THE INVESTIGATORS' PROCESS IS SIGNIFICANT IN VIEW OF FORTH- COMING FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS RECOMMENDING ORGANIC WASTE STABILIZATION AND SOLIDIFICATION FOR FINAL DISPOSAL INTHE EARTH. ORGANIC WASTE SLUDGES THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED MUST BE STABILIZED EFFECTIVELY PRIOR TO THEIR DISPOSAL. WITHCOMPLETION OF PHASE I AND PHASE II, THE PROCESS WILL STABIL-IZE SLUDGES AND OTHER INTRACTABLE TOXIC WASTES. ONE OF ITS IMPORTANT FEATURES IS MANAGEMENT OF MANY WASTE TYPES WITHOUTNEED FOR PROCESS ADJUSTMENTS. THE PROCESS WILL SECURE RESIDUES FORM OPERATIONS SUCH AS INCINERATION, TOXIC WASTE CONCENTRATION, AND CONTAMINANT ISOLATION AS WELL AS MANAGE- MENT OF SLUDGES HOLDING ORGANIC POLLUTANTS.