Extended characterization of M-Area settling basin and vicinity. Technical data summary. Revision

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pickett, J B

1985-10-01

The Savannah River Plant M-Area settling basin, an unlined surface impoundment, has received process effluents from the M-Area fuel and target fabrication facilities since 1958. The waste effluents have contained metal degreasing agents (chlorinated hydrocarbons), acids, caustics, and heavy metals. Data analyses are provided.

Biohydrogen Production from Pineapple Waste: Effect of Substrate Concentration and Acid Pretreatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cahyari, K.; Putri, A. M.; Oktaviani, E. D.; Hidayat, M. A.; Norajsha, J. D.

2018-05-01

Biohydrogen is the ultimate choice of energy carrier in future due to its superior qualities such as fewer greenhouse gases emission, high energy density (142 kJ/gram), and high energy conversion using a fuel cell. Production of biohydrogen from organic waste e.g. pineapple waste offers a simultaneous solution for renewable energy production and waste management. It is estimated that pineapple cultivation in Indonesia generated more than 1 million ton/year comprising of rotten pineapple fruit, leaves, and stems. Majority of this waste is dumped into landfill area without any treatments which lead to many environmental problems. This research was meant to investigate the utilization of pineapple waste i.e. peel and the core of pineapple fruit and leaves to produce biohydrogen through mesophilic dark fermentation (30°C, 1 atm, pH 5.0). Effect of dilute acid treatment and substrate concentration was particularly investigated in these experiments. Peel and core of pineapple waste were subjected to fermentation at 3 various substrate concentration i.e. 8.8, 17.6 and 26.4-gram VS/liter. Meanwhile, pineapple leaves were pretreated using dilute acid (H2SO4) at 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 N and followed by dark fermentation. Results show that the highest yield of biohydrogen was obtained at a substrate concentration of 26.4-gram VS/liter both for peel and core of the waste. Pretreatment using dilute acid (H2SO4) 0.3 N might improve fermentation process with a higher yield at 0.8 ml/gram VS. Hydrogen percentage in biogas produced during fermentation process was in the range between 5 – 32% of volume ratio. In summary, it is possible to utilize pineapple waste for production of biohydrogen at an optimum substrate concentration of 26.4-gram VS/liter and acid pretreatment (H2SO4) of 0.3 N.

Detection of ocean waste in the New York Bight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Philpot, W.; Klemas, V.

1979-01-01

The application of remote sensing to detection and monitoring of ocean waste disposal in the New York Bight is discussed. Attention is focused on the two major pollutants in this area--sewage sludge and iron-acid waste--and on detecting and identifying these pollutants. The emphasis is on the use of LANDSAT multispectral data in identifying these pollutants and distinguishing them from other substances. The analysis technique applied to the LANDSAT data is the eigenvector. This approach proved to be quite successful in detecting iron-acid waste of the coast of Delaware and is applied here with relatively minor modifications. The results of the New York Bight work are compared to the Delaware results. Finally, other remote sensing systems (Nimbus G, aircraft photography and multispectral scanner systems) are discussed as possible complements of or replacements for the Landsat observations.

Control technology for integrated circuit fabrication at Honeywell Optoelectronics Division, Richardson, Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R. K.; Ungers, L. J.

1984-07-01

A walk through survey of the integrated circuit fabrication operation revealed that engineering controls consisted of general and local ventilation, and isolation enclosure of the epitaxy and gas cylinder storage areas. The gas storage room was maintained at a slight negative pressure and gas monitoring was conducted. Liquid wastes were segregated according to type. Acidic wastes were pumped to a drain that carried them to a waste treatment system where they were neutralized with sodium hydroxide. Organic wastes were placed in containers which were taken to an outdoor area behind the facility where they were emptied into drums for disposal. The facility had no routine industrial hygiene program. Smocks, gloves, and safety glasses were required in all fabrication areas. Respirators were available in case of emergency. Preplacement medical examinations were not administered. Quarterly urinalyses for arsenic (7440382) exposure were conducted on all employees performing sawing operations.

Activated carbon from leather shaving wastes and its application in removal of toxic materials.

PubMed

Kantarli, Ismail Cem; Yanik, Jale

2010-07-15

In this study, utilization of a solid waste as raw material for activated carbon production was investigated. For this purpose, activated carbons were produced from chromium and vegetable tanned leather shaving wastes by physical and chemical activation methods. A detailed analysis of the surface properties of the activated carbons including acidity, total surface area, extent of microporosity and mesoporosity was presented. The activated carbon produced from vegetable tanned leather shaving waste produced has a higher surface area and micropore volume than the activated carbon produced from chromium tanned leather shaving waste. The potential application of activated carbons obtained from vegetable tanned shavings as adsorbent for removal of water pollutants have been checked for phenol, methylene blue, and Cr(VI). Adsorption capacities of activated carbons were found to be comparable to that of activated carbons derived from biomass. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

TTP AL921102: An integrated geophysics program for non-intrusive characterization of mixed-waste landfill sites. FY 1992 year-end progress report: Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hasbrouck, J.C.

1992-11-01

Chem-Nuclear Geotech, Inc. (Geotech), operating contractor for the US Department of Energy Grand Junction Projects Office, is conducting the Integrated Geophysics Program for Non-Intrusive Characterization of Mixed-Waste Landfill Sites (Technical Task Plan [TTP] AL921102). The TTP is part of the Mixed-Waste Landfill Integrated Demonstration (MWLID). The objective of this task was to demonstrate that an integrated program of surface geophysics can be used to effectively and nonintrusively characterize n-mixed-waste landfill sites. To accomplish this objective, integrated field demonstrations were conducted over two previously identified areas of interest (designated Areas A and B) within the MWLID test site at the Chemicalmore » Waste Landfill (CWL), Technical Area 3, at the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Figures 1 and 2). Area A was centered roughly around the Chromic Acid and Organics Pits in the southeast-central portion of the landfill and Area B was centered around the ``60`s Pits`` area in the northeast-central portion of the landfill. Pit locations were known in Area A and suspected in Area B. This progress report describes the geophysical surveys conducted by Geotech and presents preliminary displays and analyses. Volume 2 of this report contains the raw data for all the surveys conducted by Geotech for this TTP.« less

TTP AL921102: An integrated geophysics program for non-intrusive characterization of mixed-waste landfill sites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hasbrouck, J.C.

1992-11-01

Chem-Nuclear Geotech, Inc. (Geotech), operating contractor for the US Department of Energy Grand Junction Projects Office, is conducting the Integrated Geophysics Program for Non-Intrusive Characterization of Mixed-Waste Landfill Sites (Technical Task Plan [TTP] AL921102). The TTP is part of the Mixed-Waste Landfill Integrated Demonstration (MWLID). The objective of this task was to demonstrate that an integrated program of surface geophysics can be used to effectively and nonintrusively characterize n-mixed-waste landfill sites. To accomplish this objective, integrated field demonstrations were conducted over two previously identified areas of interest (designated Areas A and B) within the MWLID test site at the Chemicalmore » Waste Landfill (CWL), Technical Area 3, at the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Figures 1 and 2). Area A was centered roughly around the Chromic Acid and Organics Pits in the southeast-central portion of the landfill and Area B was centered around the 60's Pits'' area in the northeast-central portion of the landfill. Pit locations were known in Area A and suspected in Area B. This progress report describes the geophysical surveys conducted by Geotech and presents preliminary displays and analyses. Volume 2 of this report contains the raw data for all the surveys conducted by Geotech for this TTP.« less

Monitoring Metal Pollution Levels in Mine Wastes around a Coal Mine Site Using GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanliyuksel Yucel, D.; Yucel, M. A.; Ileri, B.

2017-11-01

In this case study, metal pollution levels in mine wastes at a coal mine site in Etili coal mine (Can coal basin, NW Turkey) are evaluated using geographical information system (GIS) tools. Etili coal mine was operated since the 1980s as an open pit. Acid mine drainage is the main environmental problem around the coal mine. The main environmental contamination source is mine wastes stored around the mine site. Mine wastes were dumped over an extensive area along the riverbeds, and are now abandoned. Mine waste samples were homogenously taken at 10 locations within the sampling area of 102.33 ha. The paste pH and electrical conductivity values of mine wastes ranged from 2.87 to 4.17 and 432 to 2430 μS/cm, respectively. Maximum Al, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn and Ni concentrations of wastes were measured as 109300, 70600, 309.86, 115.2, 38 and 5.3 mg/kg, respectively. The Al, Fe and Pb concentrations of mine wastes are higher than world surface rock average values. The geochemical analysis results from the study area were presented in the form of maps. The GIS based environmental database will serve as a reference study for our future work.

Critical Protection Item classification for a waste processing facility at Savannah River Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ades, M.J.; Garrett, R.J.

1993-10-01

This paper describes the methodology for Critical Protection Item (CPI) classification and its application to the Structures, Systems and Components (SSC) of a waste processing facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The WSRC methodology for CPI classification includes the evaluation of the radiological and non-radiological consequences resulting from postulated accidents at the waste processing facility and comparison of these consequences with allowable limits. The types of accidents considered include explosions and fire in the facility and postulated accidents due to natural phenomena, including earthquakes, tornadoes, and high velocity straight winds. The radiological analysis results indicate that CPIs are notmore » required at the waste processing facility to mitigate the consequences of radiological release. The non-radiological analysis, however, shows that the Waste Storage Tank (WST) and the dike spill containment structures around the formic acid tanks in the cold chemical feed area and waste treatment area of the facility should be identified as CPIs. Accident mitigation options are provided and discussed.« less

Kinetic study of dry anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and cardboard for methane production.

PubMed

Capson-Tojo, Gabriel; Rouez, Maxime; Crest, Marion; Trably, Eric; Steyer, Jean-Philippe; Bernet, Nicolas; Delgenès, Jean-Philippe; Escudié, Renaud

2017-11-01

Dry anaerobic digestion is a promising option for food waste treatment and valorization. However, accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids often occurs, leading to inefficient processes and digestion failure. Co-digestion with cardboard may be a solution to overcome this problem. The effect of the initial substrate to inoculum ratio (0.25 to 1gVS·gVS -1 ) and the initial total solids contents (20-30%) on the kinetics and performance of dry food waste mono-digestion and co-digestion with cardboard was investigated in batch tests. All the conditions produced methane efficiently (71-93% of the biochemical methane potential). However, due to lack of methanogenic activity, volatile fatty acids accumulated at the beginning of the digestion and lag phases in the methane production were observed. At increasing substrate to inoculum ratios, the initial acid accumulation was more pronounced and lower cumulative methane yields were obtained. Higher amounts of soluble organic matter remained undegraded at higher substrate loads. Although causing slightly longer lag phases, high initial total solids contents did not jeopardize the methane yields. Cardboard addition reduced acid accumulation and the decline in the yields at increasing substrate loads. However, cardboard addition also caused higher concentrations of propionic acid, which appeared as the most last acid to be degraded. Nevertheless, dry co-digestion of food waste and cardboard in urban areas is demonstrated asan interesting feasible valorization option. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geochemical speciation and dynamic of copper in tropical semi-arid soils exposed to metal-bearing mine wastes.

PubMed

Perlatti, Fabio; Otero, Xosé Luis; Macias, Felipe; Ferreira, Tiago Osório

2014-12-01

The potentially hazardous effects of rock wastes disposed at open pit in three different areas (Pr: Ore processing; Wr: Waste rock and Bd: Border) of an abandoned copper mine were evaluated in this study, with emphasis on acid drainage generation, metal contamination and copper geochemical dynamics in soils. Samples of waste rock were analyzed by Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy with microanalysis (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Soil samples were analyzed to determine the total metal contents (XRF), mineralogy (XRD), pH (H2O and H2O2), organic and inorganic carbon, % of total N, S and P, particle size, and a sequential extraction procedure was used to identify the different copper fractions. As a result of the prevalence of carbonates over sulphides in the wastes, the soil pH remained close to neutral, with absence of acid mine drainage. The geochemical interaction between these mineral phases seems to be the main mechanism to release Cu(2)(+) ions. Total Cu in soils from the Pr area reached 11,180mg.kg(-1), while in Wr and Bd areas the values reached, on average, 4683 and 1086mg.kg(-1), respectively, indicating a very high level of soil contamination. In the Pr and Wr, the Cu was mainly associated with carbonates and amorphous iron oxides. In the Bd areas, the presence of vegetation has influenced the geochemical behavior of copper by increasing the dissolution of carbonates, affecting the buffer capacity of soils against sulphide oxidation, reducing the pH levels and enhancing the proportion of exchangeable and organic bound Cu. The present findings show that the use of plants or organic amendments in mine sites with high concentration of Cu carbonate-containing wastes should be viewed with caution, as the practice may enhance the mobilization of copper to the environment due to an increase in the rate of carbonates dissolution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health risk assessment of lead for children in tinfoil manufacturing and e-waste recycling areas of Zhejiang Province, China.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaofeng; Miller, Greg; Ding, Gangqiang; Lou, Xiaoming; Cai, Delei; Chen, Zhijian; Meng, Jia; Tang, Jun; Chu, Cordia; Mo, Zhe; Han, Jianlong

2012-06-01

Tinfoil manufacturing and electronic waste (e-waste) recycling remain rudimentary processes in Zhejing Province, China, which could account for elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) and health impacts on children. We assessed the potential health risks of lead in tinfoil manufacturing and e-waste recycling areas. 329 children in total aged 11-12 who lived in a tinfoil manufacturing area (Lanxi), an e-waste recycling area (Luqiao) and a reference area (Chun'an) were studied. Lead levels in children's blood were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, serum calcium, δ-Aminolaevulinic acid (δ-ALA) and intelligence quotient (IQ) were also measured. Geometric mean of BLLs in Lanxi, Luqiao and Chun'an were 8.11 μg/dL, 6.97 μg/dL, and 2.78 μg/dL respectively, with 35.1%, 38.9% and 0% of children who had BLLs above 10 μg/dL. The BLLs in exposed areas were much higher than those in the control area. Lanxi children had higher creatinine and calcium than Chun'an children, and Luqiao children had higher δ-ALA and lower calcium than Chun'an children. No significant differences of IQ were observed between Lanxi, Luqiao and Chun'an, however a negative relationship between BLLs and IQ was shown for the study children. The results indicated that lead pollution from e-waste recycling and tinfoil processing appears to be a potential serious threat to children's health. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of surface modified TiO2/rGO microspheres and application in the photocatalytic decomposition of oleic acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xin; Zeng, Min; Tong, Xiaoling; Li, Fuyun; Xu, Youyou

2018-05-01

The comprehensive utilization of waste cooking oil is an important research topic in food science. In this study, the surface modified mesoporous anatase TiO2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) microspheres with a high specific surface area have been successfully synthesized, through hydrothermal routes and hydrazine reduced graphene oxide. The photocatalytic decomposition of waste rapeseed oil has also been studied using TiO2/rGO microspheres as photocatalyst. The result shows that the reduced graphene oxide in these nanocomposites can act as adsorbent and photocatalyst, and the temperature and the oxygen amount also are the most important factors affecting the oleic acid decomposition products. There interesting results not only helpful for the study of the mechanism of photocatalytic, but also useful for the rational use of waste cooking oil.

RCRA Part A Permit Application for Waste Management Activities at the Nevada Test Site, Part B Permit Application Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, Nevada Test Site, and Part B Permit Application - Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit (EODU)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NSTec Environmental Programs

2010-06-17

The Area 5 Hazardous Waste Storage Unit (HWSU) was established to support testing, research, and remediation activities at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a large-quantity generator of hazardous waste. The HWSU, located adjacent to the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS), is a prefabricated, rigid steel-framed, roofed shelter used to store hazardous nonradioactive waste generated on the NTS. No offsite generated wastes are managed at the HWSU. Waste managed at the HWSU includes the following categories: Flammables/Combustibles; Acid Corrosives; Alkali Corrosives; Oxidizers/Reactives; Toxics/Poisons; and Other Regulated Materials (ORMs). A list of the regulated waste codes accepted for storage atmore » the HWSU is provided in Section B.2. Hazardous wastes stored at the HWSU are stored in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) compliant containers, compatible with the stored waste. Waste transfer (between containers) is not allowed at the HWSU and containers remain closed at all times. Containers are stored on secondary containment pallets and the unit is inspected monthly. Table 1 provides the metric conversion factors used in this application. Table 2 provides a list of existing permits. Table 3 lists operational Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) units at the NTS and their respective regulatory status.« less

Installation Restoration Program. Phase 2 - Confirmation/ Quantification. Stage 2 for McChord Air Force Base, Washington

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-04-30

Si 35 Areas E and J Waste Disposal Sites and IRP Phase II Monitoring Well Locations ^ 36 Areas F and H Waste Disposal Sites and IRP Phase II...4 oMe c hy 1 - 2 - Pen eeaocie lephchelene 1.2- Trene Dlchloroechyle 1,1,1-Trlchloroechene Toluene Tinyl Acftcete H.P-Xylene 0-Xylene ACIDS AW) OTMEKS...4) a. > n k. Q 41 ^ 0 oca Li »I 4) M 41 X C (B w < G a. v 1 m M ! Si 118 swe Table 16 TOTAL AND SOLUBLE HEAVY

[Microeukaryotic biodiversity in the waste ore samples surrounding an acid mine drainage lake].

PubMed

Li, Si-Yuan; Hao, Chun-Bo; Wang, Li-Hua; Lü, Zheng; Zhang, Li-Na; Liu, Ying; Feng, Chuan-Ping

2013-10-01

The abandoned mineral samples were collected in an acid mine drainage area in Anhui Province. Molecular ecological methods were used to construct 18S rDNA clone libraries after analyzing the main physicochemical parameters, and then the microeukaryotic diversity and community structure in the acid mine drainage area were studied. The results showed that the region was strongly acidic (pH <3), and the concentrations of Fe, SO2-(4), P, NO-(3) -N showed the same trend, all higher in the bare waste ore samples PD and 1 M than in the vegetation covered samples LW and XC. Four eukaryotic phyla were detected in the abandoned mineral samples: Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota and Arthropoda. Glomeromycota can form an absolute symbiotic relationship with the plant, and it was a key factor for early plant to adapt the terrestrial environment. The biodiversity of the vegetation covered samples LW and XC, which contained Glomeromycota, was much higher than that of the bare abandoned rock samples PD and 1 M. Moreover, many sequences in the libraries were closely related to some isolated strains, which are tolerant to low pH and heavy metals, such as Penicillium purpurogenum, Chaetothyriales sp. and Staninwardia suttonii.

Potential application of gasification to recycle food waste and rehabilitate acidic soil from secondary forests on degraded land in Southeast Asia.

PubMed

Yang, Zhanyu; Koh, Shun Kai; Ng, Wei Cheng; Lim, Reuben C J; Tan, Hugh T W; Tong, Yen Wah; Dai, Yanjun; Chong, Clive; Wang, Chi-Hwa

2016-05-01

Gasification is recognized as a green technology as it can harness energy from biomass in the form of syngas without causing severe environmental impacts, yet producing valuable solid residues that can be utilized in other applications. In this study, the feasibility of co-gasification of woody biomass and food waste in different proportions was investigated using a fixed-bed downdraft gasifier. Subsequently, the capability of biochar derived from gasification of woody biomass in the rehabilitation of soil from tropical secondary forests on degraded land (adinandra belukar) was also explored through a water spinach cultivation study using soil-biochar mixtures of different ratios. Gasification of a 60:40 wood waste-food waste mixture (w/w) produced syngas with the highest lower heating value (LHV) 5.29 MJ/m(3)-approximately 0.4-4.0% higher than gasification of 70:30 or 80:20 mixtures, or pure wood waste. Meanwhile, water spinach cultivated in a 2:1 soil-biochar mixture exhibited the best growth performance in terms of height (a 4-fold increment), weight (a 10-fold increment) and leaf surface area (a 5-fold increment) after 8 weeks of cultivation, owing to the high porosity, surface area, nutrient content and alkalinity of biochar. It is concluded that gasification may be an alternative technology to food waste disposal through co-gasification with woody biomass, and that gasification derived biochar is suitable for use as an amendment for the nutrient-poor, acidic soil of adinandra belukar. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recycling and management of waste lead-acid batteries: A mini-review.

PubMed

Li, Malan; Liu, Junsheng; Han, Wei

2016-04-01

As a result of the wide application of lead-acid batteries to be the power supplies for vehicles, their demand has rapidly increased owing to their low cost and high availability. Accordingly, the amount of waste lead-acid batteries has increased to new levels; therefore, the pollution caused by the waste lead-acid batteries has also significantly increased. Because lead is toxic to the environment and to humans, recycling and management of waste lead-acid batteries has become a significant challenge and is capturing much public attention. Various innovations have been recently proposed to recycle lead and lead-containing compounds from waste lead-acid batteries. In this mini-review article, different recycling techniques for waste lead-acid batteries are highlighted. The present state of such recycling and its future perspectives are also discussed. We hope that this mini-review can provide useful information on recovery and recycling of lead from waste lead-acid batteries in the field of solid waste treatment. © The Author(s) 2016.

Nutrient modulation in the management of disease-induced muscle wasting: evidence from human studies.

PubMed

Brook, Matthew S; Wilkinson, Daniel J; Atherton, Philip J

2017-11-01

In addition to being essential for movement, skeletal muscles act as both a store and source of key macronutrients. As such, muscle is an important tissue for whole body homeostasis, undergoing muscle wasting in times of starvation, disease, and stress, for example, to provide energy substrates for other tissues. Yet, muscle wasting is also associated with disability, comorbidities, and mortality. As nutrition is so crucial to maintaining muscle homeostasis 'in health', it has been postulated that muscle wasting in cachexia syndromes may be alleviated by nutritional interventions. This review will highlight recent work in this area in relation to muscle kinetics, the acute metabolic (e.g. dietary protein), and longer-term effects of dietary interventions. Whole body and skeletal muscle protein synthesis invariably exhibit deranged kinetics (favouring catabolism) in wasting states; further, many of these conditions harbour blunted anabolic responses to protein nutrition compared with healthy controls. These derangements underlie muscle wasting. Recent trials of essential amino acid and protein-based nutrition have shown some potential for therapeutic benefit. Nutritional modulation, particularly of dietary amino acids, may have benefits to prevent or attenuate disease-induced muscle wasting. Nonetheless, there remains a lack of recent studies exploring these key concepts to make conclusive recommendations.

Hydrogeochemistry and microbiology of mine drainage: An update

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nordstrom, D. Kirk; Blowes, D.W; Ptacek, C.J.

2015-01-01

The extraction of mineral resources requires access through underground workings, or open pit operations, or through drillholes for solution mining. Additionally, mineral processing can generate large quantities of waste, including mill tailings, waste rock and refinery wastes, heap leach pads, and slag. Thus, through mining and mineral processing activities, large surface areas of sulfide minerals can be exposed to oxygen, water, and microbes, resulting in accelerated oxidation of sulfide and other minerals and the potential for the generation of low-quality drainage. The oxidation of sulfide minerals in mine wastes is accelerated by microbial catalysis of the oxidation of aqueous ferrous iron and sulfide. These reactions, particularly when combined with evaporation, can lead to extremely acidic drainage and very high concentrations of dissolved constituents. Although acid mine drainage is the most prevalent and damaging environmental concern associated with mining activities, generation of saline, basic and neutral drainage containing elevated concentrations of dissolved metals, non-metals, and metalloids has recently been recognized as a potential environmental concern. Acid neutralization reactions through the dissolution of carbonate, hydroxide, and silicate minerals and formation of secondary aluminum and ferric hydroxide phases can moderate the effects of acid generation and enhance the formation of secondary hydrated iron and aluminum minerals which may lessen the concentration of dissolved metals. Numerical models provide powerful tools for assessing impacts of these reactions on water quality.

Geochemical characterization of acid mine lakes in northwest Turkey and their effect on the environment.

PubMed

Yucel, Deniz Sanliyuksel; Baba, Alper

2013-04-01

Mining activity generates a large quantity of mine waste. The potential hazard of mine waste depends on the host mineral. The tendency of mine waste to produce acid mine drainage (AMD) containing potentially toxic metals depends on the amounts of sulfide, carbonate minerals, and trace-element concentrations found in ore deposits. The acid mine process is one of the most significant environmental challenges and a major source of water pollution worldwide. AMD and its effects were studied in northwest Turkey where there are several sedimentary and hydrothermal mineral deposits that have been economically extracted. The study area is located in Can county of Canakkale province. Canakkale contains marine, lagoon, and lake sediments precipitated with volcanoclastics that occurred as a result of volcanism, which was active during various periods from the Upper Eocene to Plio-Quaternary. Can county is rich in coal with a total lignite reserve >100 million tons and contains numerous mines that were operated by private companies and later abandoned without any remediation. As a result, human intervention in the natural structure and topography has resulted in large open pits and deterioration in these areas. Abandoned open pit mines typically fill with water from runoff and groundwater discharge, producing artificial lakes. Acid drainage waters from these mines have resulted in the degradation of surface-water quality around Can County. The average pH and electrical conductivity of acid mine lakes (AMLs) in this study were found to be 3.03 and 3831.33 μS cm(-1), respectively. Total iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) levels were also found to be high (329.77 and 360.67 mg L(-1), respectively). The results show that the concentration of most elements, such as Fe and Al in particular, exceed national and international water-quality standards.

System for chemically digesting low level radioactive, solid waste material

DOEpatents

Cowan, Richard G.; Blasewitz, Albert G.

1982-01-01

An improved method and system for chemically digesting low level radioactive, solid waste material having a high through-put. The solid waste material is added to an annular vessel (10) substantially filled with concentrated sulfuric acid. Concentrated nitric acid or nitrogen dioxide is added to the sulfuric acid within the annular vessel while the sulfuric acid is reacting with the solid waste. The solid waste is mixed within the sulfuric acid so that the solid waste is substantilly fully immersed during the reaction. The off gas from the reaction and the products slurry residue is removed from the vessel during the reaction.

Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 19. Leaching characteristics of composited materials from mine waste-rock piles and naturally altered areas near Questa, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Kathleen S.; Hageman, Philip L.; Briggs, Paul H.; Sutley, Stephen J.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Livo, K. Eric; Verplanck, Philip L.; Adams, Monique G.; Gemery-Hill, Pamela A.

2007-01-01

The goal of this study is to compare and contrast the leachability of metals and the acidity from individual mine waste-rock piles and natural erosional scars in the study area near Questa, New Mexico. Surficial multi-increment (composite) samples less than 2 millimeters in diameter from five waste-rock piles, nine erosional-scar areas, a less-altered site, and a tailings slurry-pipe sample were analyzed for bulk chemistry and mineralogy and subjected to two back-to-back leaching procedures. The first leaching procedure, the U.S. Geological Survey Field Leach Test (FLT), is a short-duration leach (5-minute shaking and 10-minute settling) and is intended to leach readily soluble materials. The FLT was immediately followed by an 18-hour, end-over-end rotation leaching procedure. Comparison of results from the back-to-back leaching procedures can provide information about reactions that may take place upon migration of leachates through changing geochemical conditions (for example, pH changes), both within the waste-rock and scar materials and away from the source materials. For the scar leachates, the concentrations of leachable metals varied substantially between the scar areas sampled. The scar leachates have low pH (pH 3.2-4.1). Under these low-pH conditions, cationic metals are solubilized and mobile, but anionic species, such as molybdenum, are less soluble and less mobile. Generally, metal concentrations in the waste-rock leachates did not exceed the upper range of those metal concentrations in the erosional-scar leachates. One exception is molybdenum, which is notably higher in the waste-rock leachates compared with the scar leachates. Most of the waste-rock leachates were at least mildly acidic (pH 3.0-6.2). The pH values in the waste-rock leachates span a large pH range that includes some pH-dependent solubility and metal-attenuation reactions. An increase in pH with leaching time and agitation indicates that there is pH-buffering capacity in some of the waste-rock piles. As pH increased in the waste-pile leachates, concentrations of several metals decreased with increasing time and agitation. Similar pH-dependent reactions may take place upon migration of the leachates in the waste-rock piles. Bulk chemistry, mineralogy, and leachate sulfur-isotope data indicate that the Capulin and Sugar Shack West waste-rock piles are compositionally different from the younger Sugar Shack South, Sugar Shack Middle, and Old Sulphur Gulch piles. The Capulin and Sugar Shack West piles have the lowest-pH leachates (pH 3.0-4.1) of the waste-pile samples, and the source material for the Capulin and Sugar Shack West piles appears to be similar to the source material for the erosional-scar areas. Calcite dissolution, in addition to gypsum dissolution, appears to produce the calcium and sulfate concentrations in leachates from the Sugar Shack South, Sugar Shack Middle, and Old Sulphur Gulch piles.

Remedial investigation/feasibility study badger army ammunition plant Baraboo, Wisconsin. Volume 2. Feasibility study report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-08-01

This Feasibility Study (FS) report for the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was prepared by ABB Environmental Services, Inc. (ABB-ES) as a component of Task Order 1 of Contract DAAAl5-91-D-OOO8 with the U.S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC). This report uses the results presented in the Final Remedial Investigation (RI) report (ABB-ES, 1993a) to develop and screen alternatives for remediation of contaminated media at BAAP. The purpose of this FS report is to develop, screen, and evaluate site-specific remedial alternatives to mitigate the impact of site-derived chemicals and ultimately provide protection of human health and the environment. Preferredmore » alternatives for each site are included in this report. Based on previous environmental studies at BAAP, 11 potential hazardous waste sites were ranked according to potential contributions of hazardous chemicals to the environment. These sites were designated as Waste Management Areas because some of the sites contain multiple Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs). The sites selected to undergo facility assessment and corrective actions are: the Propellant Burning Ground (including Landfill), Deterrent Burning Ground, existing Landfill, Settling Ponds and Spoils Disposal Area, Rocket Paste Area, Oleum Plant and Oleum Plant Pond, Nitroglycerine Pond, old Acid Area, new Acid Area, and Ballistics Pond. The USAEC added an 11th site, the Old Fuel Oil Tank, to the list in October 1989 after discovery of fuel-contaminated soils during excavation of a water line in the vicinity of the old fuel oil tank foundation.« less

Remedial investigation/feasibility study badger army ammunition plant Baraboo, Wisconsin. Volume 3. Feasibility study report (Final)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-08-01

This Feasibility Study (FS) report for the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was prepared by ABB Environmental Services, Inc. (ABB-ES) as a component of Task Order 1 of Contract DAAAl5-91-D-OOO8 with the U.S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC). This report uses the results presented in the Final Remedial Investigation (RI) report (ABB-ES, 1993a) to develop and screen alternatives for remediation of contaminated media at BAAP. The purpose of this FS report is to develop, screen, and evaluate site-specific remedial alternatives to mitigate the impact of site-derived chemicals and ultimately provide protection of human health and the environment. Preferredmore » alternatives for each site are included in this report. Based on previous environmental studies at BAAP, 11 potential hazardous waste sites were ranked according to potential contributions of hazardous chemicals to the environment. These sites were designated as Waste Management Areas because some of the sites contain multiple Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs). The sites selected to undergo facility assessment and corrective actions are: the Propellant Burning Ground (including Landfill), Deterrent Burning Ground, existing Landfill, Settling Ponds and Spoils Disposal Area, Rocket Paste Area, Oleum Plant and Oleum Plant Pond, Nitroglycerine Pond, old Acid Area, new Acid Area, and Ballistics Pond. The USAEC added an 11th site, the Old Fuel Oil Tank, to the list in October 1989 after discovery of fuel-contaminated soils during excavation of a water line in the vicinity of the old fuel oil tank foundation.« less

Remedial investigation/feasibility study badger army ammunition plant Baraboo, Wisconsin. Volume 1. Feasibility study report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-08-01

This Feasibility Study (FS) report for the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was prepared by ABB Environmental Services, Inc. (ABB-ES) as a component of Task Order 1 of Contract DAAAl5-91-D-OOO8 with the U.S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC). This report uses the results presented in the Final Remedial Investigation (RI) report (ABB-ES, 1993a) to develop and screen alternatives for remediation of contaminated media at BAAP. The purpose of this FS report is to develop, screen, and evaluate site-specific remedial alternatives to mitigate the impact of site-derived chemicals and ultimately provide protection of human health and the environment. Preferredmore » alternatives for each site are included in this report. Based on previous environmental studies at BAAP, 11 potential hazardous waste sites were ranked according to potential contributions of hazardous chemicals to the environment. These sites were designated as Waste Management Areas because some of the sites contain multiple Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs). The sites selected to undergo facility assessment and corrective actions are: the Propellant Burning Ground (including Landfill), Deterrent Burning Ground, existing Landfill, Settling Ponds and Spoils Disposal Area, Rocket Paste Area, Oleum Plant and Oleum Plant Pond, Nitroglycerine Pond, old Acid Area, new Acid Area, and Ballistics Pond. The USAEC added an 11th site, the Old Fuel Oil Tank, to the list in October 1989 after discovery of fuel-contaminated soils during excavation of a water line in the vicinity of the old fuel oil tank foundation.« less

Citric acid production in Yarrowia lipolytica SWJ-1b yeast when grown on waste cooking oil.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaoyan; Lv, Jinshun; Xu, Jiaxing; Zhang, Tong; Deng, Yuanfang; He, Jianlong

2015-03-01

In this study, citric acid was produced from waste cooking oil by Yarrowia lipolytica SWJ-1b. To get the maximal yield of citric acid, the compositions of the medium for citric acid production were optimized, and our results showed that extra nitrogen and magnesium rather than vitamin B1 and phosphate were needed for CA accumulation when using waste cooking oil. The results also indicated that the optimal initial concentration of the waste cooking oil in the medium for citric acid production was 80.0 g/l, and the ideal inoculation size was 1 × 10(7) cells/l of medium. We also reported that during 10-l fermentation, 31.7 g/l of citric acid, 6.5 g/l of isocitric acid, 5.9 g/l of biomass, and 42.1 g/100.0 g cell dry weight of lipid were attained from 80.0 g/l of waste cooking oil within 336 h. At the end of the fermentation, 94.6 % of the waste cooking oil was utilized by the cells of Y. lipolytica SWJ-1b, and the yield of citric acid was 0.4 g/g waste cooking oil, which suggested that waste cooking oil was a suitable carbon resource for citric acid production.

Removal of azo dye by a highly graphitized and heteroatom doped carbon derived from fish waste: Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics.

PubMed

Liu, Zhengang; Zhang, Fang; Liu, Tingting; Peng, Nana; Gai, Chao

2016-11-01

A highly graphitized and heteroatom doped porous carbon was prepared from fish waste in the present study. The morphology and chemical composition of the resultant porous carbon were characterized by SEM-EDS, TEM, BET, XRD and Raman measurement. The prepared porous carbon was employed as an adsorbent for acid orange 7, a typical azo dye, removal from aqueous solution. The results showed that the porous carbon had ultrahigh surface area of 2146 m(2)/g, a high degree of graphitization structure and naturally doped with nitrogen and phosphorous. The maximum adsorption capacity of acid orange 7 reached 285.71 mg/g due to unique property of the prepared porous carbon. In addition, acid orange 7 adsorption onto the porous carbon well followed pseudo-second-order kinetics model and acid orange 7 diffusion in micropores was the potential rate controlling step. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel Acid Catalysts from Waste-Tire-Derived Carbon: Application in Waste-to-Biofuel Conversion

DOE PAGES

Hood, Zachary D.; Adhikari, Shiba P.; Li, Yunchao; ...

2017-06-21

Many inexpensive biofuel feedstocks, including those containing free fatty acids (FFAs) in high concentrations, are typically disposed of as waste due to our inability to efficiently convert them into usable biofuels. Here we demonstrate that carbon derived from waste tires could be functionalized with sulfonic acid (-SO 3H) to effectively catalyze the esterification of oleic acid or a mixture of fatty acids to usable biofuels. Waste tires were converted to hard carbon, then functionalized with catalytically active -SO 3H groups on the surface through an environmentally benign process that involved the sequential treatment with L-cysteine, dithiothreitol, and H 2O 2.more » In conclusion, when benchmarked against the same waste-tire derived carbon material treated with concentrated sulfuric acid at 150 °C, similar catalytic activity was observed. Both catalysts could also effectively convert oleic acid or a mixture of fatty acids and soybean oil to usable biofuels at 65 °C and 1 atm without leaching of the catalytic sites.« less

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) from a former phosphoric acid processing plant.

PubMed

Beddow, H; Black, S; Read, D

2006-01-01

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the radiological impact of non-nuclear industries that extract and/or process ores and minerals containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). These industrial activities may result in significant radioactive contamination of (by-) products, wastes and plant installations. In this study, scale samples were collected from a decommissioned phosphoric acid processing plant. To determine the nature and concentration of NORM retained in pipe-work and associated process plant, four main areas of the site were investigated: (1) the 'Green Acid Plant', where crude acid was concentrated; (2) the green acid storage tanks; (3) the Purified White Acid (PWA) plant, where inorganic impurities were removed; and (4) the solid waste, disposed of on-site as landfill. The scale samples predominantly comprise the following: fluorides (e.g. ralstonite); calcium sulphate (e.g. gypsum); and an assemblage of mixed fluorides and phosphates (e.g. iron fluoride hydrate, calcium phosphate), respectively. The radioactive inventory is dominated by 238U and its decay chain products, and significant fractionation along the series occurs. Compared to the feedstock ore, elevated concentrations (< or =8.8 Bq/g) of 238U were found to be retained in installations where the process stream was rich in fluorides and phosphates. In addition, enriched levels (< or =11 Bq/g) of 226Ra were found in association with precipitates of calcium sulphate. Water extraction tests indicate that many of the scales and waste contain significantly soluble materials and readily release radioactivity into solution.

Integrated system for rehabilitation of mine wastes and exploitation of added-value compounds from Cistus ladanifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Erika S.; Balseiro-Romero, Maria; Abreu, Maria Manuela; Macías, Felipe

2017-04-01

The rehabilitation of mining areas with sulfide materials, both abandoned and active mines, is a priority because these areas are sources of acid mine drainage and multielemental contamination and, consequently, environmental and health risk. The combined use of Technosols and Phytostabilisation accelerates the area recovery, and ensures the sustainability at long-term of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved in the rehabilitation due to the functional complementarity of the components. Nowadays the rehabilitation strategy of contaminated areas must be based on circular economy, environmental improvements and economic approaches. Cistus ladanifer L. is an autochthones and spontaneous species that contributes to natural rehabilitation of contaminated soils from mining areas. Moreover, bioextracts obtained from C. ladanifer growing in São Domingos mining area (Iberian Pyrite Belt) presented several valuable compounds, which can provide an economic return by their use for fragrance and pharmaceutical approaches. This study aimed to evaluate, under controlled conditions, the efficiency of an integrated system for the rehabilitation of sulfide-rich and gossan tailings, which combines the application of Technosols and Phytostabilisation, and exploitation of added-value compounds from C. ladanifer bioextracts. The rehabilitation system comprised a surface layer of Technosol and a barrier of alkaline residues (biomass ashes and limestone wastes) that covered sulfide-rich wastes. Two Tecnosols composed of gossan wastes and different mixtures of agro-industrial wastes (from distilleries and greenhouse agriculture without any valorisation) at 150 Mg/ha were tested. In the Technosols was seeded C. ladanifer. After three years of plant growth, shoots biomass was quantified and used to obtain bioextracts (extraction with n-hexane). The organic composition of the bioextracts was determined and some compounds with added value (α-pinene, camphene, camphor, fenchona and verbenone) were quantified. During the assay, the Technosols presented better structure, pH (5,7‒6,0) and concentrations of organic C (9,0‒26,2 g/kg) and NPK (204‒490 mg Ntotal/kg, 163‒329 mg Pextractable/kg, 80‒308 mg Kextractable/kg), compared to control (only gossan wastes; pH: 3.7‒4.0; [Corg]: 2.2‒5.2 g / kg; Ntotal]: 126-341 mg / kg; [Pext]: 0.2‒0.9 mg/kg; [Kext]: ≈ 20 mg/kg). In Technosols, concentrations of nutrients (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Zn) in available fraction (Rhizzo extraction) were also higher (>50-fold compared to control) but Cu and Pb concentrations decrease. The improvement of these characteristics in the Technosols stimulated the germination (control: 1 %; Technosols: 5‒11 %) and plant growth. After 40 days, seedlings from control died but the Technosols support the vegetative growth at long-term. The shoots biomass obtained was between 67.9 and 76.4 g of fresh weight, corresponding to 5.8 and 6.7 ton of dry weight/ha. The increase of evapotranspiration by C. ladanifer growth and the alkalinizing barrier decreased the sulfide oxidation of the sulfide-rich wastes and, consequently, the generation of acid drainage and dispersion of potentially hazardous elements by leachates. Several compounds with economic interest were quantified, being benzenepropanoic acid the major compound (15‒42 %). Verbenone showed significant concentrations in bioextracts (≈7 mg/kg). The integrated rehabilitation system was adequate and sustainable, contributing to the recovery of unproductive and contaminated areas, which can be economically exploited.

Environmental impacts of unmanaged solid waste at a former base metal mining and ore processing site (Kirki, Greece).

PubMed

Liakopoulos, Alexandros; Lemière, Bruno; Michael, Konstantinos; Crouzet, Catherine; Laperche, Valérie; Romaidis, Ioannis; Drougas, Iakovos; Lassin, Arnault

2010-11-01

The Kirki project aimed to identify, among the mining waste abandoned at a mine and processing plant, the most critical potential pollution sources, the exposed milieus and the main pathways for contamination of a littoral area. This was accompanied by the definition of a monitoring network and remedial options. For this purpose, field analytical methods were extensively used to allow a more precise identification of the source, to draw relevant conceptual models and outline a monitoring network. Data interpretation was based on temporal series and on a geographical model. A classification method for mining waste was established, based on data on pollutant contents and emissions, and their long-term pollution potential. Mining waste present at the Kirki mine and plant sites comprises (A) extraction waste, mainly metal sulfide-rich rocks; (B) processing waste, mainly tailings, with iron and sulfides, sulfates or other species, plus residues of processing reagents; and (C) other waste, comprising leftover processing reagents and Pb-Zn concentrates. Critical toxic species include cadmium and cyanide. The stormy rainfall regime and hilly topography favour the flush release of large amounts of pollutants. The potential impacts and remedial options vary greatly. Type C waste may generate immediate and severe chemical hazards, and should be dealt with urgently by careful removal, as it is localised in a few spots. Type B waste has significant acid mine drainage potential and contains significant amounts of bioavailable heavy metals and metalloids, but they may also be released in solid form into the surface water through dam failure. The most urgent action is thus dams consolidation. Type A waste is by far the most bulky, and it cannot be economically removed. Unfortunately, it is also the most prone to acid mine drainage (seepage pH 1 to 2). This requires neutralisation to prevent acid water accelerating heavy metals and metalloids transfer. All waste management options require the implementation of a monitoring network for the design of a remediation plan, efficiency control, and later, community alert in case of accidental failure of mitigation/remediation measures. A network design strategy based on field measurements, laboratory validation and conceptual models is proposed.

Assessing and monitoring soil quality at agricultural waste disposal areas-Soil Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doula, Maria; Kavvadias, Victor; Sarris, Apostolos; Lolos, Polykarpos; Liakopoulou, Nektaria; Hliaoutakis, Aggelos; Kydonakis, Aris

2014-05-01

The necessity of elaborating indicators is one of the priorities identified by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The establishment of an indicator monitoring system for environmental purposes is dependent on the geographical scale. Some indicators such as rain seasonality or drainage density are useful over large areas, but others such as soil depth, vegetation cover type, and land ownership are only applicable locally. In order to practically enhance the sustainability of land management, research on using indicators for assessing land degradation risk must initially focus at local level because management decisions by individual land users are taken at this level. Soils that accept wastes disposal, apart from progressive degradation, may cause serious problems to the surrounding environment (humans, animals, plants, water systems, etc.), and thus, soil quality should be necessarily monitored. Therefore, quality indicators, representative of the specific waste type, should be established and monitored periodically. Since waste composition is dependent on their origin, specific indicators for each waste type should be established. Considering agricultural wastes, such a specification, however, could be difficult, since almost all agricultural wastes are characterized by increased concentrations of the same elements, namely, phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, sulfur, etc.; contain large amounts of organic matter; and have very high values of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and electrical conductivity. Two LIFE projects, namely AgroStrat and PROSODOL are focused on the identification of soil indicators for the assessment of soil quality at areas where pistachio wastes and olive mill wastes are disposed, respectively. Many soil samples were collected periodically for 2 years during PROSODOL and one year during AgroStrat (this project is in progress) from waste disposal areas and analyzed for 23 parameters. Results indicate that there are soil parameters that can be used as indictors to assess soil quality at such areas. For the two cases, i.e pistachio wastes and olive oil mill wastes, different soil parameters were identified as potential indicators. In specific, for OMW the proposed indicators are: organic matter, electrical conductivity, total N, total polyphenols, exchangeable K, DTPA-available Fe, available P and pH (for the cases of acid soils). For pistachio wastes, it seems that the most appropriate indictors are: organic matter, electrical conductivity, exchangeable Mg, DTPA-available Fe, DTPA-available Cu, available B. A monitoring system was developed which may assist authorities and policy makers to continuously monitor the disposal areas or areas where wastes are used for fertilization/irrigation. For this, soil parameters were mapped with respect to the depth, date and temporal variations of their spatial distribution (spatial surfaces). Interpolated surfaces based on the Inverse Distance Weighted method (IDW) were created and integrated within a geospatial web based map application tool.

Effect of acid hydrolysis and fungal biotreatment on agro-industrial wastes for obtainment of free sugars for bioethanol production.

PubMed

El-Tayeb, T S; Abdelhafez, A A; Ali, S H; Ramadan, E M

2012-10-01

This study was designed to evaluate selected chemical and microbiological treatments for the conversion of certain local agro-industrial wastes (rice straw, corn stalks, sawdust, sugar beet waste and sugarcane bagasse) to ethanol. The chemical composition of these feedstocks was determined. Conversion of wastes to free sugars by acid hydrolysis varied from one treatment to another. In single-stage dilute acid hydrolysis, increasing acid concentration from 1 % (v/v) to 5 % (v/v) decreased the conversion percentage of almost all treated agro-industrial wastes. Lower conversion percentages for some treatments were obtained when increasing the residence time from 90 to 120 min. The two-stage dilute acid hydrolysis by phosphoric acid (1.0 % v/v) followed by sulphuric acid (1.0 % v/v) resulted in the highest conversion percentage (41.3 % w/w) on treated sugar beet waste. This treatment when neutralized, amended with some nutrients and inoculated with baker's yeast, achieved the highest ethanol concentration (1.0 % v/v). Formation of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were functions of type of acid hydrolysis, acid concentration, residence time and feedstock type. The highest bioconversion of 5 % wastes (37.8 % w/w) was recorded on sugar beet waste by Trichoderma viride EMCC 107. This treatment when followed by baker's yeast fermentation, 0.41 % (v/v) ethanol and 8.2 % (v/w) conversion coefficient were obtained.

Effect of acid hydrolysis and fungal biotreatment on agro-industrial wastes for obtainment of free sugars for bioethanol production

PubMed Central

El-Tayeb, T.S.; Abdelhafez, A.A.; Ali, S.H.; Ramadan, E.M.

2012-01-01

This study was designed to evaluate selected chemical and microbiological treatments for the conversion of certain local agro-industrial wastes (rice straw, corn stalks, sawdust, sugar beet waste and sugarcane bagasse) to ethanol. The chemical composition of these feedstocks was determined. Conversion of wastes to free sugars by acid hydrolysis varied from one treatment to another. In single-stage dilute acid hydrolysis, increasing acid concentration from 1 % (v/v) to 5 % (v/v) decreased the conversion percentage of almost all treated agro-industrial wastes. Lower conversion percentages for some treatments were obtained when increasing the residence time from 90 to 120 min. The two-stage dilute acid hydrolysis by phosphoric acid (1.0 % v/v) followed by sulphuric acid (1.0 % v/v) resulted in the highest conversion percentage (41.3 % w/w) on treated sugar beet waste. This treatment when neutralized, amended with some nutrients and inoculated with baker’s yeast, achieved the highest ethanol concentration (1.0 % v/v). Formation of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were functions of type of acid hydrolysis, acid concentration, residence time and feedstock type. The highest bioconversion of 5 % wastes (37.8 % w/w) was recorded on sugar beet waste by Trichoderma viride EMCC 107. This treatment when followed by baker’s yeast fermentation, 0.41 % (v/v) ethanol and 8.2 % (v/w) conversion coefficient were obtained. PMID:24031984

40 CFR 63.1218 - What are the standards for hydrochloric acid production furnaces that burn hazardous waste?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... limits provided by paragraph (a)(5) of this section; (2) For mercury, hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas..., except for an area source as defined under § 63.2, hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas emissions in excess..., except for an area source as defined under § 63.2, hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas emissions in excess...

Process for treating alkaline wastes for vitrification

DOEpatents

Hsu, Chia-lin W.

1994-01-01

According to its major aspects and broadly stated, the present invention is a process for treating alkaline waste materials, including high level radioactive wastes, for vitrification. The process involves adjusting the pH of the wastes with nitric acid, adding formic acid (or a process stream containing formic acid) to reduce mercury compounds to elemental mercury and MnO{sub 2} to the Mn(II) ion, and mixing with class formers to produce a melter feed. The process minimizes production of hydrogen due to noble metal-catalyzed formic acid decomposition during, treatment, while producing a redox-balanced feed for effective melter operation and a quality glass product. An important feature of the present invention is the use of different acidifying and reducing, agents to treat the wastes. The nitric acid acidifies the wastes to improve yield stress and supplies acid for various reactions; then the formic acid reduces mercury compounds to elemental mercury and MnO{sub 2}) to the Mn(II) ion. When the pH of the waste is lower, reduction of mercury compounds and MnO{sub 2}) is faster and less formic acid is needed, and the production of hydrogen caused by catalytically-active noble metals is decreased.

Acid neutralizing capacity and leachate results for igneous rocks, with associated carbon contents of derived soils, Animas River AML site, Silverton, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Douglas B.; Stanton, Mark R.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Burchell,

2009-01-01

Mine planning efforts have historically overlooked the possible acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) that local igneous rocks can provide to help neutralize acidmine drainage. As a result, limestone has been traditionally hauled to mine sites for use in neutralizing acid drainage. Local igneous rocks, when used as part of mine life-cycle planning and acid mitigation strategy, may reduce the need to transport limestone to mine sites because these rocks can contain acid neutralizing minerals. Igneous hydrothermal events often introduce moderately altered mineral assemblages peripheral to more intensely altered rocks that host metal-bearing veins and ore bodies. These less altered rocks can contain ANC minerals (calcite-chlorite-epidote) and are referred to as a propylitic assemblage. In addition, the carbon contents of soils in areas of new mining or those areas undergoing restoration have been historically unknown. Soil organic carbon is an important constituent to characterize as a soil recovery benchmark that can be referred to during mine cycle planning and restoration.
This study addresses the mineralogy, ANC, and leachate chemistry of propylitic volcanic rocks that host polymetallic mineralization in the Animas River watershed near the historical Silverton, Colorado, mining area. Acid titration tests on volcanic rocks containing calcite (2 – 20 wt %) and chlorite (6 – 25 wt %), have ANC ranging from 4 – 146 kg/ton CaCO₃ equivalence. Results from a 6-month duration, kinetic reaction vessel test containing layered pyritic mine waste and underlying ANC volcanic rock (saturated with deionized water) indicate that acid generating mine waste (pH 2.4) has not overwhelmed the ANC of propylitic volcanic rocks (pH 5.8). Sequential leachate laboratory experiments evaluated the concentration of metals liberated during leaching. Leachate concentrations of Cu-Zn-As-Pb for ANC volcanic rock are one-to-three orders of magnitude lower when compared to leached solution from mine waste used in the kinetic reaction vessel test. This finding suggests that mine waste and not ANC rock may generate the majority of leachable metals in a field scenario.
The organic carbon content of naturally reclaimed soils derived from weathering of propylitically-altered andesite was determined in catchments where ANC studies were initiated. Soils were found to have total carbon concentrations (TOC) that exceed global average soil TOC abundances by as much as 1.5 – 5 times. These data support an environmental management system involving use of ANC rocks as part of life-cycle mine planning to reduce post-mine closure acid mitigation measures. Carbon contents of undisturbed soils in mined catchments can possibly be used to validate post-reclamation success and help quantify carbon sequestration for CO₂ emission offset trading as carbon markets mature.

ACID-BASE ACCOUNT EFFECTIVENESS FOR DETERMINATION OF MINE WASTE POTENTIAL ACIDITY. (R825549C048)

EPA Science Inventory

The oxidation of sulfide minerals in mine waste is a widespread source of resource degradation, often resulting in the generation of acidic water and mobilization of heavy metals. The quantity of acid forming minerals present in mine waste, dominantly as pyrite (FeS₂

Syrian bean-caper (Zygophyllum fabago L.) improves organic matter and other properties of mine wastes deposits.

PubMed

Kabas, S; Arocena, J M; Acosta, J A; Faz, A; Martínez-Martínez, S; Zornoza, R; Carmona, D M

2014-01-01

The omni-presence of Zygophyllum fabago L. (Syrian bean-caper) natural colonies in post mining areas prompted us to investigate its contributions to reclamation of mine wastes deposits in southeast Spain. Select plant-related (edaphic) characteristics and bio- and water soluble-Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in rhizosphere of Z. fabago were compared to deposits one year since application of pig slurry and marble waste. Total N in rhizosphere increased up to a factor of 20X (339 vs 17 mg N kg(-1)) in El Gorguel and 27X (85 vs 3.1 mg N kg(-1)) in El Lirio sites. Organic matter accumulation in rhizosphere from litter and roots of Z. fabago increased organic C from 6.6 to 19.5 g kg(-1) in El Gorguel and from 2.1 to 5.7 g kg(-1) in El Lirio in one year. Dissolution of inorganic C takes place due to organic acids from root exudates of Z. fabago. Reduction in bio-available Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in rhizosphere of Z. fabago at El Lirio is attributed to increase in pH from 5.3 to 7.7 through marble waste addition, although increased cation exchange capacity may also have played a role. Addition of marble waste to encourage colonization by Z. fabago in acidic mine wastes deposits was recommended.

REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE ENHANCED CHEMICAL CLEANING OPTIONS FOR SRS WASTE TANKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hay, M.; Koopman, D.

2009-08-01

A literature review was conducted to support the Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan for Alternative Enhanced Chemical Cleaning (AECC) for sludge heel removal funded as part of the EM-21 Engineering and Technology program. The goal was to identify potential technologies or enhancements to the baseline oxalic acid cleaning process for chemically dissolving or mobilizing Savannah River Site (SRS) sludge heels. The issues with the potentially large volume of oxalate solids generated from the baseline process have driven an effort to find an improved or enhanced chemical cleaning technology for the tank heels. This literature review builds on a previousmore » review conducted in 2003. A team was charged with evaluating the information in these reviews and developing recommendations of alternative technologies to pursue. The new information in this report supports the conclusion of the previous review that oxalic acid remains the chemical cleaning agent of choice for dissolving the metal oxides and hydroxides found in sludge heels in carbon steel tanks. The potential negative impact of large volumes of sodium oxalate on downstream processes indicates that the amount of oxalic acid used for chemical cleaning needs to be minimized as much as possible or the oxalic acid must be destroyed prior to pH adjustment in the receipt tank. The most straightforward way of minimizing the volume of oxalic acid needed for chemical cleaning is through more effective mechanical cleaning. Using a mineral acid to adjust the pH of the sludge prior to adding oxalic acid may also help to minimize the volume of oxalic acid used in chemical cleaning. If minimization of oxalic acid proves insufficient in reducing the volume of oxalate salts, several methods were found that could be used for oxalic acid destruction. For some waste tank heels, another acid or even caustic treatment (or pretreatment) might be more appropriate than the baseline oxalic acid cleaning process. Caustic treatment of high aluminum sludge heels may be appropriate as a means of reducing oxalic acid usage. Reagents other than oxalic acid may also be needed for removing actinide elements from the tank heels. A systems engineering evaluation (SEE) was performed on the various alternative chemical cleaning reagents and organic oxidation technologies discussed in the literature review. The objective of the evaluation was to develop a short list of chemical cleaning reagents and oxalic acid destruction methods that should be the focus of further research and development. The results of the SEE found that eight of the thirteen organic oxidation technologies scored relatively close together. Six of the chemical cleaning reagents were also recommended for further investigation. Based on the results of the SEE and plan set out in the TTQAP the following broad areas are recommended for future study as part of the AECC task: (1) Basic Chemistry of Sludge Dissolution in Oxalic Acid: A better understanding of the variables effecting dissolution of sludge species is needed to efficiently remove sludge heels while minimizing the use of oxalic acid or other chemical reagents. Tests should investigate the effects of pH, acid concentration, phase ratios, temperature, and kinetics of the dissolution reactions of sludge components with oxalic acid, mineral acids, and combinations of oxalic/mineral acids. Real waste sludge samples should be characterized to obtain additional data on the mineral phases present in sludge heels. (2) Simulant Development Program: Current sludge simulants developed by other programs for use in waste processing tests, while compositionally similar to real sludge waste, generally have more hydrated forms of the major metal phases and dissolve more easily in acids. Better simulants containing the mineral phases identified by real waste characterization should be developed to test chemical cleaning methods. (3) Oxalic Acid Oxidation Technologies: The two Mn based oxidation methods that scored highly in the SEE should be studied to evaluate long term potential. One of the AOP's (UV/O{sub 3}/Solids Separator) is currently being implemented by the SRS liquid waste organization for use in tank heel chemical cleaning. (4) Corrosion Issues: A program will be needed to address potential corrosion issues from the use of low molarity mineral acids and mixtures of oxalic/mineral acids in the waste tanks for short durations. The addition of corrosion inhibitors to the acids to reduce corrosion rates should be investigated.« less

Analytical results for Bullion Mine and Crystal Mine waste samples and bed sediments from a small tributary to Jack Creek and from Uncle Sam Gulch, Boulder River watershed, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fey, David L.; Church, Stan E.; Finney, Christopher J.

2000-01-01

Metal-mining related wastes in the Boulder River basin study area in northern Jefferson County, Montana affect water quality as a result of acid-generation and toxic-metal solubilization. Mine waste and tailings in the unnamed tributary to Jack Creek draining the Bullion mine area and in Uncle Sam Gulch below the Crystal mine are contributors to water quality degradation of Basin Creek and Cataract Creek, Montana. Basin Creek and Cataract Creek are two of three tributaries to the Boulder River in the study area. The bed sediment geochemistry in these two creeks has also been affected by the acidic drainage from these two mines. Geochemical analysis of 42 tailings cores and eleven bed-sediment samples was undertaken to determine the concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn present in these materials. These elements are environmentally significant, in that they can be toxic to fish and/or the invertebrate organisms in the aquatic food chain. Suites of one-inch cores of mine waste and tailings material were taken from two breached tailings impoundments near the site of the Bullion mine and from Uncle Sam Gulch below the Crystal mine. Forty-two core samples were taken and divided into 211 subsamples. The samples were analyzed by ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy) using a mixed-acid (HC1-HNO3-HC1O4-HF) digestion. Results of the core analyses show that some samples contain moderate to very high concentrations of arsenic (as much as 13,000 ppm), silver (as much as 130 ppm), cadmium (as much as 260 ppm), copper (as much as 9,000 ppm), lead (as much as 11,000 ppm), and zinc (as much as 18,000 ppm). Eleven bed-sediment samples were also subjected to the mixed-acid total digestion, and a warm (50°C) 2M HC1-1% H2O2 leach and analyzed by ICP-AES. Results indicate that bed sediments of the Jack Creek tributary are impacted by past mining at the Bullion and Crystal mines. The contaminating metals are mostly contained in the 2M HC1-1% H2O2 leachable phase, which are the hydrous amorphous iron- and manganese-hydroxide coatings on detrital sediment particles.

Stabilization and Solidification of Nitric Acid Effluent Waste at Y-12

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Dileep; Lorenzo-Martin, Cinta

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) at the Y-12 plant is investigating approaches for the treatment (stabilization and solidification) of a nitric acid waste effluent that contains uranium. Because the pH of the waste stream is 1-2, it is a difficult waste stream to treat and stabilize by a standard cement-based process. Alternative waste forms are being considered. In this regard, Ceramicrete technology, developed at Argonne National Laboratory, is being explored as an option to solidify and stabilize the nitric acid effluent wastes.

Physico-chemical analysis of tannery solid waste and structural characterization of its isolated humic acids after composting.

PubMed

Amir, Soumia; Benlboukht, Fatima; Cancian, Nadia; Winterton, Peter; Hafidi, Mohamed

2008-12-30

In Marrakech, solid by-products from tanneries are highly polluting, generating large amounts of nitrogenous and organic matter. In the present study composting is tested as a cost-effective method for waste management to overcome many of the environmental hazards and produce a stable, rich material for soil fertilization. Two composting trials were conducted after neutralization by ammonia or lime. The aim of the neutralization was to avoid the antimicrobial effects of the acidity in the tannery waste, thus ensuring correct composting. Different techniques such as elemental analysis and 13C NMR spectroscopy were applied to analyse humic acids isolated from raw and composted materials, and to monitor the process of tannery waste composting, and the stability and maturity of the final product according to the means of neutralization. Comparison of data showed similar behaviour in both trials, but the composting process appeared to be more complete following neutralization with lime. The C, H and N content decreased, while the O increased. The FTIR and 13C NMR spectra show the decrease of aliphatic compounds demonstrated by the reduction of absorbance around 2922cm(-1) and of the resonance in the C-alkyl area around 0-55ppm. The humic acids newly formed during composting were richer in the O-N alkyl and oxidized aromatic structures that increased almost twofold on composting after neutralization with lime. The first principal component axis PC1 (54%) separated C-aliphatic, C-carboxylic and other less stable and less polycondensed compounds such as polyphenols from the more polycondensed O-N alkyl and oxidized C-aromatic compounds.

Remotely sensed and laboratory spectral signatures of an ocean-dumped acid waste

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, B. W.; Collins, V. G.

1977-01-01

An ocean-dumped acid waste plume was studied by using a rapid scanning spectrometer to remotely measure ocean radiance from a helicopter. The results of these studies are presented and compared with results from sea truth samples and laboratory experiments. An ocean spectral reflectance signature and a laboratory spectral transmission signature were established for the iron-acid waste pollutant. The spectrally and chemically significant component of the acid waste pollutant was determined to be ferric iron.

Effect of total solid content and pretreatment on the production of lactic acid from mixed culture dark fermentation of food waste.

PubMed

Yousuf, Ahasa; Bastidas-Oyanedel, Juan-Rodrigo; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2018-04-28

Food waste landfilling causes environmental degradation, and this work assesses a sustainable food valorization technique. In this study, food waste is converted into lactic acid in a batch assembly by dark fermentation without pH control and without the addition of external inoculum at 37 °C. The effect of total solid (TS), enzymatic and aeration pretreatment was investigated on liquid products concentration and product yield. The maximum possible TS content was 34% of enzymatic pretreated waste, and showed the highest lactic acid concentration of 52 g/L, with a lactic acid selectivity of 0.6 g lactic /g totalacids . The results indicated that aeration pretreatment does not significantly improve product concentration or yield. Non-pretreated waste in a 29% TS system showed a lactic acid concentration of 31 g/L. The results showed that enzymatic pretreated waste at TS of 34% results in the highest production of lactic acid. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nutrient Recovery of Plant Leachates Under Thermal, Biological, and Photocatalytic Pretreatments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Les

2015-01-01

Nutrient recovery has always been a problem for long distance and long-term space missions. To allow humans to man these missions, a steady source of oxygen, water, and food are necessary for survival beyond Earth's atmosphere. Plants are currently an area of interest since they are capable of providing all three resources for life sustainability. We are currently interested in nutrient recovery for future plant growth and simple aqueous leachate extractions can recover some of the nutrients. However, leaching plants also removes water-soluble organic plant wastes, which inhibits plant growth if not separated properly. To combat the issues with waste and maximize nutrient recovery, we are attempting to pre-treat the plant matter using biological, thermal, and photocatalytic methods before subjecting the solution with variable-strength acid digestion. For the biological method, the inoculums: mixed heterotrophic/nitrifying bioreactor effluent and Trichoderma vessei are used in an attempt to liberate more nutrients from the plant matter. For the thermal method, plants are subjected to varying temperatures at different retention times to determine nutrient recovery. Lastly, the photocatalytic method utilizes TiO (sub 2)'s oxidizing abilities under specific pHs and retention times to reduce organic wastes and improve nutrient gains. A final acid digestion serves to liberate nutrients even further in order to maximize recovery. So far, we have tested ideal acid digestion variables for practicality and performance in our experiments. We found that a low retention time of 10 minutes and a high acid concentration of 0.1 and 1 mole HCl were the most effective at nutrient recovery. For space travel purposes, 0.1 mole currently looks like a viable acid digestion to use since it is relatively effective and sustainable from a mass and energy balance if acid recovery can be performed on waste brines. Biological pretreatments do not look to be too effective and the thermal and photocatalytic methods may be preferred since they show a potential to recover more than 70 percent of the nutrients.

Dye adsorption onto activated carbons from tyre rubber waste using surface coverage analysis.

PubMed

Mui, Edward L K; Cheung, W H; Valix, Marjorie; McKay, Gordon

2010-07-15

Two types of activated carbons from tyre char (with or without sulphuric acid treatment) were produced via carbon dioxide activation with BET surface areas in the range 59-1118 m(2)/g. Other characterisation tests include micropore and mesopore surface areas and volumes, pH, and elemental compositions, particularly heteroatoms such as nitrogen and sulphur. They were correlated to the adsorption capacity which were in the range of 0.45-0.71 mmol/g (untreated) and 0.62-0.84 mmol/g (acid-treated) for Acid Blue 25. In the case of larger-sized molecules like Acid Yellow 117, capacities were in the range of 0.23-0.42 mmol/g (untreated) and 0.29-0.40 mmol/g (acid-treated). Some tyre carbons exhibit a more superior performance than a microporous, commercial activated carbon (Calgon F400). By modelling the dye adsorption equilibrium data, the Redlich-Peterson isotherm is adopted as it has the lowest SSE. Based on the surface coverage analysis, a novel molecular orientation modelling of adsorbed dyes has been proposed and correlated with surface area and surface charge. For the acid dyes used in this study, molecules were likely to be adsorbed by the mesopore areas. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sequential pyrolysis of plastic to recover polystyrene HCL and terephthalic acid

DOEpatents

Evans, Robert J.; Chum, Helena L.

1995-01-01

A process of pyrolyzing plastic waste feed streams containing polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyethylene to recover polystyrene HCl and terephthalic acid comprising: heating the plastic waste feed stream to a first temperature; adding an acid or base catalyst on an oxide or carbonate support; heating the plastic waste feed stream to pyrolyze polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride; separating terephthalic acid or HCl; heating to a second temperature to pyrolyze polystyrene; separating styrene; heating the waste feed stream to a third temperature to pyrolyze polyethylene; and separating hydrocarbons.

ADVANCED OXIDATION: OXALATE DECOMPOSITION TESTING WITH OZONE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ketusky, E.; Subramanian, K.

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), oxalic acid is currently considered the preferred agent for chemically cleaning the large underground Liquid Radioactive Waste Tanks. It is applied only in the final stages of emptying a tank when generally less than 5,000 kg of waste solids remain, and slurrying based removal methods are no-longer effective. The use of oxalic acid is preferred because of its combined dissolution and chelating properties, as well as the fact that corrosion to the carbon steel tank walls can be controlled. Although oxalic acid is the preferred agent, there are significant potential downstream impacts. Impacts include:more » (1) Degraded evaporator operation; (2) Resultant oxalate precipitates taking away critically needed operating volume; and (3) Eventual creation of significant volumes of additional feed to salt processing. As an alternative to dealing with the downstream impacts, oxalate decomposition using variations of ozone based Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) were investigated. In general AOPs use ozone or peroxide and a catalyst to create hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals have among the highest oxidation potentials, and are commonly used to decompose organics. Although oxalate is considered among the most difficult organic to decompose, the ability of hydroxyl radicals to decompose oxalate is considered to be well demonstrated. In addition, as AOPs are considered to be 'green' their use enables any net chemical additions to the waste to be minimized. In order to test the ability to decompose the oxalate and determine the decomposition rates, a test rig was designed, where 10 vol% ozone would be educted into a spent oxalic acid decomposition loop, with the loop maintained at 70 C and recirculated at 40L/min. Each of the spent oxalic acid streams would be created from three oxalic acid strikes of an F-area simulant (i.e., Purex = high Fe/Al concentration) and H-area simulant (i.e., H area modified Purex = high Al/Fe concentration) after nearing dissolution equilibrium, and then decomposed to {le} 100 Parts per Million (ppm) oxalate. Since AOP technology largely originated on using ultraviolet (UV) light as a primary catalyst, decomposition of the spent oxalic acid, well exposed to a medium pressure mercury vapor light was considered the benchmark. However, with multi-valent metals already contained in the feed, and maintenance of the UV light a concern; testing was conducted to evaluate the impact from removing the UV light. Using current AOP terminology, the test without the UV light would likely be considered an ozone based, dark, ferrioxalate type, decomposition process. Specifically, as part of the testing, the impacts from the following were investigated: (1) Importance of the UV light on the decomposition rates when decomposing 1 wt% spent oxalic acid; (2) Impact of increasing the oxalic acid strength from 1 to 2.5 wt% on the decomposition rates; and (3) For F-area testing, the advantage of increasing the spent oxalic acid flowrate from 40 L/min (liters/minute) to 50 L/min during decomposition of the 2.5 wt% spent oxalic acid. The results showed that removal of the UV light (from 1 wt% testing) slowed the decomposition rates in both the F & H testing. Specifically, for F-Area Strike 1, the time increased from about 6 hours to 8 hours. In H-Area, the impact was not as significant, with the time required for Strike 1 to be decomposed to less than 100 ppm increasing slightly, from 5.4 to 6.4 hours. For the spent 2.5 wt% oxalic acid decomposition tests (all) without the UV light, the F-area decompositions required approx. 10 to 13 hours, while the corresponding required H-Area decompositions times ranged from 10 to 21 hours. For the 2.5 wt% F-Area sludge, the increased availability of iron likely caused the increased decomposition rates compared to the 1 wt% oxalic acid based tests. In addition, for the F-testing, increasing the recirculation flow rates from 40 liter/minute to 50 liter/minute resulted in an increased decomposition rate, suggesting a better use of ozone.« less

Weathering of sulfidic shale and copper mine waste: Secondary minerals and metal cycling in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hammarstrom, J.M.; Seal, R.R.; Meier, A.L.; Jackson, J.C.

2003-01-01

Metal cycling via physical and chemical weathering of discrete sources (copper mines) and regional (non-point) sources (sulfide-rich shale) is evaluated by examining the mineralogy and chemistry of weathering products in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA. The elements in copper mine waste, secondary minerals, stream sediments, and waters that are most likely to have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems are aluminum, copper, zinc, and arsenic because these elements locally exceed toxicity guidelines for surface waters or for stream sediments. Acid-mine drainage has not developed in streams draining inactive copper mines. Acid-rock drainage and chemical weathering processes that accompany debris flows or human disturbances of sulfidic rocks are comparable to processes that develop acid-mine drainage elsewhere. Despite the high rainfall in the mountain range, sheltered areas and intermittent dry spells provide local venues for development of secondary weathering products that can impact aquatic ecosystems.

SITE CHARACTERIZATION OF A CHROMIUM SOURCE AREA AT THE USGS SUPPORT CENTER, ELIZABETH CITY, NC

EPA Science Inventory

Chromic and sulfuric acid wastes had discharged through a hole in the concrete floor of a chrome-plating shop located within a hangar at the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center near Elizabeth City, North Carolina and infiltrated the soils and groundwater beneath the shop. Following i...

2. In the foreground is the fan which removed fumes ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. In the foreground is the fan which removed fumes from the galvanizing area in building #8. In the background are the waste treatment tanks for the acids and alkali used in the zinc-electro-plating process. - American Chain & Cable Company, East Princess Street (400 Block), York, York County, PA

Prediction of acid mine drainage generation potential of various lithologies using static tests: Etili coal mine (NW Turkey) as a case study.

PubMed

Yucel, Deniz Sanliyuksel; Baba, Alper

2016-08-01

The Etili neighborhood in Can County (northwestern Turkey) has large reserves of coal and has been the site of many small- to medium-scale mining operations since the 1980s. Some of these have ceased working while others continue to operate. Once activities cease, the mining facilities and fields are usually abandoned without rehabilitation. The most significant environmental problem is acid mine drainage (AMD). This study was carried out to determine the acid generation potential of various lithological units in the Etili coal mine using static test methods. Seventeen samples were selected from areas with high acidic water concentrations: from different alteration zones belonging to volcanic rocks, from sedimentary rocks, and from coals and mine wastes. Static tests (paste pH, standard acid-base accounting, and net acid generation tests) were performed on these samples. The consistency of the static test results showed that oxidation of sulfide minerals, especially pyrite-which is widely found not only in the alteration zones of volcanic rocks but also in the coals and mine wastes-is the main factor controlling the generation of AMD in this mine. Lack of carbonate minerals in the region also increases the occurrence of AMD.

Sequential pyrolysis of plastic to recover polystyrene, HCl and terephthalic acid

DOEpatents

Evans, R.J.; Chum, H.L.

1995-11-07

A process is described for pyrolyzing plastic waste feed streams containing polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyethylene to recover polystyrene, HCl and terephthalic acid comprising: heating the plastic waste feed stream to a first temperature; adding an acid or base catalyst on an oxide or carbonate support; heating the plastic waste feed stream to pyrolyze polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride; separating terephthalic acid or HCl; heating to a second temperature to pyrolyze polystyrene; separating styrene; heating the waste feed stream to a third temperature to pyrolyze polyethylene; and separating hydrocarbons. 83 figs.

Copper (II) addition to accelerate lactic acid production from co-fermentation of food waste and waste activated sludge: Understanding of the corresponding metabolisms, microbial community and predictive functional profiling.

PubMed

Ye, Tingting; Li, Xiang; Zhang, Ting; Su, Yinglong; Zhang, Wenjuan; Li, Jun; Gan, Yanfei; Zhang, Ai; Liu, Yanan; Xue, Gang

2018-06-01

Bio-refinery of food waste and waste activated sludge to high value-added chemicals, such as lactic acid, has attracted particular interest in recent years. In this paper, the effect of copper (II) dosing to the organic waste fermentation system on lactic acid production was evaluated, which proved to be a promising method to stimulate high yield of lactic acid (77.0% higher than blank) at dosage of 15 μM-Cu 2+ /g VSS. As mechanism study suggested, copper addition enhanced the activity of α-glycosidase and glycolysis, which increased the substrate for subsequent acidification; whereas, the high dosage (70 μM-Cu 2+ /g VSS) inhibited the conversion of lactic acid to VFA, thus stabilized lactic acid concentration. Microbial community study revealed that small amount of copper (II) at 15 μM/g VSS resulted in the proliferation of Lactobacillus to 82.6%, which mainly produced lactic acid. Finally, the variation of functional capabilities implied that the proposed homeostatic system II was activated at relatively low concentration of copper. Meanwhile, membrane transport function and carbohydrate metabolism were also strengthened. This study provides insights into the effect of copper (II) on the enhancement of lactic acid production from co-fermentation of food waste and waste activated sludge. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tyre char preparation from waste tyre rubber for dye removal from effluents.

PubMed

Mui, Edward L K; Cheung, W H; McKay, Gordon

2010-03-15

A number of chars from waste tyre rubber were prepared by carbonisation at 673-1173 K. The effects of holding time, heating rate and particle size on the textural characteristics and elemental composition of the resultant chars were investigated. It was demonstrated that temperatures over 773 K did not have a significant improvement on the total surface area but resulted in lower char yields following increased aromatisation. Modelling of dye adsorption isotherms showed that the Redlich-Peterson expression yields the best-fit between experimental and predicted data. Furthermore, for a larger sized dye like Acid Yellow 117 (MW=848 g/mol), the amount adsorbed by the tyre char is not directly proportional to the total surface area when compared with a commercial carbon, revealing that factors other than total surface area are involved in the adsorption potential of the tyre chars. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in soil and combusted residue at Guiyu, an electronic waste recycling site in southeast China.

PubMed

Leung, Anna O W; Luksemburg, William J; Wong, Anthony S; Wong, Ming H

2007-04-15

Surface soils and combusted residue from a village located in southeast China, which has been intensely involved in the dismantling and "recycling" of computer parts (e-waste) for the past decade, were analyzed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Total PBDE concentrations were highest in combusted residue of plastic chips and cables collected from a residential area (33,000-97,400 ng/g, dry wt), in soils from an acid leaching site (2720-4250 ng/g, dry wt), and a printer roller dump site (593-2890 ng/g, dry wt). BDE-209 was the most dominant congener (35-82%) among the study sites indicating the prevalence of commercial Deca-BDE, however signature congeners from commercial Penta- and Octa-BDE were also found. PCDD/F concentrations were also highest in soil from the acid leaching site (12,500-89,800 pg/g, 203-1100 pg WHO-TEQ/g, dry wt) and in combusted residue (13,500-25,300 pg/g, 84.3-174 pg WHO-TEQ/g, dry wt) and were comparable to PCDD/F levels of some open dumping sites in Asian developing countries. Of the e-waste activities, acid leaching and open burning emitted the highest concentrations of PBDEs and PCDD/Fs. This study is among the very few studies dealing with the important issue of pollution generated from crude e-waste recycling. Our results showthatthe crude processing of e-waste has become one of the major contributors of PBDEs and PCDD/Fs to the terrestrial environment.

Development of high-performance supercapacitor electrode derived from sugar industry spent wash waste.

PubMed

Mahto, Ashesh; Gupta, Rajeev; Ghara, Krishna Kanta; Srivastava, Divesh N; Maiti, Pratyush; D, Kalpana; Rivera, Paul-Zavala; Meena, R; Nataraj, S K

2017-10-15

This study aims at developing supercapacitor materials from sugar and distillery industry wastes, thereby mediating waste disposal problem through reuse. In a two-step process, biomethanated spent wash (BMSW) was acid treated to produce solid waste sludge and waste water with significantly reduced total organic carbon (TOC) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) content. Further, waste sludge was directly calcined in presence of activating agent ZnCl 2 in inert atmosphere resulting in high surface area (730-900m 2 g -1 ) carbon of unique hexagonal morphology. Present technique resulted in achieving two-faceted target of liquid-solid waste remediation and production of high-performance carbon material. The resulted high surface area carbon was tested in both three and two electrode systems. Electrochemical tests viz. cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and impedance measurement were carried out in aqueous KOH electrolyte yielding specific capacitance as high as 120Fg -1 , whereas all solid supercapacitor devised using PVA/H 3 PO 4 polyelectrolyte showed stable capacitance of 105Fg -1 at 0.2Ag -1 . The presence of transition metal particles and hetero-atoms on carbon surface were confirmed by XPS, EDX and TEM analysis which enhanced the conductivity and imparted pseudocapacitance to some extent into the working electrode. The present study successfully demonstrated production of high-performance electrode material from dirtiest wastewater making process green, sustainable and economically viable. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Acetic acid production from food wastes using yeast and acetic acid bacteria micro-aerobic fermentation.

PubMed

Li, Yang; He, Dongwei; Niu, Dongjie; Zhao, Youcai

2015-05-01

In this study, yeast and acetic acid bacteria strains were adopted to enhance the ethanol-type fermentation resulting to a volatile fatty acids yield of 30.22 g/L, and improve acetic acid production to 25.88 g/L, with food wastes as substrate. In contrast, only 12.81 g/L acetic acid can be obtained in the absence of strains. The parameters such as pH, oxidation reduction potential and volatile fatty acids were tested and the microbial diversity of different strains and activity of hydrolytic ferment were investigated to reveal the mechanism. The optimum pH and oxidation reduction potential for the acetic acid production were determined to be at 3.0-3.5 and -500 mV, respectively. Yeast can convert organic matters into ethanol, which is used by acetic acid bacteria to convert the organic wastes into acetic acid. The acetic acid thus obtained from food wastes micro-aerobic fermentation liquid could be extracted by distillation to get high-pure acetic acid.

Impact of Glycolate Anion on Aqueous Corrosion in DWPF and Downstream Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mickalonis, J.

Glycolic acid is being evaluated as an alternate reductant in the preparation of high level waste for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). During processing, the glycolic acid may not be completely consumed with small quantities of the glycolate anion being carried forward to other high level waste (HLW) facilities. The SRS liquid waste contractor requested an assessment of the impact of the glycolate anion on the corrosion of the materials of construction (MoC) throughout the waste processing system since this impact had not been previously evaluated. A literature review revealed that corrosion datamore » were not available for the MoCs in glycolic-bearing solutions applicable to SRS systems. Data on the material compatibility with only glycolic acid or its derivative products were identified; however, data were limited for solutions containing glycolic acid or the glycolate anion. For the proprietary coating systems applied to the DWPF concrete, glycolic acid was deemed compatible since the coatings were resistant to more aggressive chemistries than glycolic acid. Additionally, similar coating resins showed acceptable resistance to glycolic acid.« less

Impact of Glycolate Anion on Aqueous Corrosion in DWPF and Downstream Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mickalonis, J.

Glycolic acid is being evaluated as an alternate reductant in the preparation of high level waste for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). During processing, the glycolic acid may not be completely consumed with small quantities of the glycolate anion being carried forward to other high level waste (HLW) facilities. The SRS liquid waste contractor requested an assessment of the impact of the glycolate anion on the corrosion of the materials of construction (MoC) throughout the waste processing system since this impact had not been previously evaluated. A literature review revealed that corrosion datamore » were not available for the MoCs in glycolic-bearing solutions applicable to SRS systems. Data on the material compatibility with only glycolic acid or its derivative products were identified; however, data were limited for solutions containing glycolic acid or the glycolate anion. For the proprietary coating systems applied to the DWPF concrete, glycolic acid was deemed compatible since the coatings were resistant to more aggressive chemistries than glycolic acid. Additionally similar coating resins showed acceptable resistance to glycolic acid.« less

40 CFR 60.54a - Standard for municipal waste combustor acid gases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... for Municipal Waste Combustors for Which Construction Is Commenced After December 20, 1989 and On or Before September 20, 1994 § 60.54a Standard for municipal waste combustor acid gases. (a)-(b) [Reserved... 40 Protection of Environment 7 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Standard for municipal waste combustor...

Method for acid oxidation of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed organic waste materials

DOEpatents

Pierce, Robert A.; Smith, James R.; Ramsey, William G.; Cicero-Herman, Connie A.; Bickford, Dennis F.

1999-01-01

The present invention is directed to a process for reducing the volume of low level radioactive and mixed waste to enable the waste to be more economically stored in a suitable repository, and for placing the waste into a form suitable for permanent disposal. The invention involves a process for preparing radioactive, hazardous, or mixed waste for storage by contacting the waste starting material containing at least one organic carbon-containing compound and at least one radioactive or hazardous waste component with nitric acid and phosphoric acid simultaneously at a contacting temperature in the range of about 140.degree. C. to about 210 .degree. C. for a period of time sufficient to oxidize at least a portion of the organic carbon-containing compound to gaseous products, thereby producing a residual concentrated waste product containing substantially all of said radioactive or inorganic hazardous waste component; and immobilizing the residual concentrated waste product in a solid phosphate-based ceramic or glass form.

Environmental geochemistry of the abandoned Mamut Copper Mine (Sabah) Malaysia.

PubMed

van der Ent, Antony; Edraki, Mansour

2018-02-01

The Mamut Copper Mine (MCM) located in Sabah (Malaysia) on Borneo Island was the only Cu-Au mine that operated in the country. During its operation (1975-1999), the mine produced 2.47 Mt of concentrate containing approximately 600,000 t of Cu, 45 t of Au and 294 t of Ag, and generated about 250 Mt of overburden and waste rocks and over 150 Mt of tailings, which were deposited at the 397 ha Lohan tailings storage facility, 15.8 km from the mine and 980 m lower in altitude. The MCM site presents challenges for environmental rehabilitation due to the presence of large volumes of sulphidic minerals wastes, the very high rainfall and the large volume of polluted mine pit water. This indicates that rehabilitation and treatment is costly, as for example, exceedingly large quantities of lime are needed for neutralisation of the acidic mine pit discharge. The MCM site has several unusual geochemical features on account of the concomitant occurrence of acid-forming sulphide porphyry rocks and alkaline serpentinite minerals, and unique biological features because of the very high plant diversity in its immediate surroundings. The site hence provides a valuable opportunity for researching natural acid neutralisation processes and mine rehabilitation in tropical areas. Today, the MCM site is surrounded by protected nature reserves (Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site, and Bukit Hampuan, a Class I Forest Reserve), and the environmental legacy prevents de-gazetting and inclusion in these protected area in the foreseeable future. This article presents a preliminary geochemical investigation of waste rocks, sediments, secondary precipitates, surface water chemistry and foliar elemental uptake in ferns, and discusses these results in light of their environmental significance for rehabilitation.

Monitoring the dispersion of ocean waste disposal plumes from ERTS-1 and Skylab. [Delaware coastal waters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klemas, V. (Principal Investigator); Davis, G.; Myers, T.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. About forty miles off the Delaware coast is located the disposal site for waste discharged from a plant processing titanium dioxide. The discharge is a greenish-brown; 15-20% acid liquid which consists primarily of iron chlorides and sulfates. The barge which transports this waste has a 1,000,000 gallon capacity and makes approximately three trips to the disposal site per week. ERTS-1 MSS digital tapes are being used to study the dispersion patterns and drift velocities of the iron-acid plume. Careful examination of ERTS-1 imagery disclosed a fishhook-shaped plume about 40 miles east of Cape Henlopen caused by a barge disposing acid wastes. The plume shows up more strongly in the green band than in the red band. Since some acids have a strong green component during dumping and turn slowly more brownish-reddish with age, the ratio of radiance signatures between the green and red bands may give an indication of how long before the satellite overpass the acid was dumped. Enlarged enhancements of the acid waste plumes, prepared from the ERTS-1 MSS digital tapes aided considerably in studies of the dispersion of the waste plume. Currently acid dumps are being coordinated with ERTS-1 overpasses.

Surface Complexation Modeling of U(VI) Adsorption onto Savannah River Site Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, W.; Wan, J.; Tokunaga, T. K.; Denham, M.; Davis, J.; Hubbard, S. S.

2011-12-01

The Savannah River Site (SRS) was a U.S. Department of Energy facility for plutonium production during the Cold War. Waste plumes containing low-level radioactivity and acidic waste solutions were discharged to a series of unlined seepage basins in the F-Area of the SRS from 1955 to 1988. Although the site has undergone many years of active remediation, the groundwater remains acidic, and the concentrations of U and other radionuclides are still significantly higher than their Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). The objective of this effort is to understand and predict U(VI) mobility in acidic waste plumes through developing surface complexation models (SCMs). Laboratory batch experiments were conducted to evaluate U adsorption behavior over the pH range of 3.0 to 9.5. Ten sorbent samples were selected including six contaminated sediment samples from three boreholes drilled within the plume and along the groundwater flow direction, two uncontaminated (pristine) sediment samples from a borehole outside of the plume, and two reference minerals, goethite and kaolinite (identified as the dominant minerals in the clay size fraction of the F-Area sediments). The results show that goethite and kaolinite largely control U partitioning behavior. In comparison with the pristine sediment, U(VI) adsorption onto contaminated sediments exhibits adsorption edges shifted toward lower pH by about 1.0 unit (e.g., from pH≈4.5 to pH≈3.5). We developed a SCMs based component additivity (CA) approach, which can successfully predict U(VI) adsorption onto uncontaminated SRS sediments. However, application of the same SCMs based CA approach to contaminated sediments resulted in underestimates of U(VI) adsorption at acidic pH conditions. The model sensitivity analyses indicate that both goethite and kaolinite surfaces co-contributed to U(VI) adsorption under acidic pH conditions. In particular, the exchange sites of clay minerals might play an important role in adsorption of U(VI) at pH < 5.0. These results suggested that the contaminated sediments might either contain other more reactive clay minerals such as smectite, or that the long-term acid-leaching process might have altered the surface reactivity of the original sediments. Further studies are needed to identify more reactive mineral facies and understand the effects of acid leaching on the surface reactivity of the sediments.

Association between maternal exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from electronic waste recycling and neonatal health outcomes.

PubMed

Wu, Kusheng; Xu, Xijin; Peng, Lin; Liu, Junxiao; Guo, Yongyong; Huo, Xia

2012-11-01

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has applications in numerous industrial and consumer products. The widespread prevalence of PFOA in humans demonstrated in recent studies has drawn considerable interest from the public. We aimed to evaluate the exposure of mothers to PFOA and the potential hazards to neonates in a primitive electronic waste recycling area, Guiyu, China, and a control area, Chaonan, China. Our investigation included analyses of maternal serum samples, health effect examinations, and other relevant factors. Questionnaires were administered and maternal serum samples were collected for 167 pregnant women. Solid phase extraction method was used for all analytical sample preparation, and analyses were completed using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method. The PFOA concentration was higher in maternal serum samples from Guiyu than in samples from Chaonan (median 16.95, range 5.5-58.5 ng mL(-1); vs. 8.7, range 4.4-30.0 ng mL(-1); P<0.001). Residence in Guiyu, involvement in e-waste recycling, husband's involvement in e-waste and use of the family residence as workshop were significant factors contributing to PFOA exposure. Maternal PFOA concentrations were significantly different between normal births and adverse birth outcomes including premature delivery, term low birth weight, and stillbirths. After adjusting for potential confounders, PFOA was negatively associated with gestational age [per lg-unit: β=-15.99 days, 95% confidence interval (CI), -27.72 to -4.25], birth weight (per lg-unit: β=-267.3g, 95% CI, -573.27 to -37.18), birth length (per lg-unit: β=-1.91 cm, 95% CI, -3.31 to -0.52), and Apgar scores (per lg-unit: β=-1.37, 95% CI, -2.42 to -0.32), but not associated with ponderal index. Mothers from Guiyu were exposed to higher levels of PFOA than those from control areas. Prenatal exposure to PFOA was associated with decreased neonatal physical development and adverse birth outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring ocean dumping with ERTS-1 data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wezernak, C. T.; Roller, N.

1973-01-01

The results of an analysis of ERTS-1 data for the New York Bight collected on 16 August 1972 are described. Results are presented which show acid-iron wastes, sewage sludge, suspended solids, and major water mass boundary features in the study area. The potential of satellite remote sensing for monitoring large scale events such as ocean dumping is discussed.

Method for stabilizing low-level mixed wastes at room temperature

DOEpatents

Wagh, A.S.; Singh, D.

1997-07-08

A method to stabilize solid and liquid waste at room temperature is provided comprising combining solid waste with a starter oxide to obtain a powder, contacting the powder with an acid solution to create a slurry, said acid solution containing the liquid waste, shaping the now-mixed slurry into a predetermined form, and allowing the now-formed slurry to set. The invention also provides for a method to encapsulate and stabilize waste containing cesium comprising combining the waste with Zr(OH){sub 4} to create a solid-phase mixture, mixing phosphoric acid with the solid-phase mixture to create a slurry, subjecting the slurry to pressure; and allowing the now pressurized slurry to set. Lastly, the invention provides for a method to stabilize liquid waste, comprising supplying a powder containing magnesium, sodium and phosphate in predetermined proportions, mixing said powder with the liquid waste, such as tritium, and allowing the resulting slurry to set. 4 figs.

Method for stabilizing low-level mixed wastes at room temperature

DOEpatents

Wagh, Arun S.; Singh, Dileep

1997-01-01

A method to stabilize solid and liquid waste at room temperature is provided comprising combining solid waste with a starter oxide to obtain a powder, contacting the powder with an acid solution to create a slurry, said acid solution containing the liquid waste, shaping the now-mixed slurry into a predetermined form, and allowing the now-formed slurry to set. The invention also provides for a method to encapsulate and stabilize waste containing cesium comprising combining the waste with Zr(OH).sub.4 to create a solid-phase mixture, mixing phosphoric acid with the solid-phase mixture to create a slurry, subjecting the slurry to pressure; and allowing the now pressurized slurry to set. Lastly, the invention provides for a method to stabilize liquid waste, comprising supplying a powder containing magnesium, sodium and phosphate in predetermined proportions, mixing said powder with the liquid waste, such as tritium, and allowing the resulting slurry to set.

Waste minimization charges up recycling of spent lead-acid batteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Queneau, P.B.; Troutman, A.L.

Substantial strides are being made to minimize waste generated form spent lead-acid battery recycling. The Center for Hazardous Materials Research (Pittsburgh) recently investigated the potential for secondary lead smelters to recover lead from battery cases and other materials found at hazardous waste sites. Primary and secondary lead smelters in the U.S. and Canada are processing substantial tons of lead wastes, and meeting regulatory safeguards. Typical lead wastes include contaminated soil, dross and dust by-products from industrial lead consumers, tetraethyl lead residues, chemical manufacturing by-products, leaded glass, china clay waste, munitions residues and pigments. The secondary lead industry also is developingmore » and installing systems to convert process inputs to products with minimum generation of liquid, solid and gaseous wastes. The industry recently has made substantial accomplishments that minimize waste generation during lead production from its bread and butter feedstock--spent lead-acid batteries.« less

Relocation of net-acid-generating waste to improve post-mining water chemistry.

PubMed

Morin, K A; Hutt, N M

2001-01-01

Acidic drainage and metal leaching are long-term environmental liabilities that can persist for many decades to millennia. One technique to improve the water chemistry and ecology of post-mining landscapes is to relocate and submerge net-acid-generating mine materials in a lake or water-retaining impoundment. One example of a carefully executed relocation of waste rock took place at the Eskay Creek Mine in Canada. Pre-relocation studies included an empirical relationship that related (1) the amount of acidity retained by the waste rock during past oxidation to (2) the amount of lime needed in each truckload for neutralization of the acidity and for suppression of metal release. During relocation, thousands of rinse pH measurements indicated net acidity varied significantly over short distances within the waste rock and that acidic rock could not be reliably segregated from near-netural rock. After relocation, water from the watershed continued to be acidic for a few years, then returned to near-neutral pH and near-background concentrations of metals. The chemistry of the lake where the waste rock was submerged remains near background conditions. Therefore, with careful planning and implementation, the relocation and submergence of net-acid-generating materials can greatly improve post-mining water chemistry.

Using imaging spectroscopy to map acidic mine waste

USGS Publications Warehouse

Swayze, G.A.; Smith, K.S.; Clark, R.N.; Sutley, S.J.; Pearson, R.M.; Vance, J.S.; Hageman, P.L.; Briggs, P.H.; Meier, A.L.; Singleton, M.J.; Roth, S.

2000-01-01

The process of pyrite oxidation at the surface of mine waste may produce acidic water that is gradually neutralized as it drains away from the waste, depositing different Fe-bearing secondary minerals in roughly concentric zones that emanate from mine-waste piles. These Fe-bearing minerals are indicators of the geochemical conditions under which they form. Airborne and orbital imaging spectrometers can be used to map these mineral zones because each of these Fe-bearing secondary minerals is spectrally unique. In this way, imaging spectroscopy can be used to rapidly screen entire mining districts for potential sources of surface acid drainage and to detect acid producing minerals in mine waste or unmined rock outcrops. Spectral data from the AVIRIS instrument were used to evaluate mine waste at the California Gulch Superfund Site near Leadville, CO. Laboratory leach tests of surface samples show that leachate pH is most acidic and metals most mobile in samples from the inner jarosite zone and that leachate pH is near-neutral and metals least mobile in samples from the outer goethite zone.

Use of grape stalk, a waste of the viticulture industry, to obtain activated carbon.

PubMed

Deiana, A C; Sardella, M F; Silva, H; Amaya, A; Tancredi, N

2009-12-15

Grape stalk is an organic waste produced in great amounts in the industrialization processes of grape. This work presents the results of studies carried out to use this waste as raw material to prepare activated carbon through the physical and chemical route. The physicochemical characterization of this material suggests the presence of unusually high levels of ashes. Metal content was determined and high levels of potassium, sodium, iron, calcium and magnesium in carbonized and raw grape stalk were exhibited. This characteristic made difficult physical activation at high temperatures. A leaching step was included before the activation with steam, and adsorbents with surface areas between 700 and 900 m(2)/g were obtained. Physical activation was also performed at lower temperatures using carbonized grape stalk without leaching, leading to the development of some grade of porosity, with an area of 412 m(2)/g. These results would indicate the catalytic effect of the minerals present in this raw material. Chemical activation using phosphoric acid as activating agent seemed to be a very efficient method as final products with BET areas between 1000 and 1500 m(2)/g were obtained.

Understanding processes affecting mineral deposits in humid environments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seal, Robert R.; Ayuso, Robert A.

2011-01-01

Recent interdisciplinary studies by the U.S. Geological Survey have resulted in substantial progress toward understanding the influence that climate and hydrology have on the geochemical signatures of mineral deposits and the resulting mine wastes in the eastern United States. Specific areas of focus include the release, transport, and fate of acid, metals, and associated elements from inactive mines in temperate coastal areas and of metals from unmined mineral deposits in tropical to subtropical areas; the influence of climate, geology, and hydrology on remediation options for abandoned mines; and the application of radiogenic isotopes to uniquely apportion source contributions that distinguish natural from mining sources and extent of metal transport. The environmental effects of abandoned mines and unmined mineral deposits result from a complex interaction of a variety of chemical and physical factors. These include the geology of the mineral deposit, the hydrologic setting of the mineral deposit and associated mine wastes, the chemistry of waters interacting with the deposit and associated waste material, the engineering of a mine as it relates to the reactivity of mine wastes, and climate, which affects such factors as temperature and the amounts of precipitation and evapotranspiration; these factors, in turn, influence the environmental behavior of mineral deposits. The role of climate is becoming increasingly important in environmental investigations of mineral deposits because of the growing concerns about climate change.

Humic Acids Enhanced U(VI) Attenuation in Acidic Waste Plumes: An In-situ Remediation Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, J.; Dong, W.; Tokunaga, T. K.

2010-12-01

In the process of extracting plutonium for nuclear weapons production during the Cold War, large volumes of acidic waste solutions containing low-level radionuclides were discharged for decades into unlined seepage basins in several US Department of Energy (DOE) weapon facilities such as the Savannah River Site (SRS), Oak Ridge (OR), and 300 Area of the Hanford Site. Although the basins have been capped and some sites have gone through many years of active remediation, groundwaters currently remain acidic with pH values as low as 3.0 near the basins, and uranium concentrations remain much higher than its maximum contaminant level (MCL). A sustainable U biogeochemical remediation method has not yet been developed, especially under acidic conditions (pH 3-5). Bioreduction-based U remediation requires permanent maintenance of reducing conditions through indefinite supply of electron donor, and when applied in acidic plumes a high-cost pretreatment procedure is required. Methods based on precipitation of phosphate minerals depend on maintenance of high P concentrations. Precipitating of uranyl vanadates can lower U to below its MCL, but this approach is only effective at near-neutral pH. There is an urgent need for developing a sustainable method to control U mobility in acidic conditions. In this paper, we propose a method of using humic acids (HAs) to attenuate contaminant U mobility in acidic waste plumes. Our laboratory experiment results show that HAs are able to strongly and quickly adsorb onto aquifer sediments from the DOE’s SRS and OR. With a moderate addition of HA, U adsorption increased to near 100% at pH below 5.0. Because U partitioning onto the HA modified mineral surfaces is so strong, U concentration in groundwaters can be sustainably reduced to below its MCL. We conducted flow through experiments for U desorption by acidic groundwater leaching at pH 3.5 and 4.5 from HA-treated SRS contaminated sediments. The results show that desorption of both U and HA by groundwater leaching are non-detectable over a long period of time (200 days and > 100 PV without further addition of HA). As a natural reactive agent for in-situ remediation, HAs are cost-effective (enormous reservoir in nature), nontoxic, resistant to biodegradation, soluble, and easily introducible to the subsurface. This method has high potential to efficiently and sustainably enhance natural attenuation of U within acidic waste plumes.

Mine Waste at The Kherzet Youcef Mine : Environmental Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Issaad, Mouloud; Boutaleb, Abdelhak; Kolli, Omar

2017-04-01

Mining activity in Algeria has existed since antiquity. But it was very important since the 20th century. This activity has virtually ceased since the beginning of the 1990s, leaving many mine sites abandoned (so-called orphan mines). The abandonment of mining today poses many environmental problems (soil pollution, contamination of surface water, mining collapses...). The mining wastes often occupy large volumes that can be hazardous to the environment and human health, often neglected in the past: Faulting geotechnical implementation, acid mine drainage (AMD), alkalinity, presence of pollutants and toxic substances (heavy metals, cyanide...). The study started already six years ago and it covers all mines located in NE Algeria, almost are stopped for more than thirty years. So the most important is to have an overview of all the study area. After the inventory job of the abandoned mines, the rock drainage prediction will help us to classify sites according to their acid generating potential.

System decontamination as a tool to control radiation fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Riess, R.; Bertholdt, H.O.

1995-03-01

Since chemical decontamination of the Reactor Coolant Systems (RCS) and subsystems has the highest potential to reduce radiation fields in a short term this technology has gained an increasing importance. The available decontamination process at Siemens, i.e., the CORD processes, will be described. It is characterized by using permanganic acid for preoxidation and diluted organic acid for the decontamination step. It is a regenerative process resulting in very low waste volumes. This technology has been used frequently in Europe and Japan in both RCS and subsystems. An overview will be given i.e. on the 1993 applications. This overview will includemore » plant, scope, date of performance, system volume specal features of the process removed activities, decon factor time, waste volumes, and personnel dose during decontamination. This overview will be followed by an outlook on future developments in this area.« less

Recovery of fissile materials from nuclear wastes

DOEpatents

Forsberg, Charles W.

1999-01-01

A process for recovering fissile materials such as uranium, and plutonium, and rare earth elements, from complex waste feed material, and converting the remaining wastes into a waste glass suitable for storage or disposal. The waste feed is mixed with a dissolution glass formed of lead oxide and boron oxide resulting in oxidation, dehalogenation, and dissolution of metal oxides. Carbon is added to remove lead oxide, and a boron oxide fusion melt is produced. The fusion melt is essentially devoid of organic materials and halogens, and is easily and rapidly dissolved in nitric acid. After dissolution, uranium, plutonium and rare earth elements are separated from the acid and recovered by processes such as PUREX or ion exchange. The remaining acid waste stream is vitrified to produce a waste glass suitable for storage or disposal. Potential waste feed materials include plutonium scrap and residue, miscellaneous spent nuclear fuel, and uranium fissile wastes. The initial feed materials may contain mixtures of metals, ceramics, amorphous solids, halides, organic material and other carbon-containing material.

Soil risk assessment of As and Zn contamination in a coal mining region using geostatistics [corrected].

PubMed

Komnitsas, Kostas; Modis, Kostas

2006-12-01

The present paper aims to map As and Zn contamination and assess the risk for agricultural soils in a wider disposal site containing wastes derived from coal beneficiation. Geochemical data related to environmental studies show that the waste characteristics favor solubilisation and mobilization of inorganic contaminants and in some cases the generation of acidic leachates. 135 soil samples were collected from a 34 km(2) area and analysed by using geostatistics under the maximum entropy principle in order to produce risk assessment maps and estimate the probability of soil contamination. In addition, the present paper discusses the main issues related to risk assessment in wider mining and waste disposal sites in order to assist decision makers in selecting feasible rehabilitation schemes.

Treatment of purified terephthalic acid wastewater using a bio-waste-adsorbent bagasse fly ash (BFA).

PubMed

Verma, Shilpi; Prasad, Basheshwar; Mishra, Indra Mani

2017-01-01

Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant of a petrochemical unit generates wastewater having high pollution load. Acid treatment of this wastewater reduces the chemical oxygen demand (COD) load by more than 50%, still leaving substantial COD load (>1500 mg/L) which should be removed. The present study reports on the use of a bio-waste-adsorbent bagasse fly ash (BFA) for the reduction of COD and other recalcitrant acids from this wastewater. The BFA showed basic character and was mesoporous with a BET specific surface area of 82.4 m 2 /g. Optimum conditions for the adsorptive treatment of acid-pretreated PTA wastewater were found to be as follows: initial pH (pH i ) = 4, BFA dosage = 15 g/L, and contact time = 3 h. Adsorption treatment resulted in 58.2% removal of COD, 96.3% removal of terephthalic acid (TA), and 99.9% removal of benzoic acid (BA). TA and BA were removed from the pretreated PTA wastewater through precipitation and sedimentation of un-dissociated acid molecules inside the mesopores of the BFA. The results showed that the COD removed by the BFA followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Equilibrium sorption data were best correlated by the Freundlich isotherm. The process of adsorptive removal of COD was found to be exothermic. The change in the Gibbs free energy was found to be negative, suggesting that the adsorption process is spontaneous and feasible for the treatment of PTA wastewater.

Decision Document for the Storm Water Outfalls/Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant, Pesticide Rinse Area, Old Fire Fighting Training Pit, Illicit PCB Dump Site, and the Battery Acid Pit Fort Lewis, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cantrell, Kirk J; Liikala, Terry L; Strenge, Dennis L

PNNL conducted independent site evaluations for four sites at Fort Lewis, Washington, to determine their suitability for closure on behalf of the installation. These sites were recommended for ''No Further Action'' by previous investigators and included the Storm Water Outfalls/Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plant (IWTP), the Pesticide Rinse Area, the Old Fire Fighting Training Pit, and the Illicit PCB Dump Site.

Decision Document for the Storm Water Outfalls/Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant, Pesticide Rinse Area, Old Fire Fighting Training Pit, Illicit PCB Dump Site, and the Battery Acid Pit Fort Lewis, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cantrell, Kirk J.; Liikala, Terry L.; Strenge, Dennis L.

PNNL conducted independent site evaluations for four sites at Fort Lewis, Washington, to determine their suitability for closure on behalf of the installation. These sites were recommended for "No Further Action" by previous invesitgators and included the Storm Water Outfalls/Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plant (IWTP), the Pesticide Rinse Area, the Old Fire Fighting Training Pit, and the Illicit PCB Dump Site.

Evaluating the cement stabilization of arsenic-bearing iron wastes from drinking water treatment.

PubMed

Clancy, Tara M; Snyder, Kathryn V; Reddy, Raghav; Lanzirotti, Antonio; Amrose, Susan E; Raskin, Lutgarde; Hayes, Kim F

2015-12-30

Cement stabilization of arsenic-bearing wastes is recommended to limit arsenic release from wastes following disposal. Such stabilization has been demonstrated to reduce the arsenic concentration in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), which regulates landfill disposal of arsenic waste. However, few studies have evaluated leaching from actual wastes under conditions similar to ultimate disposal environments. In this study, land disposal in areas where flooding is likely was simulated to test arsenic release from cement stabilized arsenic-bearing iron oxide wastes. After 406 days submersed in chemically simulated rainwater, <0.4% of total arsenic was leached, which was comparable to the amount leached during the TCLP (<0.3%). Short-term (18 h) modified TCLP tests (pH 3-12) found that cement stabilization lowered arsenic leaching at high pH, but increased leaching at pH<4.2 compared to non-stabilized wastes. Presenting the first characterization of cement stabilized waste using μXRF, these results revealed the majority of arsenic in cement stabilized waste remained associated with iron. This distribution of arsenic differed from previous observations of calcium-arsenic solid phases when arsenic salts were stabilized with cement, illustrating that the initial waste form influences the stabilized form. Overall, cement stabilization is effective for arsenic-bearing wastes when acidic conditions can be avoided. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Process for treating alkaline wastes for vitrification

DOEpatents

Hsu, Chia-lin W.

1995-01-01

A process for treating alkaline wastes for vitrification. The process involves acidifying the wastes with an oxidizing agent such as nitric acid, then adding formic acid as a reducing agent, and then mixing with glass formers to produce a melter feed. The nitric acid contributes nitrates that act as an oxidant to balance the redox of the melter feed, prevent reduction of certain species to produce conducting metals, and lower the pH of the wastes to a suitable level for melter operation. The formic acid reduces mercury compounds to elemental mercury for removal by steam stripping, and MnO.sub.2 to the Mn(II) ion to prevent foaming of the glass melt. The optimum amounts of nitric acid and formic acid are determined in relation to the composition of the wastes, including the concentrations of mercury (II) and MnO.sub.2, noble metal compounds, nitrates, formates and so forth. The process minimizes the amount of hydrogen generated during treatment, while producing a redox-balanced feed for effective melter operation and a quality glass product.

Process for treating alkaline wastes for vitrification

DOEpatents

Hsu, C.L.W.

1995-07-25

A process is described for treating alkaline wastes for vitrification. The process involves acidifying the wastes with an oxidizing agent such as nitric acid, then adding formic acid as a reducing agent, and then mixing with glass formers to produce a melter feed. The nitric acid contributes nitrates that act as an oxidant to balance the redox of the melter feed, prevent reduction of certain species to produce conducting metals, and lower the pH of the wastes to a suitable level for melter operation. The formic acid reduces mercury compounds to elemental mercury for removal by steam stripping, and MnO{sub 2} to the Mn(II) ion to prevent foaming of the glass melt. The optimum amounts of nitric acid and formic acid are determined in relation to the composition of the wastes, including the concentrations of mercury (II) and MnO{sub 2}, noble metal compounds, nitrates, formates and so forth. The process minimizes the amount of hydrogen generated during treatment, while producing a redox-balanced feed for effective melter operation and a quality glass product. 4 figs.

Method for distinctive estimation of stored acidity forms in acid mine wastes.

PubMed

Li, Jun; Kawashima, Nobuyuki; Fan, Rong; Schumann, Russell C; Gerson, Andrea R; Smart, Roger St C

2014-10-07

Jarosites and schwertmannite can be formed in the unsaturated oxidation zone of sulfide-containing mine waste rock and tailings together with ferrihydrite and goethite. They are also widely found in process wastes from electrometallurgical smelting and metal bioleaching and within drained coastal lowland soils (acid-sulfate soils). These secondary minerals can temporarily store acidity and metals or remove and immobilize contaminants through adsorption, coprecipitation, or structural incorporation, but release both acidity and toxic metals at pH above about 4. Therefore, they have significant relevance to environmental mineralogy through their role in controlling pollutant concentrations and dynamics in contaminated aqueous environments. Most importantly, they have widely different acid release rates at different pHs and strongly affect drainage water acidity dynamics. A procedure for estimation of the amounts of these different forms of nonsulfide stored acidity in mining wastes is required in order to predict acid release rates at any pH. A four-step extraction procedure to quantify jarosite and schwertmannite separately with various soluble sulfate salts has been developed and validated. Corrections to acid potentials and estimation of acid release rates can be reliably based on this method.

Relation of laboratory and remotely sensed spectral signatures of ocean-dumped acid waste

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, B. W.

1978-01-01

Results of laboratory transmission and remotely sensed ocean upwelled spectral signatures of acid waste ocean water solutions are presented. The studies were performed to establish ocean-dumped acid waste spectral signatures and to relate them to chemical and physical interactions occurring in the dump plume. The remotely sensed field measurements and the laboratory measurements were made using the same rapid-scanning spectrometer viewing a dump plume and with actual acid waste and ocean water samples, respectively. Laboratory studies showed that the signatures were produced by soluble ferric iron being precipitated in situ as ferric hydroxide upon dilution with ocean water. Sea-truth water samples were taken and analyzed for pertinent major components of the acid waste. Relationships were developed between the field and laboratory data both for spectral signatures and color changes with concentration. The relationships allow for the estimation of concentration of the indicator iron from remotely sensed spectral data and the laboratory transmission concentration data without sea-truth samples.

Decontamination of uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical fluid and nitric acid.

PubMed

Sung, Jinhyun; Kim, Jungsoo; Lee, Youngbae; Seol, Jeunggun; Ryu, Jaebong; Park, Kwangheon

2011-07-01

The waste oil used in nuclear fuel processing is contaminated with uranium because of its contact with materials or environments containing uranium. Under current law, waste oil that has been contaminated with uranium is very difficult to dispose of at a radioactive waste disposal site. To dispose of the uranium-contaminated waste oil, the uranium was separated from the contaminated waste oil. Supercritical R-22 is an excellent solvent for extracting clean oil from uranium-contaminated waste oil. The critical temperature of R-22 is 96.15 °C and the critical pressure is 49.9 bar. In this study, a process to remove uranium from the uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical R-22 was developed. The waste oil has a small amount of additives containing N, S or P, such as amines, dithiocarbamates and dialkyldithiophosphates. It seems that these organic additives form uranium-combined compounds. For this reason, dissolution of uranium from the uranium-combined compounds using nitric acid was needed. The efficiency of the removal of uranium from the uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical R-22 extraction and nitric acid treatment was determined.

Production of Caproic Acid from Mixed Organic Waste: An Environmental Life Cycle Perspective

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Caproic acid is an emerging platform chemical with diverse applications. Recently, a novel biorefinery process, that is, chain elongation, was developed to convert mixed organic waste and ethanol into renewable caproic acids. In the coming years, this process may become commercialized, and continuing to improve on the basis of numerous ongoing technological and microbiological studies. This study aims to analyze the environmental performance of caproic acid production from mixed organic waste via chain elongation at this current, early stage of technological development. To this end, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate the environmental impact of producing 1 kg caproic acid from organic waste via chain elongation, in both a lab-scale and a pilot-scale system. Two mixed organic waste were used as substrates: the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and supermarket food waste (SFW). Ethanol use was found to be the dominant cause of environmental impact over the life cycle. Extraction solvent recovery was found to be a crucial uncertainty that may have a substantial influence on the life-cycle impacts. We recommend that future research and industrial producers focus on the reduction of ethanol use in chain elongation and improve the recovery efficiency of the extraction solvent. PMID:28513150

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hood, Zachary D.; Adhikari, Shiba P.; Li, Yunchao

Many inexpensive biofuel feedstocks, including those containing free fatty acids (FFAs) in high concentrations, are typically disposed of as waste due to our inability to efficiently convert them into usable biofuels. Here we demonstrate that carbon derived from waste tires could be functionalized with sulfonic acid (-SO 3H) to effectively catalyze the esterification of oleic acid or a mixture of fatty acids to usable biofuels. Waste tires were converted to hard carbon, then functionalized with catalytically active -SO 3H groups on the surface through an environmentally benign process that involved the sequential treatment with L-cysteine, dithiothreitol, and H 2O 2.more » In conclusion, when benchmarked against the same waste-tire derived carbon material treated with concentrated sulfuric acid at 150 °C, similar catalytic activity was observed. Both catalysts could also effectively convert oleic acid or a mixture of fatty acids and soybean oil to usable biofuels at 65 °C and 1 atm without leaching of the catalytic sites.« less

Production of L-lactic Acid from Biomass Wastes Using Scallop Crude Enzymes and Novel Lactic Acid Bacterium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanagisawa, Mitsunori; Nakamura, Kanami; Nakasaki, Kiyohiko

In the present study, biomass waste raw materials including paper mill sludge, bamboo, sea lettuce, and shochu residue (from a distiller) and crude enzymes derived from inedible and discarded scallop parts were used to produce L-lactic acid for the raw material of biodegradable plastic poly-lactic acid. The activities of cellulase and amylase in the crude enzymes were 22 and 170units/L, respectively, and L-lactic acid was produced from every of the above mentioned biomass wastes, by the method of liquid-state simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) . The L-lactic acid concentrations produced from sea lettuce and shochu residue, which contain high concentration of starch were 3.6 and 9.3g/L, respectively, and corresponded to greater than 25% of the conversion of glucans contained in these biomass wastes. Furthermore, using the solid state SSF method, concentrations as high as 13g/L of L-lactic acid were obtained from sea lettuce and 26g/L were obtained from shochu residue.

Extraction of medium chain fatty acids from organic municipal waste and subsequent production of bio-based fuels.

PubMed

Kannengiesser, Jan; Sakaguchi-Söder, Kaori; Mrukwia, Timo; Jager, Johannes; Schebek, Liselotte

2016-01-01

This paper provides an overview on investigations for a new technology to generate bio-based fuel additives from bio-waste. The investigations are taking place at the composting plant in Darmstadt-Kranichstein (Germany). The aim is to explore the potential of bio-waste as feedstock in producing different bio-based products (or bio-based fuels). For this investigation, a facultative anaerobic process is to be integrated into the normal aerobic waste treatment process for composting. The bio-waste is to be treated in four steps to produce biofuels. The first step is the facultative anaerobic treatment of the waste in a rotting box namely percolate to generate a fatty-acid rich liquid fraction. The Hydrolysis takes place in the rotting box during the waste treatment. The organic compounds are then dissolved and transferred into the waste liquid phase. Browne et al. (2013) describes the hydrolysis as an enzymatically degradation of high solid substrates to soluble products which are further degraded to volatile fatty acids (VFA). This is confirmed by analytical tests done on the liquid fraction. After the percolation, volatile and medium chain fatty acids are found in the liquid phase. Concentrations of fatty acids between 8.0 and 31.5 were detected depending on the nature of the input material. In the second step, a fermentation process will be initiated to produce additional fatty acids. Existing microorganism mass is activated to degrade the organic components that are still remaining in the percolate. After fermentation the quantity of fatty acids in four investigated reactors increased 3-5 times. While fermentation mainly non-polar fatty acids (pentanoic to octanoic acid) are build. Next to the fermentation process, a chain-elongation step is arranged by adding ethanol to the fatty acid rich percolate. While these investigations a chain-elongation of mainly fatty acids with pair numbers of carbon atoms (acetate, butanoic and hexanoic acid) are demonstrated. After these three pre-treatments, the percolate is brought to a refinery to extract the non-polar fatty acids using bio-diesel, which was generated from used kitchen oil at the refinery. The extraction tests in the lab have proved that the efficiency of the liquid-liquid-extraction is directly linked with the chain length and polarity of the fatty acids. By using a non-polar bio-diesel mainly the non-polar fatty acids, like pentanoic to octanoic acid, are extracted. After extraction, the bio-diesel enriched with the fatty acids is esterified. As a result bio-diesel with a lower viscosity than usual is produced. The fatty acids remaining in the percolate after the extraction can be used in another fermentation process to generate biogas. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of pyritic mine tailings as a plant growth substrate.

PubMed

Roseby, Stuart J; Kopittke, Peter M; Mulligan, David R; Menzies, Neal W

2017-10-01

At the Kidston gold mine, Australia, the direct establishment of vegetation on tailings was considered as an alternative to the use of a waste rock cover. The tailings acid/base account was used to predict plant growth limitation by acidity, and thus methods capable of identifying tailings that would acidify to pH 4.5 or lower were sought. Total S was found to be poorly correlated with acid-generating sulfide, and total C was poorly correlated with acid-neutralizing carbonate, precluding the use of readily determined total S and C as predictors of net acid generation. Therefore, the selected approach used assessment of sulfide content as a predictor of acid generation, and carbonate content as a measure of the acid-neutralizing capacity available at pH 5 and above. Using this approach, the majority of tailings (67%) were found to be non-acid generating. However, areas of potentially acid-generating tailings were randomly distributed across the dam, and could only be located by intensive sampling. The limitations imposed by the large sample numbers, and costly analysis of sulfide and carbonate, make it impractical to identify and ameliorate acid-generating areas prior to vegetation establishment. However, as only a small proportion of the tailings will acidify, a strategy of re-treating acid areas following oxidation is suggested. The findings of the present study will assist in the selection of appropriate methods for the prediction of net acid generation, particularly where more conservative measurements are required to allow vegetation to be established directly in tailings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmentalists take the offensive

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eason, H.

1983-04-01

The unfortunate polarization between businessmen and environmentalists will intensify this year as Congress, manned with newly-elected allies of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reviews the nation's fundamental pollution-control and conservation laws, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Emotions and controversy over EPA's management of its toxic-waste Superfund cleanup program may prevent careful, reasonable review of the environmental issues at stake, and EPA forecasts the issues will be discussed politically, rather than substantively. Business lobbyists argue that their people support clean air and water and safe disposal of wastes too, but are also concerned with the entanglements ofmore » expensive red tape, unenforceable timetables, and counterproductive procedures. Especially sensitive areas of debate are those dealing with acid rain legislation, wilderness area designations, and budget cuts in natural resources and ecology protection.« less

LEACHING BOUNDARY MOVEMENT IN SOLIDIFIED/STABILIZED WASTE FORMS

EPA Science Inventory

Investigation of the leaching of cement-based waste forms in acetic acid solutions found that acids attacked the waste form from the surface toward the center. A sharp leaching boundary was identified in every leached sample, using pH color indica- tors. The movement of the leach...

Surface treated carbon catalysts produced from waste tires for fatty acids to biofuel conversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hood, Zachary D.; Adhikari, Shiba P.; Wright, Marcus W.

A method of making solid acid catalysts includes the step of sulfonating waste tire pieces in a first sulfonation step. The sulfonated waste tire pieces are pyrolyzed to produce carbon composite pieces having a pore size less than 10 nm. The carbon composite pieces are then ground to produce carbon composite powders having a size less than 50 .mu.m. The carbon composite particles are sulfonated in a second sulfonation step to produce sulfonated solid acid catalysts. A method of making biofuels and solid acid catalysts are also disclosed.

40 CFR 63.1218 - What are the standards for hydrochloric acid production furnaces that burn hazardous waste?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... acid production furnaces that burn hazardous waste? 63.1218 Section 63.1218 Protection of Environment... production furnaces that burn hazardous waste? (a) Emission limits for existing sources. You must not...% DRE. If you burn the dioxin-listed hazardous wastes F020, F021, F022, F023, F026, or F027 (see § 261...

Valorisation of mixed bakery waste in non-sterilized fermentation for L-lactic acid production by an evolved Thermoanaerobacterium sp. strain.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaofeng; Zhu, Muzi; Huang, Xiongliang; Lin, Carol Sze Ki; Wang, Jufang; Li, Shuang

2015-12-01

In this study, an advanced biorefinery technology that uses mixed bakery waste has been developed to produce l-lactic acid using an adaptively evolved Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense LA1002-G40 in a non-sterilized system. Under these conditions, mixed bakery waste was directly hydrolysed by Aspergillus awamori and Aspergillus oryzae, resulting in a nutrient-rich hydrolysate containing 83.6g/L glucose, 9.5 g/L fructose and 612 mg/L free amino nitrogen. T. aotearoense LA1002-G40 was evaluated and then adaptively evolved to grow in this nutrient-rich hydrolysate. Using a 5-L fermenter, the overall lactic acid production from mixed bakery waste was 0.18 g/g with a titer, productivity and yield of 78.5 g/L, 1.63 g/L/h and 0.85 g/g, respectively. This is an innovative procedure involving a complete bioconversion process for l-lactic acid produced from mixed bakery waste under non-sterilized conditions. The proposed process could be potentially applied to turn food waste into l-lactic acid in an economically feasible way. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of lactic acid on the two-phase anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Cai, Wei-min; He, Pin-jing

2007-01-01

To evaluate the influence of lactic acid on the methanogenesis, anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes was firstly conducted in a two-phase anaerobic digestion process, and performance of two digesters fed with lactic acid and glucose was subsequently compared. The results showed that the lactic acid was the main fermentation products of hydrolysis-acidification stage in the two-phase anaerobic digestion process for kitchen wastes. The lactic acid concentration constituted approximately 50% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration in the hydrolysis-acidification liquid. The maximum organic loading rate was lower in the digester fed with lactic acid than that fed with glucose. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and COD removal were deteriorated in the methanogenic reactor fed with lactic acid compared to that fed with glucose. The specific methanogenic activity (SMA) declined to 0.343 g COD/(gVSSxd) when the COD loading were designated as 18.8 g/(Lxd) in the digester fed with lactic acid. The propionic acid accumulation occurred due to the high concentration of lactic acid fed. It could be concluded that avoiding the presence of the lactic acid is necessary in the hydrolysis-acidification process for the improvement of the two-phase anaerobic digestion process of kitchen wastes.

The cytotoxic and genetoxic effects of dust and soil samples from E-waste recycling area on L02 cells.

PubMed

Wang, Liulin; Hou, Meiling; An, Jing; Zhong, Yufang; Wang, Xuetong; Wang, Yangjun; Wu, Minghong; Bi, Xinhui; Sheng, Guoying; Fu, Jiamo

2011-10-01

Electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) has now become the fastest growing solid waste around the world. Primitive recycling operations for E-waste have resulted in severe contamination of toxic metals and organic chemicals in the related areas. In this study, six dust and soil samples collected from E-waste recycling workshops and open-burning sites in Longtang were analyzed to investigate their cytotoxicity and genotoxicity on L02 cells. These six samples were: dust No. 1 collected at the gate of the workshop; dust No. 2 collected from air conditioning compressor dismantling site; dust No. 3 collected from where some motors, wires, and aluminium products since the 1980s were dismantled; soil No. 1 collected at the circuit board acid washing site; soil No. 2 collected from a wire open-burning site; soil No. 3 collected near a fiber open-burning site. At the same time, two control soil samples were collected from farmlands approximately 8 km away from the dismantling workshops. The results showed that all of these samples could inhibit cell proliferation and cause cell membrane lesion, among which dust No. 3 and soil No. 2 had the strongest toxicity. Moreover, the comet assay showed that the dust No. 3 had the most significant capability to cause DNA single-strand beaks (SSB), while the road dust (dust No. 1) collected at the gate of the workshop, a relatively farer site, showed the slightest capability to induce DNA SSB. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection showed that ROS level was elevated with the increase of dust and soil samples concentration. Dust No. 3 and soil No. 2 had the highest ROS level, followed by dust No. 2 and 1, soil No. 3 and 1. All of the above results indicated that polluted soil and dust from the E-waste area had cytotoxicity and genotoxicity on L02 cells, the mechanism might involve the increased ROS level and consequent DNA SSB.

75 FR 1235 - Revisions to the Requirements for: Transboundary Shipments of Hazardous Wastes Between OECD...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-08

... of Spent Lead- Acid Batteries, Submitting Exception Reports for Export Shipments of Hazardous Wastes... of Spent Lead-Acid Batteries, Submitting Exception Reports for Export Shipments of Hazardous Wastes... batteries intended for reclamation in a foreign country, specify that all exception reports concerning...

Mechanistic insights of 2,4-D sorption onto biochar: Influence of feedstock materials and biochar properties.

PubMed

Mandal, Sanchita; Sarkar, Binoy; Igalavithana, Avanthi Deshani; Ok, Yong Sik; Yang, Xiao; Lombi, Enzo; Bolan, Nanthi

2017-12-01

Objective of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of 2,4-Dichlorophynoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) sorption on biochar in aqueous solutions. Sorption isotherm, kinetics, and desorption experiments were performed to identify the role of biochars' feedstock and production conditions on 2,4-D sorption. Biochars were prepared from various green wastes (tea, burcucumber, and hardwood) at two pyrolytic temperatures (400 and 700°C). The tea waste biochar produced at 700°C was further activated with steam under a controlled flow. The sorption of 2,4-D was strongly dependent on the biochar properties such as specific surface area, surface functional groups, and microporosity. The steam activated biochar produced from tea waste showed the highest (58.8mgg -1 ) 2,4-D sorption capacity, which was attributed to the high specific surface area (576m 2 g -1 ). The mechanism of 2,4-D removal from aqueous solution by biochar is mainly attributed to the formation of heterogeneous sorption sites due to the steam activation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of waste cooking oil based biodiesel via ferric-manganese promoted molybdenum oxide / zirconia nanoparticle solid acid catalyst: influence of ferric and manganese dopants.

PubMed

Alhassan, Fatah H; Rashid, Umer; Taufiq-Yap, Yun Hin

2015-01-01

The utilization of ferric-manganese promoted molybdenum oxide/zirconia (Fe-Mn- MoO3/ZrO2) (FMMZ) solid acid catalyst for production of biodiesel was demonstrated. FMMZ is produced through impregnation reaction followed by calcination at 600°C for 3 h. The characterization of FMMZ had been done using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), temperature programmed desorption of NH3 (TPD-NH3), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and Brunner-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurement. The effect of waste cooking oil methyl esters (WCOME's) yield on the reactions variables such as reaction temperature, catalyst loading, molar ratio of methanol/oil and reusability were also assessed. The catalyst was used to convert the waste cooking oil into corresponding methyl esters (95.6%±0.15) within 5 h at 200℃ reaction temperature, 600 rpm stirring speed, 1:25 molar ratio of oil to alcohol and 4% w/w catalyst loading. The reported catalyst was successfully recycled in six connective experiments without loss in activity. Moreover, the fuel properties of WCOME's were also reported using ASTM D 6751 methods.

Characterization of Jamaican agro-industrial wastes. Part II, fatty acid profiling using HPLC: precolumn derivatization with phenacyl bromide.

PubMed

Bailey-Shaw, Y A; Golden, K D; Pearson, A G M; Porter, R B R

2012-09-01

This paper describes the determination of fatty acid composition of coffee, citrus and rum distillery wastes using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Lipid extracts of the waste samples are derivatized with phenacyl bromide and their phenacyl esters are separated on a C8 reversed-phase column by using continuous gradient elution with water and acetonitrile. The presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in quantifiable amounts in the examined wastes, as well as the high percentage recoveries, are clear indications that these wastes have potential value as inexpensive sources of lipids. The HPLC procedures described here could be adopted for further analysis of materials of this nature.

Comparison of different static methods for assessment of AMD generation potential in mining waste dumps in the Muteh Gold Mines, Iran.

PubMed

Mohammadi, Zohreh; Modabberi, Soroush; Jafari, Mohammad Reza; Ajayebi, Kimia Sadat

2015-06-01

Acid mine drainage (AMD) gives rise to several problems in sulfide-bearing mineral deposits whether in an ore body or in the mining wastes and tailings. Hence, several methods and parameters have been proposed to evaluate the acid-producing and acid-neutralizing potential of a material. This research compares common static methods for evaluation of acid-production potential of mining wastes in the Muteh gold mines by using 62 samples taken from six waste dumps around Senjedeh and Chah-Khatoun mines. According to a detailed mineralogical study, the waste materials are composed of mica-schist and quartz veins with a high amount of pyrite and are supposed to be susceptible to acid production, and upon a rainfall, they release acid drainage. All parameters introduced in different methods were calculated and compared in this research in order to predict the acid-generating and neutralization potential, including APP, NNP, MPA, NPR, and NAGpH. Based on the analytical results and calculation of different parameters, all methods are in a general consensus that DWS-02 and DWS-03 waste dumps are acid-forming which is clearly attributed to high content of pyrite in samples. DWS-04 is considered as non-acid forming in all methods except method 8 which is uncertain about its acid-forming potential and method 7 which considers a low potential for it. DWC-01 is acid-forming based on all methods except 8, 9, 10, and 11 which are also uncertain about its potential. The methods used are not reached to a compromise on DWS-01 and DWC-02 waste dumps. It is supposed that method 7 gives the conservationist results in all cases. Method 8 is unable to decide on some cases. It is recommended to use and rely on results provided by methods 1, 2, 3, and 12 for taking decisions for further studies. Therefore, according to the static tests used, the aforementioned criteria in selected methods can be used with much confidence as a rule of thumb estimation.

Methodology for the ecotoxicological evaluation of areas polluted by phosphogypsum wastes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Sanchez, M. J.; Garcia-Lorenzo, M. L.; Perez-Sirvent, C.; Martinez-Lopez, S.; Hernandez-Cordoba, M.; Bech, J.

2012-04-01

In Spain, the production of phosphoric acid, and hence of phosphogypsum, is restricted to a fertilizer industrial site. The residues contain some radionuclides of the U-series and other contaminants. In order to estimate the risk posed by these materials, chemical methods need to be complemented with biological methods. Then, the aim of this study was to develop a battery of bioassays for the ecotoxicological screening of areas polluted by phosphogypsum wastes. Particularly, the toxicity of water samples, sediments and their pore-water extracts was evaluated by using three assays: bacteria, plants and ostracods. The applied bioassays were: the bioluminescence inhibition of Vibrio fischeri in superficial water samples using Microtox® bioassay; the root and shoot elongation inhibition and the mortality of Lepidium sativum, Sorghum saccharatum and Sinapis alba using Phytotoxkit® bioassay; and inhibition of Heterocypris incongruens by way of Ostracodtoxkit®. Proposed methodology allows the identification of contamination sources and non contaminated areas, corresponding to decreasing toxicity values.

Mapping the Sea Floor of the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) Offshore of New York City

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butman, Bradford

2002-01-01

The area offshore of New York City has been used for the disposal of dredged material for over a century. The area has also been used for the disposal of other materials such as acid waste, industrial waste, municipal sewage sludge, cellar dirt, and wood. Between 1976 and 1995, the New York Bight Dredged Material Disposal Site, also known as the Mud Dump Site (MDS), received on average about 6 million cubic yards of dredged material annually. In September 1997 the MDS was closed as a disposal site, and it and the surrounding area were designated as the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS). The sea floor of the HARS, approximately 9 square nautical miles in area, currently is being remediated by placing a minimum 1-m-thick cap of clean dredged material on top of the surficial sediments that are contaminated from previous disposal of dredged and other materials. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working cooperatively with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to map the sea floor geology of the HARS and changes in the characteristics of the surficial sediments over time.

Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of acid tar waste from crude benzol refining: A thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry analysis.

PubMed

Chihobo, Chido H; Chowdhury, Arindrajit; Kuipa, Pardon K; Simbi, David J

2016-12-01

Pyrolysis is an attractive thermochemical conversion technology that may be utilised as a safe disposal option for acid tar waste. The kinetics of acid tar pyrolysis were investigated using thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry under a nitrogen atmosphere at different heating rates of 10, 15 and 20 K min -1 The thermogravimetric analysis shows three major reaction peaks centred around 178 °C, 258 °C, and 336 °C corresponding to the successive degradation of water soluble lower molecular mass sulphonic acids, sulphonated high molecular mass hydrocarbons, and high molecular mass hydrocarbons. The kinetic parameters were evaluated using the iso-conversional Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method. A variation in the activation energy with conversion revealed that the pyrolysis of the acid tar waste progresses through complex multi-step kinetics. Mass spectrometry results revealed a predominance of gases such as hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide, implying that the pyrolysis of acid tar waste is potentially an energy source. Thus the pyrolysis of acid tar waste may present a viable option for its environmental treatment. There are however, some limitations imposed by the co-evolution of corrosive gaseous components for which appropriate considerations must be provided in both pyrolysis reactor design and selection of construction materials. © The Author(s) 2016.

Enhanced fermentable sugar production from kitchen waste using various pretreatments.

PubMed

Hafid, Halimatun Saadiah; Rahman, Nor'Aini Abdul; Md Shah, Umi Kalsom; Baharudin, Azhari Samsu

2015-06-01

The kitchen waste fraction in municipal solid waste contains high organic matter particularly carbohydrate that can contribute to fermentable sugar production for subsequent conversion to bioethanol. This study was carried out to evaluate the influence of single and combination pretreatments of kitchen waste by liquid hot water, mild acid pretreatment of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and enzymatic hydrolysis (glucoamylase). The maximum total fermentable sugar produced after combination pretreatment by 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase consisted of 93.25 g/L glucose, 0.542 g/L sucrose, 0.348 g/L maltose, and 0.321 g/L fructose. The glucose released by the combination pretreatment method was 0.79 g glucose/g KW equivalent to 79% of glucose conversion. The effects of the pre-treatment on kitchen waste indicated that the highest solubilization was 40% by the combination method of 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase. The best combination pre-treatment gave concentrations of lactic acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid of 11.74 g/L, 6.77 g/L, and 1.02 g/L, respectively. The decrease of aliphatic absorbance bands of polysaccharides at 2851 and 2923 cm(-1) and the increase on structures of carbonyl absorbance bands at 1600 cm(-1) reflects the progress of the kitchen waste hydrolysis to fermentable sugars. Overall, 1.5% HCl and glucoamylase treatment was the most profitable process as the minimum selling price of glucose was USD 0.101/g kitchen waste. Therefore, the combination pretreatment method was proposed to enhance the production of fermentable sugar, particularly glucose from kitchen waste as the feedstock for bioethanol production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reclamation of heavy metals from contaminated soil using organic acid liquid generated from food waste: removal of Cd, Cu, and Zn, and soil fertility improvement.

PubMed

Dai, Shijin; Li, Yang; Zhou, Tao; Zhao, Youcai

2017-06-01

Food waste fermentation generates complicated organic and acidic liquids with low pH. In this work, it was found that an organic acid liquid with pH 3.28 and volatile low-molecular-weight organic acid (VLMWOA) content of 5.2 g/L could be produced from food wastes after 9-day fermentation. When the liquid-to-solid ratio was 50:1, temperature was 40 °C, and contact time was 0.5-1 day, 92.9, 78.8, and 52.2% of the Cd, Cu, and Zn in the contaminated soil could be washed out using the fermented food waste liquid, respectively. The water-soluble, acid-soluble, and partly reducible heavy metal fractions can be removed after 0.5-day contact time, which was more effective than that using commercially available VLMWOAs (29-72% removal), as the former contained microorganisms and adequate amounts of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, and exchangeable Na, K, and Ca) which favored the washing process of heavy metals. It is thus suggested that the organic acid fractions from food waste has a considerable potential for reclaiming contaminated soil while improving soil fertility.

Enhanced levels of atmospheric low-molecular weight monocarboxylic acids in gas and particulates over Mt. Tai, North China, during field burning of agricultural wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mochizuki, Tomoki; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Nakamura, Shinnosuke; Kanaya, Yugo; Wang, Zifa

2017-12-01

To understand the source and atmospheric behaviour of low molecular weight monocarboxylic acids (monoacids), gaseous (G) and particulate (P) organic acids were collected at the summit of Mt. Tai in the North China Plain (NCP) during field burning of agricultural waste (wheat straw). Particulate organic acids were collected with neutral quartz filter whereas gaseous organic acids were collected with KOH-impregnated quartz filter. Normal (C1-C10), branched (iC4-iC6), hydroxy (lactic and glycolic), and aromatic (benzoic) monoacids were determined with a capillary gas chromatography employing p-bromophenacyl esters. We found acetic acid as the most abundant gas-phase species whereas formic acid is the dominant particle-phase species. Concentrations of formic (G/P 1 570/1 410 ng m-3) and acetic (3 960/1 120 ng m-3) acids significantly increased during the enhanced field burning of agricultural wastes. Concentrations of formic and acetic acids in daytime were found to increase in both G and P phases with those of K+, a field-burning tracer (r = 0.32-0.64). Primary emission and secondary formation of acetic acid is linked with field burning of agricultural wastes. In addition, we found that particle-phase fractions (Fp = P/(G + P)) of formic (0.50) and acetic (0.31) acids are significantly high, indicating that semi-volatile organic acids largely exist as particles. Field burning of agricultural wastes may play an important role in the formation of particulate monoacids in the NCP. High levels (917 ng m-3) of particle-phase lactic acid, which is characteristic of microorganisms, suggest that microbial activity associated with terrestrial ecosystem significantly contributes to the formation of organic aerosols.

Novel and Unexpected Microbial Diversity in Acid Mine Drainage in Svalbard (78° N), Revealed by Culture-Independent Approaches

PubMed Central

García-Moyano, Antonio; Austnes, Andreas Erling; Lanzén, Anders; González-Toril, Elena; Aguilera, Ángeles; Øvreås, Lise

2015-01-01

Svalbard, situated in the high Arctic, is an important past and present coal mining area. Dozens of abandoned waste rock piles can be found in the proximity of Longyearbyen. This environment offers a unique opportunity for studying the biological control over the weathering of sulphide rocks at low temperatures. Although the extension and impact of acid mine drainage (AMD) in this area is known, the native microbial communities involved in this process are still scarcely studied and uncharacterized. Several abandoned mining areas were explored in the search for active AMD and a culture-independent approach was applied with samples from two different runoffs for the identification and quantification of the native microbial communities. The results obtained revealed two distinct microbial communities. One of the runoffs was more extreme with regards to pH and higher concentration of soluble iron and heavy metals. These conditions favored the development of algal-dominated microbial mats. Typical AMD microorganisms related to known iron-oxidizing bacteria (Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria) dominated the bacterial community although some unexpected populations related to Chloroflexi were also significant. No microbial mats were found in the second area. The geochemistry here showed less extreme drainage, most likely in direct contact with the ore under the waste pile. Large deposits of secondary minerals were found and the presence of iron stalks was revealed by microscopy analysis. Although typical AMD microorganisms were also detected here, the microbial community was dominated by other populations, some of them new to this type of system (Saccharibacteria, Gallionellaceae). These were absent or lowered in numbers the farther from the spring source and they could represent native populations involved in the oxidation of sulphide rocks within the waste rock pile. This environment appears thus as a highly interesting field of potential novelty in terms of both phylogenetic/taxonomic and functional diversity. PMID:27682111

Transport and fate of organic wastes in groundwater at the Stringfellow hazardous waste disposal site, southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leenheer, J.A.; Hsu, J.; Barber, L.B.

2001-01-01

In January 1999, wastewater influent and effluent from the pretreatment plant at the Stringfellow hazardous waste disposal site were sampled along with groundwater at six locations along the groundwater contaminant plume. The objectives of this sampling and study were to identify at the compound class level the unidentified 40-60% of wastewater organic contaminants, and to determine what organic compound classes were being removed by the wastewater pretreatment plant, and what organic compound classes persisted during subsurface waste migration. The unidentified organic wastes are primarily chlorinated aromatic sulfonic acids derived from wastes from DDT manufacture. Trace amounts of EDTA and NTA organic complexing agents were discovered along with carboxylate metabolites of the common alkylphenolpolyethoxylate plasticizers and nonionic surfactants. The wastewater pretreatment plant removed most of the aromatic chlorinated sulfonic acids that have hydrophobic neutral properties, but the p-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid which is the primary waste constituent passed through the pretreatment plant and was discharged in the treated wastewaters transported to an industrial sewer. During migration in groundwater, p-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid is removed by natural remediation processes. Wastewater organic contaminants have decreased 3- to 45-fold in the groundwater from 1985 to 1999 as a result of site remediation and natural remediation processes. The chlorinated aromatic sulfonic acids with hydrophobic neutral properties persist and have migrated into groundwater that underlies the adjacent residential community. Copyright ?? 2001 .

Production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from starch-rich food waste catalyzed by sulfonated biochar.

PubMed

Cao, Leichang; Yu, Iris K M; Chen, Season S; Tsang, Daniel C W; Wang, Lei; Xiong, Xinni; Zhang, Shicheng; Ok, Yong Sik; Kwon, Eilhann E; Song, Hocheol; Poon, Chi Sun

2018-03-01

Sulfonated biochar derived from forestry wood waste was employed for the catalytic conversion of starch-rich food waste (e.g., bread) into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Chemical and physical properties of catalyst were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, and elemental analysis. The conversion of HMF was investigated via controlling the reaction parameters such as catalyst loading, temperature, and reaction time. Under the optimum reaction conditions the HMF yield of 30.4 Cmol% (i.e., 22 wt% of bread waste) was achieved in the mixture of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)/deionized-water (DIW) at 180 °C in 20 min. The effectiveness of sulfonated biochar catalyst was positively correlated to the density of strong/weak Brønsted acidity (SO 3 H, COOH, and OH groups) and inversely correlated to humins content on the surface. With regeneration process, sulfonated biochar catalyst displayed excellent recyclability for comparable HMF yield from bread waste over five cycles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the fatty acid composition of the seeds of Mangifera indica L. and their application.

PubMed

Wu, Shuhsien; Tokuda, Megumi; Kashiwagi, Ayaka; Henmi, Atsushi; Okada, Yoshiharu; Tachibana, Shinya; Nomura, Masato

2015-01-01

Mango (Mangifera indica L.), an edible fruit, is one of the main agricultural products in many tropical regions. Mango varieties differ in not only fruit shape but also aroma, which is an important characteristic. Although the fruit has many uses, the seeds are discarded as waste. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the fatty acid content of seed oil of mangoes from different cultivation areas (Miyazaki, Japan, and Taiwan), and to evaluate their application in cosmetics. Five fatty acids were identified in the mango seed oil. Oleic acid and stearic acid were the principal components of mango seed oil obtained from Miyazaki (46.1% and 39.8%, respectively) and Taiwan (43.7% and 40.1%, respectively). As a cosmetic ingredient, mango seed oil showed good deodorizing effect on both 2-nonenal and isovaleric acid. The results indicated the potential applications of mango seed oil in the cosmetic industry.

Occurrence of acidic pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Turia River Basin: from waste to drinking water.

PubMed

Carmona, Eric; Andreu, Vicente; Picó, Yolanda

2014-06-15

The occurrence of 21 acidic pharmaceuticals, including illicit drugs, and personal care products (PPCPs) in waste, surface and drinking water and in sediments of the Turia River Basin (Valencia, Spain) was studied. A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of these PPCPs with electrospray (ESI) in negative ionization (NI) mode. Ammonium fluoride in the mobile phase improved ionization efficiency by an average increase in peak area of 5 compared to ammonium formate or formic acid. All studied compounds were detected and their concentration was waste water>surface water>drinking water. PPCPs were in waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) influents up to 7.26μgL(-1), dominated by ibuprofen, naproxen and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCOOH). WWTPs were highly effective in removing most of them, with an average removal rate of >90%. PPCPs were still detected in effluents in the 6.72-940ngL(-1) range, with the THCOOH, triclocarban, gemfibrozil and diclofenac as most prevalent. Similarly, diclofenac, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen, naproxen and propylparaben were detected quite frequently from the low ngL(-1) range to 7μgL(-1) in the surface waters of Turia River. Ibuprofen, methylparaben, salicylic acid and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were at concentrations up to 0.85ngg(-1) d.w. in sediments. The discharge of WWTP as well as of non-treated waters to this river is a likely explanation for the significant amount of PPCPs detected in surface waters and sediments. Mineral and tap waters also presented significant amounts (approx. 100ngL(-1)) of ibuprofen, naproxen, propylparaben and butylparaben. The occurrence at trace levels of several PPCPs in drinking water raises concerns about possible implications for human health. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pre-aeration of food waste to augment acidogenic process at higher organic load: Valorizing biohydrogen, volatile fatty acids and biohythane.

PubMed

Sarkar, Omprakash; Venkata Mohan, S

2017-10-01

Application of pre-aeration (AS) to waste prior to feeding was evaluated on acidogenic process in a semi-pilot scale biosystem for the production of biobased products (biohydrogen, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and biohythane) from food waste. Oxygen assisted in pre-hydrolysis of waste along with the suppression of methanogenic activity resulting in enhanced acidogenic product formation. AS operation resulted in 97% improvement in hydrogen conversion efficiency (HCE) and 10% more VFA production than the control. Increasing the organic load (OL) of food waste in association with AS application improved the productivity. The application of AS also influenced concentration and composition of fatty acid. Highest fraction of acetic (5.3g/l), butyric (0.7g/l) and propionic acid (0.84g/l) was achieved at higher OL (100g COD/l) with good degree of acidification (DOA). AS strategy showed positive influence on biofuel (biohydrogen and biohythane) production along with the biosynthesis of short chain fatty acids functioning as a low-cost pretreatment strategy in a single stage bioprocess. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regeneration of Waste Edible Oil by the Use of Virgin and Calcined Magnesium Hydroxide as Adsorbents.

PubMed

Ogata, Fumihiko; Kawasaki, Naohito

2016-01-01

In this study, we prepared virgin (S, L) and calcined (S-380, S-1000, L-380, L-1000) magnesium hydroxide for regeneration of waste edible oil. Deterioration of soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and olive oil was achieved by heat and aeration treatment. The properties of the different adsorbents were investigated using specific surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, and surface pH measurement. Moreover, the relationship between the changes in acid value (AV) and carbonyl value (CV) and the adsorbent properties were evaluated. The specific surface areas of S-380 and L-380 were greater than that of other adsorbents. In addition, the XRD results show that S-380 and L-380 contain both magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide structures. The decreases in AV and CV using S-380 and L-380 were greater than achieved using other adsorbents. The correlation coefficients between the decrease in AV and CV and specific surface area were 0.947 for soybean oil, 0.649 for rapeseed oil, and 0.773 for olive oil, respectively. The results obtained in this study suggest that a physical property of the adsorbent, namely specific surface area, was primarily responsible for the observed decreases in AV and CV. Overall, the results suggest that S-380 and L-380 are useful for the regeneration of waste edible oil.

Reconnaissance hydrogeologic investigation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility and vicinity, Savannah River Plant, South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dennehy, K.F.; Prowell, D.C.; McMahon, P.B.

1989-01-01

The hydrogeologic framework of the area around the Savannah River Plant, South Carolina consists of 2 to 3 separate water bearing units. In the northern half of the study area, the Barnwell and underlying McBean aquifers are considered one aquifer owing to the absence of the tan clay-confining unit between them. In the southern half of the study area they are separated by the tan clay into two aquifers. Underlying these aquifers, and separated from them by the green clay-confining unit, is the Congaree aquifer. Hydraulic conductivities of the aquifers range from 0.00000001 to 0.0001 ft/sec. Directions of groundwater flow in the Barnwell and McBean aquifers are to the north, with a component of flow directed downward across the green clay and into the Congaree aquifer. The direction of flow in the Congaree aquifer is to the northwest. Water in these aquifers evolves from an acidic (pH < 6.5) mixed-cation type in the Barnwell aquifer to an alkaline (pH > 8) calcium bicarbonate water in the Congaree aquifer. Laboratory experiments indicate that reactions between sediments of the Barnwell aquifer and a salt-solution waste to be stored at the study area would significantly reduce the permeability of the sediment, thereby limiting the movement of the waste in groundwater at the site. (USGS)

Mediated electrochemical oxidation of organic wastes using a Co (III) mediator in a nitric acid based system

DOEpatents

Balazs, G. Bryan; Chiba, Zoher; Lewis, Patricia R.; Nelson, Norvell; Steward, G. Anthony

1999-01-01

An electrochemical cell with a Co(III) mediator and nitric acid electrolyte provides efficient destruction of organic and mixed wastes. The organic waste is concentrated in the anolyte reservoir, where the mediator oxidizes the organics and insoluble transuranic compounds and is regenerated at the anode until the organics are converted to CO.sub.2. The nitric acid is an excellent oxidant that facilitates the destruction of the organic components. The anode is not readily attacked by the nitric acid solution, thus the cell can be used for extended continual operation without electrode replacement.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osmanlioglu, Ahmet Erdal

Available in abstract form only. Full text of publication follows: Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in concentrated forms arises both in industry and in nature where natural radioisotopes accumulate at particular sites. Technically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TE-NORM) often occurs in an acidic environment where precipitates containing radionuclides plate out onto pipe walls, filters, tank linings, etc. Because of the radionuclides are selectively deposited at these sites, radioactivity concentration is extremely higher than the natural concentration. This paper presents characterization and related considerations of TE-NORM wastes in Turkey. Generally, accumulation conditions tend to favour the build-up of radium. Asmore » radium is highly radio-toxic, handling, treatment, storage and disposal of such material requires careful management. Turkey has the only low level waste processing and storage facility (WPSF) in Istanbul. This facility has interim storage buildings and storage area for storage of packaged radioactive waste which are containing artificial radioisotopes, but there is an increasing demand for the storage to accept bulk concentrated TE-NORM wastes from iron-steel and related industries. Most of these wastes generated from scrap metal piles which are imported from other countries. These wastes generally contain radium. (authors)« less

Efficient use of shrimp waste: present and future trends.

PubMed

Kandra, Prameela; Challa, Murali Mohan; Jyothi, Hemalatha Kalangi Padma

2012-01-01

The production of shrimp waste from shrimp processing industries has undergone a dramatic increase in recent years. Continued production of this biomaterial without corresponding development of utilizing technology has resulted in waste collection, disposal, and pollution problems. Currently used chemical process releases toxic chemicals such as HCl, acetic acid, and NaOH into aquatic ecosystem as byproducts which will spoil the aquatic flora and fauna. Environmental protection regulations have become stricter. Now, there is a need to treat and utilize the waste in most efficient manner. The shrimp waste contains several bioactive compounds such as chitin, pigments, amino acids, and fatty acids. These bioactive compounds have a wide range of applications including medical, therapies, cosmetics, paper, pulp and textile industries, biotechnology, and food applications. This current review article present the utilization of shrimp waste as well as an alternative technology to replace hazardous chemical method that address the future trends in total utilization of shrimp waste for recovery of bioactive compounds.

Recovery of phosphorus and volatile fatty acids from wastewater and food waste with an iron-flocculation sequencing batch reactor and acidogenic co-fermentation.

PubMed

Li, Ruo-Hong; Li, Xiao-Yan

2017-12-01

A sequencing batch reactor-based system was developed for enhanced phosphorus (P) removal and recovery from municipal wastewater. The system consists of an iron-dosing SBR for P precipitation and a side-stream anaerobic reactor for sludge co-fermentation with food waste. During co-fermentation, sludge and food waste undergo acidogenesis, releasing phosphates under acidic conditions and producing volatile fatty acids (VFAs) into the supernatant. A few types of typical food waste were investigated for their effectiveness in acidogenesis and related enzymatic activities. The results show that approximately 96.4% of total P in wastewater was retained in activated sludge. Food waste with a high starch content favoured acidogenic fermentation. Around 55.7% of P from wastewater was recovered as vivianite, and around 66% of food waste loading was converted into VFAs. The new integration formed an effective system for wastewater treatment, food waste processing and simultaneous recovery of P and VFAs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 61.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...) Phosphogypsum is the solid waste byproduct which results from the process of wet acid phosphorus production. (c) Phosphogypsum stacks or stacks are piles of waste resulting from wet acid phosphorus production, including...

40 CFR 61.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...) Phosphogypsum is the solid waste byproduct which results from the process of wet acid phosphorus production. (c) Phosphogypsum stacks or stacks are piles of waste resulting from wet acid phosphorus production, including...

Implementation of flowsheet change to minimize hydrogen and ammonia generation during chemical processing of high level waste in the Defense Waste Processing Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lambert, Dan P.; Woodham, Wesley H.; Williams, Matthew S.

Testing was completed to develop a chemical processing flowsheet for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), designed to vitrify and stabilize high level radioactive waste. DWPF processing uses a reducing acid (formic acid) and an oxidizing acid (nitric acid) to rheologically thin the slurry and complete the necessary acid base and reduction reactions (primarily mercury and manganese). Formic acid reduces mercuric oxide to elemental mercury, allowing the mercury to be removed during the boiling phase of processing through steam stripping. In runs with active catalysts, formic acid can decompose to hydrogen and nitrate can be reduced to ammonia, both flammablemore » gases, due to rhodium and ruthenium catalysis. Replacement of formic acid with glycolic acid eliminates the generation of rhodium- and ruthenium-catalyzed hydrogen and ammonia. In addition, mercury reduction is still effective with glycolic acid. Hydrogen, ammonia and mercury are discussed in the body of the report. Ten abbreviated tests were completed to develop the operating window for implementation of the flowsheet and determine the impact of changes in acid stoichiometry and the blend of nitric and glycolic acid as it impacts various processing variables over a wide processing region. Three full-length 4-L lab-scale simulations demonstrated the viability of the flowsheet under planned operating conditions. The flowsheet is planned for implementation in early 2017.« less

Morphology and pH changes in leached solidified/stabilized waste forms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, K.Y.; Bishop, P.L.

1996-12-31

Leaching of cement-based waste forms in acetic acid solutions with different acidic strengths has been investigated in this work. The examination of the morphology and pH profile along the acid penetration route by an optical microscope and various pH color indicators is reported. A clear-cut leaching boundary, where the pH changes from below 6 in the leached surface layers to above 12 in the unleached waste form, was observed in every leached sample.

Enhancing the hydrophobicity of mangrove bark by esterification for oil adsorption.

PubMed

Asadpour, Robabeh; Sapari, Nasiman Bin; Isa, Mohamed Hasnain; Orji, Kalu Uka

2014-01-01

Oil spills generally cause worldwide concern due to their detrimental effects on the environment and the economy. An assortment of commercial systems has been developed to control these spills, including the use of agricultural wastes as sorbents. This work deals with raw and modified mangrove barks (Rhizophora apiculata), an industrial lignocellulosic waste, as a low cost adsorbent for oil-product-spill cleanup in the aquatic environment. Mangrove bark was modified using fatty acids (oleic acid and palmitic acid) to improve its adsorption capacity. The oil sorption capacity of the modified bark was studied and compared with that of the raw bark. Kinetic tests were conducted with a series of contact times. The influence of particle size, oil dosage, pH and temperature on oil sorption capacity was investigated. The results showed that oleic acid treated bark has a higher sorption capacity (2,860.00 ± 2.00 mg/g) than untreated bark for Tapis crude oil. A correlation between surface functional groups, morphology and surface area of the adsorbent was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrum, field emission scanning electron microscopy images and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Isotherm study was conducted using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The result showed that adsorption of crude oil on treated mangrove bark could be best described by the Langmuir model.

Uranium fate in Hanford sediment altered by simulated acid waste solutions

DOE PAGES

Gartman, Brandy N.; Qafoku, Nikolla P.; Szecsody, James E.; ...

2015-07-31

Many aspects of U(VI) behavior in sediments that are previously exposed to acidic waste fluids for sufficiently long times to induce significant changes in pH and other physical, mineralogical and chemical properties, are not well documented in the literature. For this reason, we conducted a series of macroscopic batch experiments combined with a variety of bulk characterization studies (Mössbauer and laser spectroscopy), micro-scale inspections (µ-XRF), and molecular scale interrogations (XANES) with the objectives to: i) determine the extent of U(VI) partitioning to Hanford sediments previously exposed to acidic waste simulants (pH = 2 and pH = 5) and under neutralmore » conditions (pH = 8) at varying background solution concentrations (i.e., NaNO 3); ii) determine micron-scale solid phase associated U valence state and phase identity; and iii) provide information for a plausible conceptual model of U(VI) attenuation under waste plume acidic conditions. The results of the batch experiments showed that the acid pre-treated sediment had high affinity for aqueous U(VI), which was removed from solution via two pH dependent and apparently different mechanisms (adsorption at pH = 2 and precipitation at pH = 5). The micro-scale inspections and XANES analyses confirmed that high concentration areas were rich mainly in U(VI), demonstrating that most of the added U(VI) was not reduced to U(IV). The laser spectroscopy data showed that uranyl phosphates {e.g. metaautunite [Ca(UO 2) 2(PO 4) 2•10-12H 2O] and phosphuranylite [KCa(H 3O) 3(UO 2) 7(PO 4) 4O 4•8(H 2O)]} were present in the sediments. They also showed clear differences between the U bearing phases in the experiments conducted in the presence or absence of air. As a result, the data generated from these experiments will help in a better understanding of the reactions and processes that have a significant effect and/or control U mobility.« less

Worldwide Environmental Compliance Assessment System (ECAS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

and other Pickling liquor and other corrosive alkalies corrosive acids Lime wastewater Spent acid Lime and water Spent mixed acid Spent caustic Spent ...labeling. packag- ing. and spill response for hazardous materials? 4. Does the installation store: * a. acids? b. caustics ? c. flammables? d. combustibles...USEPA Hazardous Waste Hazard Waste Code No. FOOl The following spent halokenated solvents used in degreasing: tetra- (T) chloroethylene, trichloroethylene

An experimental study on thermo-catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste using a continuous pyrolyser.

PubMed

Auxilio, Anthony R; Choo, Wei-Lit; Kohli, Isha; Chakravartula Srivatsa, Srikanth; Bhattacharya, Sankar

2017-09-01

A bench scale, two-stage, thermo-catalytic reactor equipped with a continuous feeding system was used to pyrolyse pure and waste plastics. Experiments using five zeolitic and clay-based catalysts of different forms (pellet and powders) and different plastic feedstocks - virgin HDPE, HDPE w1aste and mixed plastic waste (MPW) were compared to the control experiments - pyrolysis without catalyst. Results indicated that the two pelletized catalysts were the most promising for the conditions employed. Of these two, one with higher acidity and surface area was highly selective for the gasoline fraction (C 5 -C 11 ) giving 80% from the total medium distillate conversion using virgin HDPE as feedstock. It also produced the least amount of olefins (17% for virgin HDPE, 4% for HDPE waste and 2% for MPW) and coke (<1% for virgin HDPE, 3% for HDPE waste and 5% for MPW), and the highest aromatics content (22% for virgin HDPE from un-distilled medium distillate, 5% for HDPE and 13% for MPW both from distilled medium distillate). The second pelletized catalyst exhibited high selectivity for the diesel fraction (C 12 -C 25 ) giving 63% from the total medium distillate conversion using virgin HDPE as feedstock. The amount of coke deposited on the catalyst surface depended mainly on the mesopore volume, with less coke deposited as the mesopore volume increased. The variation in catalyst selectivity with acidity strength due to Lewis sites on the catalyst surface controls selectivity towards carbon chain length. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneous Catalysts for VOC Oxidation from Red Mud and Bagasse Ash Carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pande, Gaurav

A range of VOC oxidation catalysts have been prepared in this study from agricultural and industrial waste as the starting point. The aim is to prepare catalysts with non-noble metal oxides as the active catalytic component (iron in red mud). The same active component was also supported on activated carbon obtained from unburned carbon in bagasse ash. Red mud which is an aluminum industry waste and rich in different phases of iron as oxide and hydroxide is used as the source for the catalytically active species. It is our aim to enhance the catalytic performance of red mud which though high in iron concentration has a low surface area and may not have the properties of an ideal catalyst by itself. In one of the attempts to enhance the catalytic performance, we have tried to leach red mud for which we have explored a range of leaching acids for effecting the leaching most efficiently and then precipitated the iron from the leachate as its hydroxide by precipitating with alkali solution followed by drying and calcination to give high surface area metal oxide material. Extensive surface characterization and VOC oxidation catalytic testing were performed for these solids. In a step to further enhance the catalytic activity towards oxidation, copper was introduced by taking another industrial waste from the copper tubing industry viz. the pickling acid. Copper has a more favourable redox potential making it catalytically more effective than iron. To make the mixed metal oxide, red mud leachate was mixed with the pickling acid in a pre-decided ratio before precipitating with alkali solution followed by drying and calcination as was done with the red mud leachate. The results from these experiments are encouraging. The temperature programmed reduction (TPR) of the solids show that the precipitate of red mud leachates show hydrogen uptake peak at a lower temperature than for just the calcined red mud. This could be due to the greatly enhanced surface area of the prepared solids. The highest surface area of 311 m2/g was for the sample prepared from oxalic acid and l-ascorbic acid as the leaching acid; as received red mud has a surface area of 11.5 m2/g. This sample showed better catalytic performance than the ones made from hydrochloric acid as the leaching acid in spite of a similar increase in surface area. High temperature XRD shows the reason for this difference in catalytic properties could be due to both the solids reducing in a different way to give different phases though they are both derived from red mud as the starting material. Also, the sample prepared with oxalic acid leachate had higher surface iron concentration. For the best catalyst (oxalic acid derived) the light off temperature is about 300 °C for toluene oxidation. For solids prepared from red mud leachate for iron source and pickling acid for copper source, it was seen that the TPR gave hydrogen absorption at temperatures even lower than that for red mud leachate precipitates. In another set of experiments, iron oxide impregnated on activated carbon supports were prepared. Activated carbon is known for its adsorption properties which could give a better access of the impregnated metal oxide catalyst to perform the catalytic oxidation on the adsorbed substrate. Unburned carbon in bagasse ash which is a sugar industry agricultural waste was used to get the activated carbon. This material was separated from the ash and further modified to enhance the activity and increase the porosity. To this effect steam activation was performed. To impart thermal stability for oxidation reaction, the carbon was impregnated by phosphoric acid at activated at high temperatures in inert atmosphere. These carbons were thermally stable due to the surface C--O--P groups. Toluene adsorption studies were also performed for both the steam activated as well as phosphoric acid activated carbon and it was found that the steam activated carbons with less surface oxygen had reasonable adsorption attributes. For iron impregnation onto the prepared bagasse ash carbons, two different methods of impregnation viz. incipient wetness method as well as impregnation by precipitation of the red mud leachate by adding alkali to a slurry of carbon and leachate (Pratt method) was used. It was found that impregnation by precipitation led to better butanol oxidation performing catalyst than the one prepared by impregnating by incipient wetness method. The best performing catalyst amongst the iron impregnated on carbon types was found to give 100% butanol conversion at 200 °C. It was also observed that red mud leachate precipitated catalyst performed well for toluene oxidation and not for butanol oxidation while carbon supported iron oxide catalysts worked better for butanol oxidation than for toluene oxidation.

Apparatus and method for two-stage oxidation of wastes

DOEpatents

Fleischman, Scott D.

1995-01-01

An apparatus and method for oxidizing wastes in a two-stage process. The apparatus includes an oxidation device, a gas-liquid contacting column and an electrocell. In the first stage of the process, wastes are heated in the presence of air to partially oxidize the wastes. The heated wastes produce an off-gas stream containing oxidizable materials. In the second stage, the off-gas stream is cooled and flowed through the contacting column, where the off-gas stream is contacted with an aqueous acid stream containing an oxidizing agent having at least two positive valence states. At least a portion of the oxidizable materials are transferred to the acid stream and destroyed by the oxidizing agent. During oxidation, the valence of the oxidizing agent is decreased from its higher state to its lower state. The acid stream is flowed to the electrocell, where an electric current is applied to the stream to restore the oxidizing agent to its higher valence state. The regenerated acid stream is recycled to the contacting column.

Leaching boundary movement in solidified/stabilized waste forms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuang Ye Cheng; Bishop, P.L.

1992-02-01

Investigation of the leaching of cement-based waste forms in acetic acid solutions found that acids attacked the waste form from the surface toward the center. A sharp leaching boundary was identified in every leached sample, using pH color indicators. The movement of the leaching boundary was found to be a single diffusion-controlled process.

Contaminated groundwater characterization at the Chalk River Laboratories, Ontario, Canada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schilk, A.J.; Robertson, D.E.; Thomas, C.W.

1993-03-01

The licensing requirements for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste (10 CFR 61) specify the performance objectives and technical requisites for federal and commercial land disposal facilities, the ultimate goal of which is to contain the buried wastes so that the general population is adequately protected from harmful exposure to any released radioactive materials. A major concern in the operation of existing and projected waste disposal sites is subterranean radionuclide transport by saturated or unsaturated flow, which could lead to the contamination of groundwater systems as well as uptake by the surrounding biosphere, thereby directly exposing the general public tomore » such materials. Radionuclide transport in groundwater has been observed at numerous commercial and federal waste disposal sites [including several locations within the waste management area of Chalk River Laboratories (CRL)], yet the physico-chemical processes that lead to such migration are still not completely understood. In an attempt to assist in the characterization of these processes, an intensive study was initiated at CRL to identify and quantify the mobile radionuclide species originating from three separate disposal sites: (a) the Chemical Pit, which has received aqueous wastes containing various radioisotopes, acids, alkalis, complexing agents and salts since 1956, (b) the Reactor Pit, which has received low-level aqueous wastes from a reactor rod storage bay since 1956, and (c) the Waste Management Area C, a thirty-year-old series of trenches that contains contaminated solid wastes from CRL and various regional medical facilities. Water samples were drawn downgradient from each of the above sites and passed through a series of filters and ion-exchange resins to retain any particulate and dissolved or colloidal radionuclide species, which were subsequently identified and quantified via radiochemical separations and gamma spectroscopy. These groundwaters were also analyzed for anions, trace metals, Eh, pH, alkalinity and dissolved oxygen.« less

Inhibition of acid mine drainage and immobilization of heavy metals from copper flotation tailings using a marble cutting waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tozsin, Gulsen

2016-01-01

Acid mine drainage (AMD) with high concentrations of sulfates and metals is generated by the oxidation of sulfide bearing wastes. CaCO3-rich marble cutting waste is a residual material produced by the cutting and polishing of marble stone. In this study, the feasibility of using the marble cutting waste as an acid-neutralizing agent to inhibit AMD and immobilize heavy metals from copper flotation tailings (sulfide- bearing wastes) was investigated. Continuous-stirring shake-flask tests were conducted for 40 d, and the pH value, sulfate content, and dissolved metal content of the leachate were analyzed every 10 d to determine the effectiveness of the marble cutting waste as an acid neutralizer. For comparison, CaCO3 was also used as a neutralizing agent. The average pH value of the leachate was 2.1 at the beginning of the experiment ( t = 0). In the experiment employing the marble cutting waste, the pH value of the leachate changed from 6.5 to 7.8, and the sulfate and iron concentrations decreased from 4558 to 838 mg/L and from 536 to 0.01 mg/L, respectively, after 40 d. The marble cutting waste also removed more than 80wt% of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) from AMD generated by copper flotation tailings.

Corrosion Testing of Monofrax K-3 Refractory in Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Alternate Reductant Feeds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, M.; Jantzen, C.; Burket, P.

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) uses a combination of reductants and oxidants while converting high level waste (HLW) to a borosilicate waste form. A reducing flowsheet is maintained to retain radionuclides in their reduced oxidation states which promotes their incorporation into borosilicate glass. For the last 20 years of processing, the DWPF has used formic acid as the main reductant and nitric acid as the main oxidant. During reaction in the Chemical Process Cell (CPC), formate and formic acid release measurably significant H 2 gas which requires monitoring of certain vessel’s vapor spaces.more » A switch to a nitric acid-glycolic acid (NG) flowsheet from the nitric-formic (NF) flowsheet is desired as the NG flowsheet releases considerably less H 2 gas upon decomposition. This would greatly simplify DWPF processing from a safety standpoint as close monitoring of the H 2 gas concentration could become less critical. In terms of the waste glass melter vapor space flammability, the switch from the NF flowsheet to the NG flowsheet showed a reduction of H 2 gas production from the vitrification process as well. Due to the positive impact of the switch to glycolic acid determined on the flammability issues, evaluation of the other impacts of glycolic acid on the facility must be examined.« less

Physicochemical properties, nutritional value and techno-functional properties of goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) waste powder concise title: Composition of goldenberry juice waste.

PubMed

Mokhtar, Sayed M; Swailam, Hesham M; Embaby, Hassan El-Sayed

2018-05-15

Goldenberry waste powder, contained 5.87% moisture, 15.89% protein, 13.72% fat, 3.52% ash, 16.74% dietary fiber and 61% carbohydrates. Potassium (560 mg/100 g) was the predominant element followed by sodium (170 mg/100 g) and phosphorus (130 mg/100 g). Amino acid analysis gave high levels of cystine/methionine, histidine and tyrosine/phenylalanine. Goldenberry waste powder had good levels of the techno-functional properties including water absorption index, swelling index, foaming capacity and stability (3.38 g/g, 5.24 ml/g, 4.09 and 72.0%, respectively). Fatty acids profile showed that linoleic acid was the predominant fatty acid followed by oleic, palmitic and stearic acids. Iodine value (109.5 g/100 g of oil), acid value (2.36 mg KOH/g of oil), saponification value (183.8 mg KOH/g of oil), peroxide value (8.2 meq/kg of oil) and refractive index (1.4735) were comparable to those of soybean and sunflower oils. Goldenberry waste oil exhibited absorbance in the UV range at 100-400 nm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of glycolate anion on aqueous corrosion in DWPF and downstream facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mickalonis, J. I.

2015-12-15

Glycolic acid is being evaluated as an alternate reductant in the preparation of high level waste for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). During processing, the glycolic acid may not be completely consumed with small quantities of the glycolate anion being carried forward to other high level waste (HLW) facilities. The impact of the glycolate anion on the corrosion of the materials of construction (MoC) throughout the waste processing system has not been previously evaluated. A literature review had revealed that corrosion data were not available for the MoCs in glycolic-bearing solutions applicable tomore » SRS systems. Data on the material compatibility with only glycolic acid or its derivative products were identified; however, data were limited for solutions containing glycolic acid or the glycolate anion.« less

Sustainable rehabilitation of mining waste and acid mine drainage using geochemistry, mine type, mineralogy, texture, ore extraction and climate knowledge.

PubMed

Anawar, Hossain Md

2015-08-01

The oxidative dissolution of sulfidic minerals releases the extremely acidic leachate, sulfate and potentially toxic elements e.g., As, Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Th, U, Zn, etc. from different mine tailings and waste dumps. For the sustainable rehabilitation and disposal of mining waste, the sources and mechanisms of contaminant generation, fate and transport of contaminants should be clearly understood. Therefore, this study has provided a critical review on (1) recent insights in mechanisms of oxidation of sulfidic minerals, (2) environmental contamination by mining waste, and (3) remediation and rehabilitation techniques, and (4) then developed the GEMTEC conceptual model/guide [(bio)-geochemistry-mine type-mineralogy- geological texture-ore extraction process-climatic knowledge)] to provide the new scientific approach and knowledge for remediation of mining wastes and acid mine drainage. This study has suggested the pre-mining geological, geochemical, mineralogical and microtextural characterization of different mineral deposits, and post-mining studies of ore extraction processes, physical, geochemical, mineralogical and microbial reactions, natural attenuation and effect of climate change for sustainable rehabilitation of mining waste. All components of this model should be considered for effective and integrated management of mining waste and acid mine drainage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mediated electrochemical oxidation of organic wastes using a Co (III) mediator in a nitric acid based system

DOEpatents

Balazs, G.B.; Chiba, Z.; Lewis, P.R.; Nelson, N.; Steward, G.A.

1999-06-15

An electrochemical cell with a Co(III) mediator and nitric acid electrolyte provides efficient destruction of organic and mixed wastes. The organic waste is concentrated in the anolyte reservoir, where the mediator oxidizes the organics and insoluble transuranic compounds and is regenerated at the anode until the organics are converted to CO[sub 2]. The nitric acid is an excellent oxidant that facilitates the destruction of the organic components. The anode is not readily attacked by the nitric acid solution, thus the cell can be used for extended continual operation without electrode replacement. 2 figs.

Sustainable utilization of waste palm oil and sulfonated carbon catalyst derived from coconut meal residue for biodiesel production.

PubMed

Thushari, Indika; Babel, Sandhya

2018-01-01

In this study, an inexpensive, environmental benign acid catalyst is prepared using coconut meal residue (CMR) and employed for biodiesel production from waste palm oil (WPO). The total acid density of the catalyst is found to be 3.8mmolg -1 . The catalyst shows a unique amorphous structure with 1.33m 2 g -1 of surface area and 0.31cm 3 g -1 of mean pore volume. Successful activation is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The highest biodiesel yield of 92.7% was obtained from WPO in an open reflux system using the catalyst. Results show that biodiesel yield increases with increasing methanol:oil (molar ratio) and reaction time up to an optimum value. It is found that the catalyst can be reused for at least four cycles for >80% biodiesel yield. Fuel properties of the produced biodiesel meet international biodiesel standards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prediction of AMD generation potential in mining waste piles, in the Sarcheshmeh porphyry copper deposit, Iran.

PubMed

Modabberi, Soroush; Alizadegan, Ali; Mirnejad, Hassan; Esmaeilzadeh, Esmat

2013-11-01

This study investigates the possibility of acid mine drainage (AMD) generation in active and derelict mine waste piles in Sarcheshmeh Copper Mine produced in several decades, using static tests including acid-base accounting (ABA) and net acid-generating pH (NAGpH). In this study, 51 composite samples were taken from 11 waste heaps, and static ABA and NAGpH tests were carried out on samples. While some piles are acid producing at present and AMD is discharging from the piles, most of them do not show any indication on their AMD potential, and they were investigated to define their acid-producing potential. The analysis of data indicates that eight waste piles are potentially acid generating with net neutralization potentials (NNPs) of -56.18 to -199.3, net acid generating of 2.19-3.31, and NPRs from 0.18 to 0.44. Other waste piles exhibited either a very low sulfur, high carbonate content or excess carbonate over sulfur; hence, they are not capable of acid production or they can be considered as weak acid producers. Consistency between results of ABA and NAGpH tests using a variety of classification criteria validates these tests as powerful means for preliminary evaluation of AMD/ARD possibilities in any mining district. It is also concluded that some of the piles with very negative NNPs are capable to produce AMD naturally, and they can be used in heap leaching process for economic recovery of trace amounts of metals without applying any biostimulation methods.

Destruction of Navy Hazardous Wastes by Supercritical Water Oxidation

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-08-01

cleaning and derusting (nitrite and citric acid solutions), electroplating ( acids and metal bearing solutions), electronics and refrigeration... acid forming chemical species or that contain a large amount of dissolved solids present a challenge to current SCWO •-chnology. Approved for public...Waste streams that contain a large amount of mineral- acid forming chemical species or that contain a large amount of dissolved solids present a challenge

An overview of the recovery of acid from spent acidic solutions from steel and electroplating industries.

PubMed

Agrawal, Archana; Sahu, K K

2009-11-15

Every metal and metallurgical industry is associated with the generation of waste, which may be a solid, liquid or gaseous in nature. Their impacts on the ecological bodies are noticeable due to their complex and hazardous nature affecting the living and non-living environment which is an alarming issue to the environmentalist. The increasingly stringent regulations regarding the discharge of acid and metal into the environment, and the increasing stress upon the recycling/reuse of these effluents after proper treatment have focused the interest of the research community on the development of new approaches for the recovery of acid and metals from industrial wastes. This paper is a critical review on the acidic waste streams generated from steel and electroplating industries particularly from waste pickle liquor and spent bleed streams. Various aspects on the generation of these streams and the methods used for their treatment either for the recovery of acid for reuse or disposal are being dealt with. Major stress is laid upon the hydrometallurgical methods such as solvent extraction.

Direct valorisation of waste cocoa butter triglycerides via catalytic epoxidation, ring-opening and polymerisation.

PubMed

Plaza, Dorota D; Strobel, Vinzent; Heer, Parminder Kaur Ks; Sellars, Andrew B; Hoong, Seng-Soi; Clark, Andrew J; Lapkin, Alexei A

2017-09-01

Development of circular economy requires significant advances in the technologies for valorisation of waste, as waste becomes new feedstock. Food waste is a particularly important feedstock, containing large variation of complex chemical functionality. Although most food waste sources are complex mixtures, waste from food processing, no longer suitable for the human food chain, may also represent relatively clean materials. One such material requiring valorisation is cocoa butter. Epoxidation of a triglyceride from a food waste source, processing waste cocoa butter, into the corresponding triglyceride epoxide was carried out using a modified Ishii-Venturello catalyst in batch and continuous flow reactors. The batch reactor achieved higher yields due to the significant decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the laminar flow tubular reactor. Integral and differential models describing the reaction and the phase transfer kinetics were developed for the epoxidation of cocoa butter and the model parameters were estimated. Ring-opening of the epoxidised cocoa butter was undertaken to provide polyols of varying molecular weight (M w = 2000-84 000 Da), hydroxyl value (27-60 mg KOH g -1 ) and acid value (1-173 mg KOH g -1 ), using either aqueous ortho-phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) or boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF 3 · OEt 2 )-mediated oligomerisation in bulk, using hexane or tetrahydrofuran (THF) as solvents. The thermal and tensile properties of the polyurethanes obtained from the reaction of these polyols with 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) are described. The paper presents a complete valorisation scheme for a food manufacturing industry waste stream, starting from the initial chemical transformation, developing a process model for the design of a scaled-up process, and leading to synthesis of the final product, in this case a polymer. This work describes aspects of optimisation of the conversion route, focusing on clean synthesis and also demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of the development projects, requiring input from different areas of chemistry, process modelling and process design. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Multistage leaching of metals from spent lithium ion battery waste using electrochemically generated acidic lixiviant.

PubMed

Boxall, N J; Adamek, N; Cheng, K Y; Haque, N; Bruckard, W; Kaksonen, A H

2018-04-01

Lithium ion battery (LIB) waste contains significant valuable resources that could be recovered and reused to manufacture new products. This study aimed to develop an alternative process for extracting metals from LIB waste using acidic solutions generated by electrolysis for leaching. Results showed that solutions generated by electrolysis of 0.5 M NaCl at 8 V with graphite or mixed metal oxide (MMO) electrodes were weakly acidic and leach yields obtained under single stage (batch) leaching were poor (<10%). This was due to the highly acid-consuming nature of the battery waste. Multistage leaching with the graphite electrolyte solution improved leach yields overall, but the electrodes corroded over time. Though yields obtained with both electrolyte leach solutions were low when compared to the 4 M HCl control, there still remains potential to optimise the conditions for the generation of the acidic anolyte solution and the solubilisation of valuable metals from the LIB waste. A preliminary value proposition indicated that the process has the potential to be economically feasible if leach yields can be improved, especially based on the value of recoverable cobalt and lithium. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparation of nanobiochar as magnetic solid acid catalyst by pyrolysis-carbonization from oil palm empty fruit bunches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenie, S. N. Aisyiyah; Kristiani, Anis; Kustomo, Simanungkalit, Sabar; Mansur, Dieni

2017-11-01

Nanomaterials based on carbon exhibits unique properties, both physical and chemical, that can be utilized in various application, including catalyst. These nanomaterials were prepared through pyrolysis-carbonization process of biomass, oil palm empty fruit bunches. The effect of carbonization temperature in range of 500°C-600°C were also studied. The magnetic nanobiochar samples, MBC, were sulfonated by using sulfuric acid to increase their properties as solid acid catalyst. Their chemical and physical properties were characterized by Surface Area Analyzer and Porositymeter, X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infra-Red. The magnetic biochar samples obtained from carbonization at 873 K, MBC02-SO3H, was proven to have higher surface area, crystallinity properties and surface chemical composition after sulfonation process, which were confirmed by the BET, XRD and FT-IR analysis. Moreover, sample MBC02-SO3H exhibit promising catalytic acitivity in a catalysed esterification reaction, producing an ester yield of 64%. The result from this work opens new opportunities for the development of magnetic heterogenous acid catalyst from biomass waste.

Organic chemical aging mechanisms: An annotated bibliography. Waste Tank Safety Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samuels, W.D.; Camaioni, D.M.; Nelson, D.A.

1993-09-01

An annotated bibliography has been compiled of the potential chemical and radiological aging mechanisms of the organic constituents (non-ferrocyanide) that would likely be found in the UST at Hanford. The majority of the work that has been conducted on the aging of organic chemicals used for extraction and processing of nuclear materials has been in conjunction with the acid or PUREX type processes. At Hanford the waste being stored in the UST has been stabilized with caustic. The aging factors that were used in this work were radiolysis, hydrolysis and nitrite/nitrate oxidation. The purpose of this work was two-fold: tomore » determine whether or not research had been or is currently being conducted on the species associated with the Hanford UST waste, either as a mixture or as individual chemicals or chemical functionalities, and to determine what areas of chemical aging need to be addressed by further research.« less

URANIUM RECOVERY PROCESS

DOEpatents

Hyman, H.H.; Dreher, J.L.

1959-07-01

The recovery of uranium from the acidic aqueous metal waste solutions resulting from the bismuth phosphate carrier precipitation of plutonium from solutions of neutron irradiated uranium is described. The waste solutions consist of phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and uranium as a uranyl salt, together with salts of the fission products normally associated with neutron irradiated uranium. Generally, the process of the invention involves the partial neutralization of the waste solution with sodium hydroxide, followed by conversion of the solution to a pH 11 by mixing therewith sufficient sodium carbonate. The resultant carbonate-complexed waste is contacted with a titanated silica gel and the adsorbent separated from the aqueous medium. The aqueous solution is then mixed with sufficient acetic acid to bring the pH of the aqueous medium to between 4 and 5, whereby sodium uranyl acetate is precipitated. The precipitate is dissolved in nitric acid and the resulting solution preferably provided with salting out agents. Uranyl nitrate is recovered from the solution by extraction with an ether such as diethyl ether.

Quantitative mapping of particulate iron in an ocean dump using remotely sensed data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ohlhorst, C. W.; Bahn, G. S.

1978-01-01

A remote sensing experiment was conducted at the industrial acid waste ocean dump site located approximately 38 n mi SE of Cape Henlopen, Delaware, to see if there was a relationship between aircraft remotely sensed spectral signatures and the iron concentration measured in the plume. Results are presented which show that aircraft remotely sensed spectral data can be used to quantify and map an acid waste dump in terms of its particulate iron concentration. A single variable equation using the ratio of band 2 (440-490 nm) radiance to band 4 (540-580 nm) radiance was used to quantify the acid plume and the surrounding water. The acid waste varied in age from freshly dumped to 3 1/2 hours old. Particulate iron concentrations in the acid waste were estimated to range up to 1.1 mg/liter at the 0.46 meter depth. A classification technique was developed to remove sunglitter-affected pixels from the data set.

Development and Testing of Diglycolamide Functionalized Mesoporous Silica for Sorption of Trivalent Actinides and Lanthanides

DOE PAGES

Shusterman, Jennifer A.; Mason, Harris E.; Bowers, Jon; ...

2015-09-03

Sequestration of trivalent actinides and lanthanides present in used nuclear fuel and legacy wastes is necessary for appropriate long-term stewardship of these metals, particularly to prevent their release into the environment. Organically modified mesoporous silica is an efficient material for recovery and potential subsequent separation of actinides and lanthanides because of its high surface area, tunable ligand selection, and chemically robust substrate. Here, we have synthesized the first novel hybrid material composed of SBA-15 type mesoporous silica functionalized with diglycolamide ligands (DGA-SBA). Because of the high surface area substrate, the DGA-SBA was found to have the highest Eu capacity reportedmore » so far in the literature of all DGA solid-phase extractants. The sorption behavior of europium and americium on DGA-SBA in nitric and hydrochloric acid media was tested in batch contact experiments. DGA-SBA was found to have high sorption of Am and Eu in pH 1, 1 M, and 3 M nitric and hydrochloric acid concentrations, which makes it promising for sequestration of these metals from used nuclear fuel or legacy waste. The kinetics of Eu sorption were found to be two times slower than that for Am in 1 M HNO 3. Additionally, the short-term susceptibility of DGA-SBA to degradation in the presence of acid was probed using 29Si and 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Finally, the material was found to be relatively stable under these conditions, with the ligand remaining intact after 24 h of contact with 1 M HNO 3, an important consideration in use of the DGA-SBA as an extractant from acidic media.« less

Development and Testing of Diglycolamide Functionalized Mesoporous Silica for Sorption of Trivalent Actinides and Lanthanides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shusterman, Jennifer A.; Mason, Harris E.; Bowers, Jon

Sequestration of trivalent actinides and lanthanides present in used nuclear fuel and legacy wastes is necessary for appropriate long-term stewardship of these metals, particularly to prevent their release into the environment. Organically modified mesoporous silica is an efficient material for recovery and potential subsequent separation of actinides and lanthanides because of its high surface area, tunable ligand selection, and chemically robust substrate. Here, we have synthesized the first novel hybrid material composed of SBA-15 type mesoporous silica functionalized with diglycolamide ligands (DGA-SBA). Because of the high surface area substrate, the DGA-SBA was found to have the highest Eu capacity reportedmore » so far in the literature of all DGA solid-phase extractants. The sorption behavior of europium and americium on DGA-SBA in nitric and hydrochloric acid media was tested in batch contact experiments. DGA-SBA was found to have high sorption of Am and Eu in pH 1, 1 M, and 3 M nitric and hydrochloric acid concentrations, which makes it promising for sequestration of these metals from used nuclear fuel or legacy waste. The kinetics of Eu sorption were found to be two times slower than that for Am in 1 M HNO 3. Additionally, the short-term susceptibility of DGA-SBA to degradation in the presence of acid was probed using 29Si and 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Finally, the material was found to be relatively stable under these conditions, with the ligand remaining intact after 24 h of contact with 1 M HNO 3, an important consideration in use of the DGA-SBA as an extractant from acidic media.« less

An Investigation of the Valorization of Durian Biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, C.

2016-12-01

The unsustainable exploitation of limited resources has made the valorization of biomass to obtain a higher value from waste a particular area of interest in green chemistry. Much research has been done on the conversion of food waste to valuable chemicals. This study investigates the conversion of the biomass of durian (durio zibethinus), a fruit widely consumed particularly in Southeast Asia, to gamma-valerolactone (GVL). In the presence of sulfuric acid catalyst, the process occurs via four consecutive reactions, including the dehydration of carbohydrates such as fructose (C6H12O6) and cellulose ((C6H10O5)n) to 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), the hydration of HMF to levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid (FA), the hydrogenation of LA to 4-hydroxyvaleric acid (4-HVA), and ultimately the dehydration to gamma-valerolactone (GVL). It is hypothesized that, throughout an 8 hour period, there will be an initial peak in HMF concentration, followed by a steady decrease in its concentration due to hydration of HMF to LA and FA. Concentrations of HMF, LA, FA, and ammonium ion will be measured by running NMR analyses of the durian skin, meat, and seed samples taken at intervals of 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 hours elapsed. Many of the impressive physical and chemical properties of GVL, including its nontoxicity, miscibility with water, and low vapor pressure, make it highly suitable as a sustainable liquid for use as a solvent, a transportation fuel, and a versatile feedstock for further derivatization. For example, addition of GVL to a diesel-biodiesel mixture results in a significant reduction in smoke and carbon monoxide emissions. Therefore, our aim in this study is to identify the concentrations of various valuable compounds in durian waste, and thereby assess the viability of the valorization of durian biomass.

Electrochemical oxidation of 243Am(III) in nitric acid by a terpyridyl-derivatized electrode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dares, C. J.; Lapides, A. M.; Mincher, B. J.

A high surface area, tin-doped indium oxide electrode surface-derivatized with a terpyridine ligand has been applied to the oxidation of trivalent americium to Am(V) and Am(VI) in nitric acid. Potentials as low as 1.8 V vs. the saturated calomel electrode are used, 0.7 V lower than the 2.6 V potential for one-electron oxidation of Am(III) to Am(IV) in 1 M acid. This simple electrochemical procedure provides, for the first time, a method for accessing the higher oxidation states of Am in non-complexing media for developing the coordination chemistries of Am(V) and Am(VI) and, more importantly, for separation of americium frommore » nuclear waste streams.« less

Removal of radioactive and other hazardous material from fluid waste

DOEpatents

Tranter, Troy J [Idaho Falls, ID; Knecht, Dieter A [Idaho Falls, ID; Todd, Terry A [Aberdeen, ID; Burchfield, Larry A [W. Richland, WA; Anshits, Alexander G [Krasnoyarsk, RU; Vereshchagina, Tatiana [Krasnoyarsk, RU; Tretyakov, Alexander A [Zheleznogorsk, RU; Aloy, Albert S [St. Petersburg, RU; Sapozhnikova, Natalia V [St. Petersburg, RU

2006-10-03

Hollow glass microspheres obtained from fly ash (cenospheres) are impregnated with extractants/ion-exchangers and used to remove hazardous material from fluid waste. In a preferred embodiment the microsphere material is loaded with ammonium molybdophosphonate (AMP) and used to remove radioactive ions, such as cesium-137, from acidic liquid wastes. In another preferred embodiment, the microsphere material is loaded with octyl(phenyl)-N-N-diisobutyl-carbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) and used to remove americium and plutonium from acidic liquid wastes.

Development of a universal solvent for the decontamination of acidic liquid radioactive wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todd, T. A.; Brewer, K. N.; Law, J. D.; Wood, D. J.; Herbest, R. S.; Romanovskiy, V. N.; Esimantovskiy, V. M.; Smirnov, I. V.; Babain, V. A.

1999-01-01

A teritiary solvent containing chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide, polyethylene glycol and diphenylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide was evaluated in different non-nitroaromatic diluents for the separation of cesium, strontium, actinides and rare earth elements from acidic liquid radioactive waste. Decontamination factors of >95% for Cs, 99.7% for Sr, and 99.99% for actinides were achieved in four successive batch contacts using actual radioactive waste. Pilot plant testing in centrifugal contactors using simulated wastes, has demonstrated removal of >99% of all targeted ions.

Geochemical features of the utilization of buried wastes of the Tyrnyauz Tungsten-Molybdenum Plant using acid leaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinokurov, S. F.; Gurbanov, A. G.; Bogatikov, O. A.; Sychkova, V. A.; Shevchenko, A. V.; Lexin, A. B.; Dudarov, Z. I.

2016-10-01

The decontamination of buried wastes of the Tyrnyauz Tungsten-Molybdenum Plant is complicated by the geochemical features of the waste composition: low sulfide and high carbonate content, polyelemental composition, and considerable amounts of technogenic admixtures (kerosene, oils, soda, and soluble glasses). These circumstances result in sufficient complication of the suggested technology of waste treatment, including the sulfuric-acid leaching and separate sorption recovery of hazardous and useful elements from the working solution.

Biodiesel production using fatty acids from food industry waste using corona discharge plasma technology.

PubMed

Cubas, A L V; Machado, M M; Pinto, C R S C; Moecke, E H S; Dutra, A R A

2016-01-01

This article aims to describe an alternative and innovative methodology to transform waste, frying oil in a potential energy source, the biodiesel. The biodiesel was produced from fatty acids, using a waste product of the food industry as the raw material. The methodology to be described is the corona discharge plasma technology, which offers advantages such as acceleration of the esterification reaction, easy separation of the biodiesel and the elimination of waste generation. The best conditions were found to be an oil/methanol molar ratio of 6:1, ambient temperature (25 °C) and reaction time of 110 min and 30 mL of sample. The acid value indicates the content of free fatty acids in the biodiesel and the value obtained in this study was 0.43 mg KOH/g. Peaks corresponding to octadecadienoic acid methyl ester, octadecanoic acid methyl ester and octadecenoic acid methyl ester, from the biodiesel composition, were identified using GC-MS. A major advantage of this process is that the methyl ester can be obtained in the absence of chemical catalysts and without the formation of the co-product (glycerin). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect and removal mechanisms of 6 different washing agents for building wastes containing chromium.

PubMed

Xing-run, Wang; Yan-xia, Zhang; Qi, Wang; Jian-min, Shu

2012-01-01

With the building wastes contaminated by chromium in Haibei Chemical Plan in China as objects, we studied the contents of total Cr and Cr (VI) of different sizes, analyzed the effect of 6 different washing agents, discussed the removal mechanisms of 6 different washing agents for Cr in various forms, and finally selected applicable washing agent. As per the results, particle size had little impact on the contents of total Cr and Cr (VI); after one washing with water, the removal rate of total Cr and Cr (VI) was 75% and 78%, respectively, and after the second washing with 6 agents, the removal rate of citric acid was the highest, above 90% for total Cr and above 99% for hexavalent chromium; the pH of building wastes were reduced by citric acid, and under acid condition, hexavalent chromium was reduced to trivalent chromium spontaneously by organic acid, which led to better removal rate of acid soluble Cr and reducible Cr; due to the complexing action, citric acid had best removal rate for oxidizable trivalent chromium. In conclusion, citric acid is the most applicable second washing agent for building wastes.

Intense alpha-particle emitting crystallites in uranium mill wastes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Landa, E.R.; Stieff, L.R.; Germani, M.S.; Tanner, A.B.; Evans, J.R.

1994-01-01

Nuclear emulsion microscopy has demonstrated the presence of small, intense ??-particle emitting crystallites in laboratory-produced tailings derived from the sulfuric acid milling of uranium ores. The ??-particle activity is associated with the isotope pair 210Pb 210Po, and the host mineral appears to be PbSO4 occurring as inclusions in gypsum laths. These particles represent potential inhalation hazards at uranium mill tailings disposal areas. ?? 1994.

Adsorption of leather dyes on activated carbon from leather shaving wastes: kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics studies.

PubMed

Manera, Christian; Tonello, Andrezza Piroli; Perondi, Daniele; Godinho, Marcelo

2018-03-23

In this work, the adsorption of Acid Black 210 (AB210) and Acid Red 357 (AR357) onto activated carbon prepared from leather shaving wastes (ACLW) was investigated. The activated carbon presented a surface area of 800.4 m²/g with an average pore size of 1.27 nm. The kinetic study showed that the adsorption of both dyes followed the Elovich kinetic model while the AB210 and AR357 isotherm data were well described by the Langmuir and BET models, respectively. Furthermore, the Boyd plot revealed that the adsorption of the leather dyes on activated carbon was mainly governed by film diffusion. The pH had a strong influence on the adsorption, and the higher amounts of dye adsorbed were obtained at pH 2. The obtained activated carbon exhibited a high monolayer adsorption capacity of 573.9 and 204.4 mg/g for AB210 and AR357, respectively. Its high capacity is mainly attributed to its basicity (0.17 mmol/g) and high surface area. Desorption efficiency of the spent activated carbon was found to be 54.3% and 43.0% for AB210 and AR357, respectively. The spontaneity of the process was demonstrated by the negative values of the Gibbs free energy change.

An effective utilization of the slag from acid leaching of coal-waste: preparation of water glass with a low-temperature co-melting reaction.

PubMed

Fang, Li; Duan, Xiaofang; Chen, Rongming; Cheng, Fangqin

2014-08-01

This paper presents an effective utilization of slag from acid leaching of coal-waste with a novel approach, namely low-temperature co-melting method, for preparation of sodium silicate (Na2O x nSiO2) using slag from acid leaching of coal-waste as feedstock. It is very interesting that the co-melting reaction temperature of the mixture of Na2CO3 and the feedstock (50-100 microm) was as low as 850 degrees C, which was significantly lower than the temperature used in traditional sodium silicate production (1400 degrees C). The optimum SiO2/Na2O ratio was identified as 7:3 according to the results of thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC), ICP-AES, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. In this condition, the main product was sodium disilicate (Na2O x 2SiO2), with water solubility of 85.0%. More importantly, the impurities such as aluminum in the feedstock, which had adverse effect on subsequent treatment, were concentrated almost completely in the filter residue as insoluble sodium alumunosilicates, i.e., Na(Si2Al)O6 x H2O. The lower co-melting temperature of this process demonstrates a significant energy-saving opportunity and thus a promising approach for highly effective utilization of coal-waste. Implications: Recently, alumina extraction from coal-waste has been extensively investigated and industrial applied in China. However, the slag-containing silica generated from the acid leaching process of coal-waste led to a secondary pollution, which hindered large-scale production. The proposed low-temperature co-melting method for preparation of sodium silicate (Na2O x nSiO2) using slag from acid leaching of coal-waste as feedstock indicated that it is an efficient approach for the recovery of silica from the acid-leached slag of coal-waste with minimal environmental impact.

Ricinus communis L. (castor bean) as a potential candidate for revegetating industrial waste contaminated sites in peri-urban Greater Hyderabad: remarks on seed oil.

PubMed

Boda, Ravi Kiran; Majeti, Narasimha Vara Prasad; Suthari, Sateesh

2017-08-01

Ricinus communis L. (castor bean or castor oil plant) was found growing on metal-contaminated sites (4) of peri-urban Greater Hyderabad comprises of erstwhile industrial areas viz Bollaram, Patancheru, Bharatnagar, and Kattedan industrial areas. During 2013-2017, about 60 research papers have appeared focusing the role of castor bean in phytoremediation of co-contaminated soils, co-generation of biomaterials, and environmental cleanup, as bioenergy crop and sustainable development. The present study is focused on its use as a multipurpose phytoremediation crop for phytostabilization and revegetation of waste disposed peri-urban contaminated soils. To determine the plant tolerance level, metal accumulation, chlorophyll, protein, proline, lipid peroxidation, oil content, and soil properties were characterized. It was noticed that the castor plant and soils have high concentration of metals such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn). The soils have high phosphorous (P), adequate nitrogen (N), and low concentration of potassium (K). Iron (Fe) concentrations ranged from1672±50.91 to 2166±155.78 mg kg -1 in the soil. The trend of metal accumulation Fe>Zn>Mn>Pb>Cd was found in different plant parts at polluted sites. The translocation of Cd and Pb showed values more than one in industrial areas viz Bollaram, Kattedan, and Bharatnagar indicating the plants resistance to metal toxicity. Chlorophyll and protein content reduced while proline and malondialdehyde increased due to its tolerance level under metal exposure. The content of ricinoleic acid was higher, and the fatty acids composition of polluted areas was almost similar to that of the control area. Thus, R. communis L. can be employed for reclamation of heavy metal contaminated soils.

Mixing-controlled uncertainty in long-term predictions of acid rock drainage from heterogeneous waste-rock piles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedretti, D.; Beckie, R. D.; Mayer, K. U.

2015-12-01

The chemistry of drainage from waste-rock piles at mine sites is difficult to predict because of a number of uncertainties including heterogeneous reactive mineral content, distribution of minerals, weathering rates and physical flow properties. In this presentation, we examine the effects of mixing on drainage chemistry over timescales of 100s of years. We use a 1-D streamtube conceptualization of flow in waste rocks and multicomponent reactive transport modeling. We simplify the reactive system to consist of acid-producing sulfide minerals and acid-neutralizing carbonate minerals and secondary sulfate and iron oxide minerals. We create multiple realizations of waste-rock piles with distinct distributions of reactive minerals along each flow path and examine the uncertainty of drainage geochemistry through time. The limited mixing of streamtubes that is characteristic of the vertical unsaturated flow in many waste-rock piles, allows individual flowpaths to sustain acid or neutral conditions to the base of the pile, where the streamtubes mix. Consequently, mixing and the acidity/alkalinity balance of the streamtube waters, and not the overall acid- and base-producing mineral contents, control the instantaneous discharge chemistry. Our results show that the limited mixing implied by preferential flow and the heterogeneous distribution of mineral contents lead to large uncertainty in drainage chemistry over short and medium time scales. However, over longer timescales when one of either the acid-producing or neutralizing primary phases is depleted, the drainage chemistry becomes less controlled by mixing and in turn less uncertain. A correct understanding of the temporal variability of uncertainty is key to make informed long-term decisions in mining settings regarding the management of waste material.

Wastes and by-products - alternatives for agricultural use

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boles, J.L.; Craft, D.J.; Parker, B.R.

1994-10-01

Top address a growing national problem with generation of wastes and by-products, TVA has been involved for several years with developing and commercializing environmentally responsible practices for eliminating, minimizing, or utilizing various wastes/by-products. In many cases, reducing waste generation is impractical, but the wastes/by-products can be converted into other environmentally sound products. In some instances, conversion of safe, value-added agricultural products in the best or only practical alternative. TVA is currently involved with a diversity of projects converting wastes/by-products into safe, economical, and agriculturally beneficial products. Environmental improvement projects have involved poultry litter, cellulosic wastes, used battery acid, ammonium sulfatemore » fines, lead smelting effluents, deep-welled sulfuric acid/ammonium bisulfate solutions, wood ash, waste magnesium ammonium sulfate slurry from recording tape production, and ammunition plant waste sodium nitrate/ammonium nitrate streams.« less

LEACHING BOUNDARY IN CEMENT-BASED WASTE FORMS

EPA Science Inventory

Cement-based fixation systems are among the most commonly employed stabilization/solidification techniques. These cement haste mixtures, however, are vulnerable to ardic leaching solutions. Leaching of cement-based waste forms in acetic acid solutions with different acidic streng...

Catalytic upgrading of oil fractions separated from food waste leachate.

PubMed

Heo, Hyeon Su; Kim, Sang Guk; Jeong, Kwang-Eun; Jeon, Jong-Ki; Park, Sung Hoon; Kim, Ji Man; Kim, Seung-Soo; Park, Young-Kwon

2011-02-01

In this work, catalytic cracking of biomass waste oil fractions separated from food waste leachate was performed using microporous catalysts, such as HY, HZSM-5 and mesoporous Al-MCM-48. The experiments were carried out using pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to allow the direct analysis of the pyrolytic products. Most acidic components, especially oleic acid, contained in the food waste oil fractions were converted to valuable products, such as oxygenates, hydrocarbons and aromatics. High yields of hydrocarbons within the gasoline-range were obtained when microporous catalysts were used; whereas, the use of Al-MCM-48, which exhibits relatively weak acidity, resulted in high yields of oxygenated and diesel-range hydrocarbons. The HZSM-5 catalyst produced a higher amount of valuable mono aromatics due to its strong acidity and shape selectivity. Especially, the addition of gallium (Ga) to HZSM-5 significantly increased the aromatics content. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neutralization of red mud with pickling waste liquor using Taguchi's design of experimental methodology.

PubMed

Rai, Suchita; Wasewar, Kailas L; Lataye, Dilip H; Mishra, Rajshekhar S; Puttewar, Suresh P; Chaddha, Mukesh J; Mahindiran, P; Mukhopadhyay, Jyoti

2012-09-01

'Red mud' or 'bauxite residue', a waste generated from alumina refinery is highly alkaline in nature with a pH of 10.5-12.5. Red mud poses serious environmental problems such as alkali seepage in ground water and alkaline dust generation. One of the options to make red mud less hazardous and environmentally benign is its neutralization with acid or an acidic waste. Hence, in the present study, neutralization of alkaline red mud was carried out using a highly acidic waste (pickling waste liquor). Pickling waste liquor is a mixture of strong acids used for descaling or cleaning the surfaces in steel making industry. The aim of the study was to look into the feasibility of neutralization process of the two wastes using Taguchi's design of experimental methodology. This would make both the wastes less hazardous and safe for disposal. The effect of slurry solids, volume of pickling liquor, stirring time and temperature on the neutralization process were investigated. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows that the volume of the pickling liquor is the most significant parameter followed by quantity of red mud with 69.18% and 18.48% contribution each respectively. Under the optimized parameters, pH value of 7 can be achieved by mixing the two wastes. About 25-30% of the total soda from the red mud is being neutralized and alkalinity is getting reduced by 80-85%. Mineralogy and morphology of the neutralized red mud have also been studied. The data presented will be useful in view of environmental concern of red mud disposal.

Characterisation of FOGs in grease trap waste from the processing of chickens in Thailand.

PubMed

Nitayapat, Nuttakan; Chitprasert, Pakamon

2014-06-01

Industrial firms that kill and process chickens generate wastewater that contains fat, oil, and grease (FOG). The FOGs are located in the fatty waste that is collected by floatation in grease traps. Chemical and physical characterisation of FOGs would provide useful information that would help in the development of methods designed to decrease the extent of pollution caused by disposal of the waste and to utilise commercially some of its lipid constituents. Employing these methods would enhance the profitability and competitive potential of these commercial organisations. Samples of grease trap waste from 14 firms in central Thailand have been examined. Due to the very different schemes of waste management employed by these firms, the physical appearance of their fatty wastes showed considerable variation. The chemical and physical properties of the FOGs present in these wastes showed considerable variation also. Large amounts of free fatty acids (10-70% as oleic acid) were detected in most of the 14 wastes and palmitic, cis-9-oleic, cis,cis-9,12-linoleic, stearic, and palmitoleic acids were the predominant species of free and esterified acids. Most of the FOGs were solid at temperatures below 40 °C. Many of them contained traces of heavy metals (Cu and Pb) and some contained traces of the pesticides dimethoate and cypermethrin. The content of these potentially hazardous substances would have to be considered very carefully before discarding the fatty wastes and during the development of methods designed to isolate their potentially profitable lipid constituents. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of eggshell waste for the immobilization of cadmium and lead in a contaminated soil.

PubMed

Ok, Yong Sik; Lee, Sang Soo; Jeon, Weon-Tai; Oh, Sang-Eun; Usman, Adel R A; Moon, Deok Hyun

2011-01-01

Liming materials have been used to immobilize heavy metals in contaminated soils. However, no studies have evaluated the use of eggshell waste as a source of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) to immobilize both cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in soils. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of eggshell waste on the immobilization of Cd and Pb and to determine the metal availability following various single extraction techniques. Incubation experiments were conducted by mixing 0-5% powdered eggshell waste and curing the soil (1,246 mg Pb kg⁻¹ soil and 17 mg Cd kg⁻¹ soil) for 30 days. Five extractants, 0.01 M calcium chloride (CaCl₂), 1 M CaCl₂, 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl), 0.43 M acetic acid (CH₃COOH), and 0.05 M ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), were used to determine the extractability of Cd and Pb following treatments with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste. Generally, the extractability of Cd and Pb in the soils decreased in response to treatments with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste, regardless of extractant. Using CaCl₂ extraction, the lowest Cd concentration was achieved upon both CaCO₃ and eggshell waste treatments, while the lowest Pb concentration was observed using HCl extraction. The highest amount of immobilized Cd and Pb was extracted by CH₃COOH or EDTA in soils treated with CaCO₃ and eggshell waste, indicating that remobilization of Cd and Pb may occur under acidic conditions. Based on the findings obtained, eggshell waste can be used as an alternative to CaCO₃ for the immobilization of heavy metals in soils.

Effect of aeration rate and waste load on evolution of volatile fatty acids and waste stabilization during thermophilic aerobic digestion of a model high strength agricultural waste.

PubMed

Ugwuanyi, J Obeta; Harvey, L M; McNeil, B

2005-04-01

Thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) is a relatively new, dynamic and versatile low technology for the economic processing of high strength waste slurries. Waste so treated may be safely disposed of or reused. In this work a model high strength agricultural waste, potato peel, was subjected to TAD to study the effects of oxygen supply at 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 vvm (volume air per volume slurry per minute) under batch conditions at 55 degrees C for 156 h on the process. Process pH was controlled at 7.0 or left unregulated. Effects of waste load, as soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD), on TAD were studied at 4.0, 8.0, 12.0 and 16.0 gl(-1) (soluble COD) at pH 7.0, 0.5 vvm and 55 degrees C. Efficiency of treatment, as degradation of total solids, total suspended solids and soluble solid, as well as soluble COD significantly increased with aeration rate, while acetate production increased as the aeration rate decreased or waste load increased, signifying deterioration in treatment. Negligible acetate, and no other acids were produced at 1.0 vvm. Production of propionate and other acids increased after acetate concentration had started to decrease and, during unregulated reactions coincided with the drop in the pH of the slurry. Acetate production was more closely associated with periods of oxygen limitation than were other acids. Reduction in oxygen availability led to deterioration in treatment efficiency as did increase in waste load. These variables may be manipulated to control treated waste quality.

Engineering study of 50 miscellaneous inactive underground radioactive waste tanks located at the Hanford Site, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freeman-Pollard, J.R.

1994-03-02

This engineering study addresses 50 inactive underground radioactive waste tanks. The tanks were formerly used for the following functions associated with plutonium and uranium separations and waste management activities in the 200 East and 200 West Areas of the Hanford Site: settling solids prior to disposal of supernatant in cribs and a reverse well; neutralizing acidic process wastes prior to crib disposal; receipt and processing of single-shell tank (SST) waste for uranium recovery operations; catch tanks to collect water that intruded into diversion boxes and transfer pipeline encasements and any leakage that occurred during waste transfer operations; and waste handlingmore » and process experimentation. Most of these tanks have not been in use for many years. Several projects have, been planned and implemented since the 1970`s and through 1985 to remove waste and interim isolate or interim stabilize many of the tanks. Some tanks have been filled with grout within the past several years. Responsibility for final closure and/or remediation of these tanks is currently assigned to several programs including Tank Waste Remediation Systems (TWRS), Environmental Restoration and Remedial Action (ERRA), and Decommissioning and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Closure (D&RCP). Some are under facility landlord responsibility for maintenance and surveillance (i.e. Plutonium Uranium Extraction [PUREX]). However, most of the tanks are not currently included in any active monitoring or surveillance program.« less

40 CFR 62.14103 - Emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 62.14103 Section 62.14103 Protection of... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a) The emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals are specified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(3) of this section. (1) The owner or...

40 CFR 60.52b - Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.52b Section 60.52b Protection of Environment... § 60.52b Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a... (total mass), corrected to 7 percent oxygen. (d) The limits for nitrogen oxides are specified in...

40 CFR 60.52b - Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.52b Section 60.52b Protection of Environment... § 60.52b Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a... (total mass), corrected to 7 percent oxygen. (d) The limits for nitrogen oxides are specified in...

40 CFR 60.52b - Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.52b Section 60.52b Protection of Environment... § 60.52b Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a... (total mass), corrected to 7 percent oxygen. (d) The limits for nitrogen oxides are specified in...

40 CFR 60.52b - Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.52b Section 60.52b Protection of Environment... § 60.52b Standards for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a... (total mass), corrected to 7 percent oxygen. (d) The limits for nitrogen oxides are specified in...

Impact of industrial phosphate waste discharge on the marine environment in the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia)

PubMed Central

Stalder, Claudio; Rüggeberg, Andres; Neururer, Christoph; Spangenberg, Jorge E.; Spezzaferri, Silvia

2018-01-01

The marine environment in the Gulf of Gabes (southern Tunisia) is severely impacted by phosphate industries. Nowadays, three localities, Sfax, Skhira and Gabes produce phosphoric acid along the coasts of this Gulf and generate a large amount of phosphogypsum as a waste product. The Gabes phosphate industry is the major cause of pollution in the Gulf because most of the waste is directly discharged into the sea without preliminary treatment. This study investigates the marine environment in the proximity of the phosphate industries of Gabes and the coastal marine environment on the eastern coast of Djerba, without phosphate industry. This site can be considered as "pristine" and enables a direct comparison between polluted and “clean” adjacent areas. Phosphorous, by sequential extractions (SEDEX), Rock-Eval, C, H, N elemental analysis, and stable carbon isotope composition of sedimentary organic matter, X-ray diffraction (qualitative and quantitative analysis) were measured on sediments. Temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen were measured on the water close to the sea floor of each station to estimate environmental conditions. These analyses are coupled with video surveys of the sea floor. This study reveals clear differentiations in pollution and eutrophication in the investigated areas. PMID:29771969

Detection of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in Suspended Organic Waste by Nucleic Acid Extraction and PCR

PubMed Central

Burtscher, Carola; Fall, Papa A.; Wilderer, Peter A.; Wuertz, Stefan

1999-01-01

A nucleic acid-based method for the detection of the bacterial pathogens Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in biological waste was developed. The detection limits were less than 10 cells per ml of biological waste. The method does not include a phenol extraction step and can be easily performed in 1 to 2 days. PMID:10224026

Anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste composed of food waste, wastepaper, and plastic in a single-stage system: performance and microbial community structure characterization.

PubMed

Wan, Shungang; Sun, Lei; Douieb, Yaniv; Sun, Jian; Luo, Wensui

2013-10-01

The performance of municipal organic solid waste anaerobic digestion was investigated using a single-stage bioreactor, and the microbial community structures were characterized during the digestion. The results showed that the biogas and methane production rates were 592.4 and 370.1L/kg with volatile solid added at the ratio of 2:1:1 for food waste, wastepaper, and plastic based on dry weight. The methane volume concentration fluctuated between 44.3% and 75.4% at steady stage. Acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid were the major volatile fatty acids produced during the digestion process. The anaerobic process was not inhibited by the accumulation of ammonia and free ammonia. The bacterial community was found to consist of at least 21 bands of bacteria and 12 bands of archaea at the steady state. All of the results indicated that the mixture of food waste, wastepaper, and plastic could be efficiently co-digested using the anaerobic digestion system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Potential of Fruit Wastes as Natural Resources of Bioactive Compounds

PubMed Central

Deng, Gui-Fang; Shen, Chen; Xu, Xiang-Rong; Kuang, Ru-Dan; Guo, Ya-Jun; Zeng, Li-Shan; Gao, Li-Li; Lin, Xi; Xie, Jie-Feng; Xia, En-Qin; Li, Sha; Wu, Shan; Chen, Feng; Ling, Wen-Hua; Li, Hua-Bin

2012-01-01

Fruit wastes are one of the main sources of municipal waste. In order to explore the potential of fruit wastes as natural resources of bioactive compounds, the antioxidant potency and total phenolic contents (TPC) of lipophilic and hydrophilic components in wastes (peel and seed) of 50 fruits were systematically evaluated. The results showed that different fruit residues had diverse antioxidant potency and the variation was very large. Furthermore, the main bioactive compounds were identified and quantified, and catechin, cyanidin 3-glucoside, epicatechin, galangin, gallic acid, homogentisic acid, kaempferol, and chlorogenic acid were widely found in these residues. Especially, the values of ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and TPC in the residues were higher than in pulps. The results showed that fruit residues could be inexpensive and readily available resources of bioactive compounds for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries. PMID:22942704

Potential of fruit wastes as natural resources of bioactive compounds.

PubMed

Deng, Gui-Fang; Shen, Chen; Xu, Xiang-Rong; Kuang, Ru-Dan; Guo, Ya-Jun; Zeng, Li-Shan; Gao, Li-Li; Lin, Xi; Xie, Jie-Feng; Xia, En-Qin; Li, Sha; Wu, Shan; Chen, Feng; Ling, Wen-Hua; Li, Hua-Bin

2012-01-01

Fruit wastes are one of the main sources of municipal waste. In order to explore the potential of fruit wastes as natural resources of bioactive compounds, the antioxidant potency and total phenolic contents (TPC) of lipophilic and hydrophilic components in wastes (peel and seed) of 50 fruits were systematically evaluated. The results showed that different fruit residues had diverse antioxidant potency and the variation was very large. Furthermore, the main bioactive compounds were identified and quantified, and catechin, cyanidin 3-glucoside, epicatechin, galangin, gallic acid, homogentisic acid, kaempferol, and chlorogenic acid were widely found in these residues. Especially, the values of ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and TPC in the residues were higher than in pulps. The results showed that fruit residues could be inexpensive and readily available resources of bioactive compounds for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

CHEMICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SLUDGE SOLIDS AT THE F AND H AREA TANK FARMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reboul, S.

2012-08-29

The primary source of waste solids received into the F Area Tank Farm (FTF) was from PUREX processing performed to recover uranium and plutonium from irradiated depleted uranium targets. In contrast, two primary sources of waste solids were received into the H Area Tank Farm (HTF): a) waste from PUREX processing; and b) waste from H-modified (HM) processing performed to recover uranium and neptunium from burned enriched uranium fuel. Due to the differences between the irradiated depleted uranium targets and the burned enriched uranium fuel, the average compositions of the F and H Area wastes are markedly different from onemore » another. Both F and H Area wastes contain significant amounts of iron and aluminum compounds. However, because the iron content of PUREX waste is higher than that of HM waste, and the aluminum content of PUREX waste is lower than that of HM waste, the iron to aluminum ratios of typical FTF waste solids are appreciably higher than those of typical HTF waste solids. Other constituents present at significantly higher concentrations in the typical FTF waste solids include uranium, nickel, ruthenium, zinc, silver, cobalt and copper. In contrast, constituents present at significantly higher concentrations in the typical HTF waste solids include mercury, thorium, oxalate, and radionuclides U-233, U-234, U-235, U-236, Pu-238, Pu-242, Cm-244, and Cm-245. Because of the higher concentrations of Pu-238 in HTF, the long-term concentrations of Th-230 and Ra-226 (from Pu-238 decay) will also be higher in HTF. The uranium and plutonium distributions of the average FTF waste were found to be consistent with depleted uranium and weapons grade plutonium, respectively (U-235 comprised 0.3 wt% of the FTF uranium, and Pu-240 comprised 6 wt% of the FTF plutonium). In contrast, at HTF, U-235 comprised 5 wt% of the uranium, and Pu-240 comprised 17 wt% of the plutonium, consistent with enriched uranium and high burn-up plutonium. X-ray diffraction analyses of various FTF and HTF samples indicated that the primary crystalline compounds of iron in sludge solids are Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}, and FeO(OH), and the primary crystalline compounds of aluminum are Al(OH){sub 3} and AlO(OH). Also identified were carbonate compounds of calcium, magnesium, and sodium; a nitrated sodium aluminosilicate; and various uranium compounds. Consistent with expectations, oxalate compounds were identified in solids associated with oxalic acid cleaning operations. The most likely oxidation states and chemical forms of technetium are assessed in the context of solubility, since technetium-99 is a key risk driver from an environmental fate and transport perspective. The primary oxidation state of technetium in SRS sludge solids is expected to be Tc(IV). In salt waste, the primary oxidation state is expected to be Tc(VII). The primary form of technetium in sludge is expected to be a hydrated technetium dioxide, TcO{sub 2} {center_dot} xH{sub 2}O, which is relatively insoluble and likely co-precipitated with iron. In salt waste solutions, the primary form of technetium is expected to be the very soluble pertechnetate anion, TcO{sub 4}{sup -}. The relative differences between the F and H Tank Farm waste provide a basis for anticipating differences that will occur as constituents of FTF and HTF waste residue enter the environment over the long-term future. If a constituent is significantly more dominant in one of the Tank Farms, its long-term environmental contribution will likely be commensurately higher, assuming the environmental transport conditions of the two Tank Farms share some commonality. It is in this vein that the information cited in this document is provided - for use during the generation, assessment, and validation of Performance Assessment modeling results.« less

A novel recovery method of copper from waste printed circuit boards by supercritical methanol process: Preparation of ultrafine copper materials.

PubMed

Xiu, Fu-Rong; Weng, Huiwei; Qi, Yingying; Yu, Gending; Zhang, Zhigang; Zhang, Fu-Shen; Chen, Mengjun

2017-02-01

In this study, supercritical methanol (SCM) process was successfully used for the preparation of ultrafine copper materials from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) after nitric acid pretreatment. Waste PCBs were pretreated twice in nitric acid. Sn and Pb were recovered by the first nitric acid pretreatment. The leach liquor with a high concentration of copper ions after the second nitric acid leaching was subjected to SCM process. The mixture of Cu and Cu 2 O with poor uniformity of particle size was formed due to the effect of ferric iron contained in the leach liquor of waste PCBs, while more uniform and spherical Cu particles with high monodispersity and smaller size could be prepared after the removal of Fe. The size of Cu particles increased obviously with the decline of SCM temperature, and particles became highly aggregated when the reaction temperature decreased to 300°C. The size of Cu particles decreased markedly with the decrease of initial concentration of copper ion in the leach liquor of waste PCBs. It is believed that the process developed in this study is simple and practical for the preparation of ultrafine copper materials from waste PCBs with the aim of recycling these waste resources as a high value-added product. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica culture with synthetic and food waste-derived volatile fatty acids for lipid production.

PubMed

Gao, Ruiling; Li, Zifu; Zhou, Xiaoqin; Cheng, Shikun; Zheng, Lei

2017-01-01

The sustainability of microbial lipids production from traditional carbon sources, such as glucose or glycerol, is problematic given the high price of raw materials. Considerable efforts have been directed to minimize the cost and find new alternative carbon sources. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are especially attractive raw materials, because they can be produced from a variety of organic wastes fermentation. Therefore, the use of volatile fatty acids as carbon sources seems to be a feasible strategy for cost-effective microbial lipid production. Lipid accumulation in Y. lipolytica using synthetic and food waste-derived VFAs as substrates was systematically compared and evaluated in batch cultures. The highest lipid content obtained with acetic, butyric, and propionic acids reached 31.62 ± 0.91, 28.36 ± 0.74, and 28.91 ± 0.66%, respectively. High concentrations of VFA inhibited cell growth in the following order: butyric acid > propionic acid > acetic acid. Within a 30-day experimental period, Y. lipolytica could adapt up to 20 g/L acetic acid, whereas the corresponding concentration of propionic acid and butyric acid were 10 and 5 g/L, respectively. Cultures on a VFA mixture showed that the utilization of different types of VFA by Y. lipolytica was not synchronized but rather performed in a step-wise manner. Although yeast fermentation is an exothermic process, and the addition of VFA will directly affect the pH of the system by increasing environmental acidity, cultures at a cultivation temperature of 38 °C and uncontrolled pH demonstrated that Y. lipolytica had high tolerance in the high temperature and acidic environment when a low concentration (2.5 g/L) of either synthetic or food waste-derived VFA was used. However, batch cultures fed with food fermentate yielded lower lipid content (18.23 ± 1.12%) and lipid productivity (0.12 ± 0.02 g/L/day). The lipid composition obtained with synthetic and food waste-derived VFA was similar to commercial biodiesel feedstock. This work demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing synthetic and food waste-derived VFA for lipid production by Y. lipolytica . The good adaptability of Y. lipolytica to the high temperature and acidic environment further illustrated its considerable potential for practical application.

Geochemical transformations and modeling of two deep-well injected hazardous wastes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roy, W.R.; Seyler, B.; Steele, J.D.; Mravik, S.C.; Moore, D.M.; Krapac, I.G.; Peden, J.M.; Griffin, R.A.

1991-01-01

Two liquid hazardous wastes (an alkaline brine-like solution and a dilute acidic waste) were mixed with finely ground rock samples of three injection-related lithologies (sandstone, dolomite, and siltstone) for 155 to 230 days at 325??K-10.8 MPa. The pH and inorganic chemical composition of the alkaline waste were not significantly altered by any of the rock samples after 230 days of mixing. The acidic waste was neutralized as a consequence of carbonate dissolution, ion exchange, or clay-mineral dissolution, and hence was transformed into a nonhazardous waste. Mixing the alkaline waste with the solid phases yielded several reaction products: brucite, Mg(OH)2; calcite, CaCO3; and possibly a type of sodium metasilicate. Clay-like minerals formed in the sandstone, and hydrotalcite, Mg6Al2-CO3(OH)16??4H2O, may have formed in the siltstone at trace levels. Mixing the alkaline waste with a synthetic brine yielded brucite, calcite, and whewellite (CaC2O4??H2O). The thermodynamic model PHRQPITZ predicted that brucite and calcite would precipitate from solution in the dolomite and siltstone mixtures and in the alkaline waste-brine system. The dilute acidic waste did not significantly alter the mineralogical composition of the three rock types after 155 days of contact. The model PHREEQE indicated that the calcite was thermodynamically stable in the dolomite and siltstone mixtures.

Handling e-waste in developed and developing countries: initiatives, practices, and consequences.

PubMed

Sthiannopkao, Suthipong; Wong, Ming Hung

2013-10-01

Discarded electronic goods contain a range of toxic materials requiring special handling. Developed countries have conventions, directives, and laws to regulate their disposal, most based on extended producer responsibility. Manufacturers take back items collected by retailers and local governments for safe destruction or recovery of materials. Compliance, however, is difficult to assure, and frequently runs against economic incentives. The expense of proper disposal leads to the shipment of large amounts of e-waste to China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and other developing countries. Shipment is often through middlemen, and under tariff classifications that make quantities difficult to assess. There, despite the intents of national regulations and hazardous waste laws, most e-waste is treated as general refuse, or crudely processed, often by burning or acid baths, with recovery of only a few materials of value. As dioxins, furans, and heavy metals are released, harm to the environment, workers, and area residents is inevitable. The faster growth of e-waste generated in the developing than in the developed world presages continued expansion of a pervasive and inexpensive informal processing sector, efficient in its own way, but inherently hazard-ridden. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Associate Directorate Environmental Management Infrastructure Plan for Area G and Area L Domes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stevens, Patrice Ann; Baumer, Andrew Ronald

Technical Area 54, at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is situated in the east-central portion of the Laboratory on the Mesita del Buey between Pajarito Canyon to the south and Cañada del Buey to the north. TA-54 includes four MDAs designated as G, H, J, and L; a waste characterization, container storage, and transfer facility; active TRU waste and MLLW waste storage and low-level waste (LLW) disposal operations at Area G; active hazardous and mixed low-level (MLLW) waste storage operations at Area L; and administrative and support areas. MDA J has previously under-gone closure. Area G is a waste managementmore » and disposal area, used for the disposal and storage of radioactive wastes since 1957. Since August 2015, Area G has been in warm standby and provides minimal operations to support safety, compliance, and nitrate salt remediation. Located within Area G, MDA G covers 63-acres. MDA G contains 334 active and inactive waste management units, which include 36 pits, 294 shafts, and 4 trenches. In 1971, Area G began use for the retrievable storage of TRU waste. There are two pits, four trenches and 60 shafts that contain retrievable TRU waste. Thirty-three of the shafts contain TRU waste that may present unique problems for retrieval. In 1986, segregation of MLLW was initiated at Area G for treatment and temporary storage or for off-site disposal. Area G is the only active LLW disposal facility at the Laboratory. Current operations at Area G include storage and characterization of TRU and mixed TRU waste destined for off-site disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico and the storage of MLLW destined for off-site treatment and/or disposal. Several above-ground container storage units (CSUs) are currently used for storage of containerized MLLW and/or mixed TRU wastes. These consist of asphalt pads and associated fabric domes or other structures. As defined by the Consent Order, MDA G contains 229 of the 334 subsurface waste management units at Area G. These MDA G disposal units include 32 pits, 193 shafts, and 4 trenches and contain LLW, MLLW and TRU waste. The remaining 105 solid waste management units (SWMUs) include RCRA-regulated landfill and storage units and DOE-regulated LLW disposal units. The TA-54 closure project must ensure that continuing waste operations at Area G and their transition to an interim or enduring facility are coordinated with closure activities.« less

Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence In Environmental Disciplines: Hampton University 1994-2010 Year Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adeyiga, Adeyinka A.

2014-12-17

The establishment of the DOE-EM Dr. Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence provides an excellent opportunity for Hampton University to be involved in key environmental issues in the 21 st Century. The main areas of focus are on: 1. Coal gasification with respect to pollution prevention and reduction. 2. Solid waste treatment through bioremediation technology and 3. Industrial wastewater treatment Synthesizing ion catalysts suitable for use in slurry bubble column reaction was carried out. Construction of an autoclave continuous stirred tank reactor has been completed. At the initial stage of the development of this program, work was conducted in themore » area of formic acid recovery from waste streams, which yielded useful results. We also succeeded in the removal of priority metal ions such as cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, thallium, zinc, etc., from industrial and municipal wastewater by using natural wastes. The process uses tree leaves to adsorb the metal ions in the wastewater. The ultimate goal is to develop inexpensive, highly available, effective metal ion adsorbents from natural wastes as an alternative to existing commercial adsorbents, and also to explain the possible adsorption mechanism that is taking place. This technology uses natural wastes to eliminate other wastes. Obviously, there are several advantages: (1) the negative impact on environment is eliminated, (2) the complicated regeneration step is not needed, and (3) the procedure saves money and energy. Twelve different types of leaves have been tested with lead, zinc, and nickel. The study mechanism showed that the leaf tannin is an active ingredient in the adsorption of metal ions. The ion-exchange mechanism controlled the adsorption process.« less

Valproic acid attenuates skeletal muscle wasting by inhibiting C/EBPβ-regulated atrogin1 expression in cancer cachexia.

PubMed

Sun, Rulin; Zhang, Santao; Hu, Wenjun; Lu, Xing; Lou, Ning; Yang, Zhende; Chen, Shaoyong; Zhang, Xiaoping; Yang, Hongmei

2016-07-01

Muscle wasting is the hallmark of cancer cachexia and is associated with poor quality of life and increased mortality. Valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has important biological effects in the treatment of muscular dystrophy. To verify whether VPA could ameliorate muscle wasting induced by cancer cachexia, we explored the role of VPA in two cancer cachectic mouse models [induced by colon-26 (C26) adenocarcinoma or Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)] and atrophied C2C12 myotubes [induced by C26 cell conditioned medium (CCM) or LLC cell conditioned medium (LCM)]. Our data demonstrated that treatment with VPA increased the mass and cross-sectional area of skeletal muscles in tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore, treatment with VPA also increased the diameter of myotubes cultured in conditioned medium. The skeletal muscles in cachectic mice or atrophied myotubes treated with VPA exhibited reduced levels of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPβ), resulting in atrogin1 downregulation and the eventual alleviation of muscle wasting and myotube atrophy. Moreover, atrogin1 promoter activity in myotubes was stimulated by CCM via activating the C/EBPβ-responsive cis-element and subsequently inhibited by VPA. In contrast to the effect of VPA on the levels of C/EBPβ, the levels of inactivating forkhead box O3 (FoxO3a) were unaffected. In summary, VPA attenuated muscle wasting and myotube atrophy and reduced C/EBPβ binding to atrogin1 promoter locus in the myotubes. Our discoveries indicate that HDAC inhibition by VPA might be a promising new approach for the preservation of skeletal muscle in cancer cachexia. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Esterification of oil adsorbed on palm decanter cake into methyl ester using sulfonated rice husk ash as heterogeneous acid catalyst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hindryawati, Noor; Erwin, Maniam, Gaanty Pragas

2017-02-01

Palm Decanter cake (PDC) which is categorized as the waste from palm oil mill has been found to contain residual crude palm oil. The oil adsorbed on the PDC (PDC-oil) can be extracted and potentially used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Feedstock from waste like PDC-oil is burdened with high free fatty acids (FFAs) which make the feedstock difficult to be converted into biodiesel using basic catalyst. Therefore, in this study, a solid acid, RHA-SO3H catalyst was synthesized by sulfonating rice husk ash (RHA) with concentrated sulfuric acid. The RHA-SO3H prepared was characterized with TGA, FTIR, BET, XRD, FE-SEM, and Hammett indicators (methyl red, bromophenol blue, and crystal violet). PDC was found to have about 11.3 wt. % oil recovered after 1 hour extraction using ultrasound method. The presence of sulfonate group was observed in IR spectrum, and the surface area of RHA-SO3H was reduced to 37 m2.g-1 after impregnation of sulfonate group. The RHA-SO3H catalyst showed that it can work for both esterification of free fatty acid which is present in PDC-oil, and transesterification of triglycerides into methyl ester. The results showed highest methyl ester content of 70.2 wt.% at optimal conditions, which was 6 wt.% catalyst amount, methanol to oil molar ratio of 17:1 for 5 hours at 120 °C.

[Analysis of picric acid and picramic acid in water samples by ultra performance hydrophilic interaction chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

PubMed

Qian, Feizhong; Zhu, Libo; Xu, Nengbin; Feng, Jiayong; Hong, Zhengfang; Xu, Lihong; Chen, Zhongquan; Wang, Shengle

2014-05-01

An ultra performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/ MS) method was developed for the determination of picric acid and its reductive transformation product picramic acid in aqueous samples. A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column (Acquity UPLC BEH HILIC; 100 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.7 microm) was used for the separation. Surface water samples could be injected into the UPLC system just after being filtered through a 0.2 microm membrane. The satisfactory recoveries of picric acid and picramic acid were in the range of 89% - 107%. Waste water samples were purified by solid phase extraction (SPE), and then were analyzed. The recoveries of picric acid and picramic acid in waste water were 72%-101%. The reproducibility of the method was good with the RSDs of 4.9% - 14.7%. The limits of detection (LODs) of picric acid and picramic acid were 0.1 microg/L and 0.3 microg/L, respectively. This proposed method is rapid, highly specific and suitable for the confirmation and quantitative determination of picric acid and picramic acid in surface water and waste water.

Evapotranspiration Cover for the 92-Acre Area Retired Mixed Waste Pits, Area 5 Waste Management Division, Nevada National Security Site, Final CQA Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NSTec Environmental Management; The Delphi Groupe, Inc.; J. A. Cesare and Associates, Inc.

The report is the Final Construction Quality Assurance (CQA) Report for the 92-Acrew Evapotranspiration Cover, Area 5 Waste Management Division Retired Mixed Waste Pits, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, for the period of January 20, 2011, to January 31, 2012 The Area 5 RWMS uses engineered shallow-land burial cells to dispose of packaged waste. The 92-Acre Area encompasses the southern portion of the Area 5 RWMS, which has been designated for the first final closure operations. This area contains 13 Greater Confinement Disposal (GCD) boreholes, 16 narrow trenches, and 9 broader pits. With the exception of two active pits (P03more » and P06), all trenches and pits in the 92-Acre Area had operational covers approximately 2.4 meters thick, at a minimum, in most areas when this project began. The units within the 92-Acre Area are grouped into the following six informal categories based on physical location, waste types and regulatory requirements: (1) Pit 3 Mixed Waste Disposal Unit (MWDU); (2) Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 111; (3) CAU 207; (4) Low-level waste disposal units; (5) Asbestiform low-level waste disposal units; and (6) One transuranic (TRU) waste trench.« less

Process for immobilizing radioactive boric acid liquid wastes

DOEpatents

Greenhalgh, Wilbur O.

1986-01-01

A method of immobilizing boric acid liquid wastes containing radionuclides by neutralizing the solution and evaporating the resulting precipitate to near dryness. The dry residue is then fused into a reduced volume, insoluble, inert, solid form containing substantially all the radionuclides.

Recycling acetic acid from polarizing film of waste liquid crystal display panels by sub/supercritical water treatments.

PubMed

Wang, Ruixue; Chen, Ya; Xu, Zhenming

2015-05-19

Waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panels mainly contain inorganic materials (glass substrate) and organic materials (polarizing film and liquid crystal). The organic materials should be removed first since containing polarizing film and liquid crystal is to the disadvantage of the indium recycling process. In the present study, an efficient and environmentally friendly process to obtain acetic acid from waste LCD panels by sub/supercritical water treatments is investigated. Furthermore, a well-founded reaction mechanism is proposed. Several highlights of this study are summarized as follows: (i) 99.77% of organic matters are removed, which means the present technology is quite efficient to recycle the organic matters; (ii) a yield of 78.23% acetic acid, a quite important fossil energy based chemical product is obtained, which can reduce the consumption of fossil energy for producing acetic acid; (iii) supercritical water acts as an ideal solvent, a requisite reactant as well as an efficient acid-base catalyst, and this is quite significant in accordance with the "Principles of Green Chemistry". In a word, the organic matters of waste LCD panels are recycled without environmental pollution. Meanwhile, this study provides new opportunities for alternating fossil-based chemical products for sustainable development, converting "waste" into "fossil-based chemicals".

40 CFR 60.33b - Emission guidelines for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.33b Section 60.33b Protection of Environment..., acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a) The emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals... oxygen. (d) For approval, a State plan shall include emission limits for nitrogen oxides at least as...

40 CFR 60.33b - Emission guidelines for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.33b Section 60.33b Protection of Environment..., acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a) The emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals... oxygen. (d) For approval, a State plan shall include emission limits for nitrogen oxides at least as...

40 CFR 60.33b - Emission guidelines for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.33b Section 60.33b Protection of Environment..., acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a) The emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals... oxygen. (d) For approval, a State plan shall include emission limits for nitrogen oxides at least as...

40 CFR 60.33b - Emission guidelines for municipal waste combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... combustor metals, acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. 60.33b Section 60.33b Protection of Environment..., acid gases, organics, and nitrogen oxides. (a) The emission limits for municipal waste combustor metals... oxygen. (d) For approval, a State plan shall include emission limits for nitrogen oxides at least as...

Acid-Catalyzed Preparation of Biodiesel from Waste Vegetable Oil: An Experiment for the Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bladt, Don; Murray, Steve; Gitch, Brittany; Trout, Haylee; Liberko, Charles

2011-01-01

This undergraduate organic laboratory exercise involves the sulfuric acid-catalyzed conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel. The acid-catalyzed method, although inherently slower than the base-catalyzed methods, does not suffer from the loss of product or the creation of emulsion producing soap that plagues the base-catalyzed methods when…

Isolation of bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline from pineapple peel waste: Optimization of acid concentration in the hydrolysis method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anwar, Budiman; Rosyid, Nurul Huda; Effendi, Devi Bentia; Nandiyanto, Asep Bayu Dani; Mudzakir, Ahmad; Hidayat, Topik

2016-02-01

Isolation of needle-shaped bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline with a diameter of 16-64 nm, a fiber length of 258-806 nm, and a degree of crystallinity of 64% from pineapple peel waste using an acid hydrolysis process was investigated. Experimental showed that selective concentration of acid played important roles in isolating the bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline from the cellulose source. To achieve the successful isolation of bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline, various acid concentrations were tested. To confirm the effect of acid concentration on the successful isolation process, the reaction conditions were fixed at a temperature of 50°C, a hydrolysis time of 30 minutes, and a bacterial cellulose-to-acid ratio of 1:50. Pineapple peel waste was used as a model for a cellulose source because to the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the use of this raw material for producing bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline. In fact, this material can be used as an alternative for ecofriendly and cost-free cellulose sources. Therefore, understanding in how to isolate bacterial cellulose nanocrystalline from pineapple peel waste has the potential for large-scale production of inexpensive cellulose nanocrystalline.

Acid-Alkali Resistance of New Reclaimed Tiles Containing Sewage Sludge Ash and Waste Glass

PubMed Central

Lin, Deng-Fong; Lin, Kuo-Liang; Luo, Huan-Lin; Xu, Jia-Qin

2016-01-01

In this study, properties of newly developed reclaimed tiles in a harmful environment were investigated. A portion of clay used to manufacture tiles was replaced with sewage sludge ash (SSA) and waste glass to produce the new reclaimed tiles. To investigate the effects of SSA and waste glass on the properties of the tiles, different specimens were blended and placed in acid-alkali solutions. The reclaimed tile specimens were manufactured by clay, 10% SSA, and five different mixes of waste glass replacement, namely, 0%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and 60%. These specimens were calcined at 1000 °C and subsequently underwent a series of tests, including TGA/DTA (thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), bending strength, weight loss, and porosity. Test results show that shortcomings associated with the introduction of the sludge ash were improved by the admixture of waste glass, especially in the aspects of shrinkage and bending strength. The study showed that the new reclaimed tiles performed relatively well in acid-alkali resistance tests but appeared to have better alkali resistance than acid resistance. It was also found that the optimal mix of such reclaimed tiles was 10% SSA, 10% waste glass, and 80% clay. PMID:28773668

Contamination by perfluorinated compounds in water near waste recycling and disposal sites in Vietnam.

PubMed

Kim, Joon-Woo; Tue, Nguyen Minh; Isobe, Tomohiko; Misaki, Kentaro; Takahashi, Shin; Viet, Pham Hung; Tanabe, Shinsuke

2013-04-01

There are very few reports on the contamination by perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in the environment of developing countries, especially regarding their emission from waste recycling and disposal sites. This is the first study on the occurrence of a wide range of PFCs (17 compounds) in ambient water in Vietnam, including samples collected from a municipal dumping site (MD), an e-waste recycling site (ER), a battery recycling site (BR) and a rural control site. The highest PFC concentration was found in a leachate sample from MD (360 ng/L). The PFC concentrations in ER and BR (mean, 57 and 16 ng/L, respectively) were also significantly higher than those detected in the rural control site (mean, 9.4 ng/L), suggesting that municipal solid waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment are potential contamination sources of PFCs in Vietnam. In general, the most abundant PFCs were perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUDA; <1.4-100, <1.2-100, and <0.5-20 ng/L, respectively). Interestingly, there were specific PFC profiles: perfluoroheptanoic acid and perfluorohexanoic acid (88 and 77 ng/L, respectively) were almost as abundant as PFOA in MD leachate (100 ng/L), whereas PFNA was prevalent in ER and BR (mean, 17 and 6.2 ng/L, respectively) and PFUDA was the most abundant in municipal wastewater (mean, 5.6 ng/L), indicating differences in PFC contents in different waste materials.

Alternative oxidation technologies for organic mixed waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borduin, L.C.; Fewell, T.

1998-07-01

The Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) is currently supporting the development and demonstration of several alternative oxidation technology (AOT) processes for treatment of combustible mixed low-level wastes. AOTs have been defined as technologies that destroy organic material without using open-flame reactions. AOTs include both thermal and nonthermal processes that oxidize organic wastes but operate under significantly different physical and chemical conditions than incinerators. Nonthermal processes currently being studied include Delphi DETOX and acid digestion at the Savannah River Site (SRS), and direct chemical oxidation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). All three technologies are at advanced stages of development ormore » are entering the demonstration phase. Nonflame thermal processes include catalytic chemical oxidation, which is being developed and deployed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and steam reforming, a commercial process being supported by the Department of Energy (DOE). Although testing is complete on some AOT technologies, most require additional support to complete some or all of the identified development objectives. Brief descriptions, status, and planned paths forward for each of the technologies are presented.« less

Toxic element mobility assessment and modeling for regional geo-scientific survey to support Risk Assessment in a European Union context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdaal, Ahmed; Jordan, Gyozo; Bartha, Andras; Fugedi, Ubul

2013-04-01

The Mine Waste Directive 2006/21/EC requires the risk-based inventory of all mine waste sites in Europe. The geochemical documentation concerning inert classification and ranking of the mine wastes requires detailed field study and laboratory testing and analyses of waste material to assess the Acid Mine Drainage potential and toxic element mobility. The procedure applied in this study used a multi-level decision support scheme including: 1) expert judgment, 2) data review, 3) representative field sampling and laboratory analysis of formations listed in the Inert Mining Waste List, and 4) requesting available laboratory analysis data from selected operating mines. Based on expert judgment, the listed formations were classified into three categories. A: inert B: probably inert, but has to be checked, C: probably not inert, has to be examined. This paper discusses the heavy metal contamination risk assessment (RA) in leached quarry-mine waste sites in Hungary. In total 34 mine waste sites (including tailing lagoons and heaps of both abandoned mines and active quarries) have been selected for scientific testing using the EU Pre-selection Protocol. Over 93 field samples have been collected from the mine sites including Ore (Andesite and Ryolite), Coal (Lignite, black and brown coals), Peat, Alginite, Bauxite, Clay and Limestone. Laboratory analyses of the total toxic element content (aqua regia extraction), the mobile toxic element content (deionized water leaching) and the analysis of different forms of sulfur (sulfuric acid potential) ) on the base of Hungarian GKM Decree No. 14/2008. (IV. 3) concerning mining waste management. A detailed geochemical study together with spatial analysis and GIS has been performed to derive a geochemically sound contamination RA of the mine waste sites. Key parameters such as heavy metal and sulphur content, in addition to the distance to the nearest surface and ground water bodies, or to sensitive receptors such as settlements and protected areas are calculated and statistically evaluated using STATGRAPHICS® in order to calibrate the RA methods. Results show that some of the waste rock materials assumed to be inert were found non/inert. Thus, regional RA needs more spatial and petrological examination with special care to rock and mineral deposit genetics.

Anaerobic digestion of food waste for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production with different types of inoculum: effect of pH.

PubMed

Wang, Kun; Yin, Jun; Shen, Dongsheng; Li, Na

2014-06-01

Food waste anaerobic fermentation was carried out under acidic conditions using inocula based on aerobic activated sludge (Inoculum AE) or anaerobic activated sludge (Inoculum AN) for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production. The results showed that food waste hydrolysis increased obviously when Inoculum AN was used relative to Inoculum AE at any pH investigated. Hydrolysis at pH 4.0 and uncontrolled pH was higher than that at other pHs when either inoculum was used. Additionally, VFAs production at pH 6.0 was the highest, regardless of the inoculum used. The optimum VFA yields were 0.482g/gVSSremoval with Inoculum AE and 0.918g/gVSSremoval with Inoculum AN, which were observed after 4d and 20d of fermentation, respectively. VFAs composition analysis showed that butyrate acid was the prevalent acid at pH 6.0, followed by acetate acid and propionic acid. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Leaching of Aluminium In Spanish Clays, Coal Mining Wastes and Coal Fly Ashes by Sulphuric Acid.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández, A. M.; Ibáñez, J. L.; Llavona, M. A.; Zapico, R.

The acid leaching of aluminium from several non traditional ores, bayerite, kaolinite, different clays, coal mining wastes and coal fly ashes, and the kinetic of their dissolution are described. The effects of time, temperature, acid concentration, sample calcination, particle size were examined. The leaching of aluminium is dependent on acid concentration and strongly on temperature. Generally, the time to reach a fixed percentage of dissolution decreases with increasing acid concentration in the range 6% to 40% acid by weight. On clays and coal mining wastes a good relation between Al removal and ratio kaolinite/illite was also observed at all temperatures and acid concentration tested. Coal fly ashes are particles that were heated at very high temperatures in the power station and Al compounds were transformed into mullite and so Al recovery was minor. Several rate equations describing the kinetics of the leach reaction were discussed and Kinetic parameters and activation energy values of samples are presented.

Lactic acid fermentation of dahlia tuber starch and waste using Lactobacillus bulgaricus: A comparative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Praputri, E.; Sundari, E.; Martynis, M.; Agenta, P.

2018-03-01

Lactic acid fermentation of dahlia tuber starch and waste was performed by means of Lactobacillus bulgaricus through enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fermentation process. The effect of pH condition on lactic acid production was investigated during the process. The selected bacteria produced lactic acid after 24 hours of fermentation and the productivity was increase after 24 hours of fermentation. After 120 hours of fermentation, it was found that dahlia tuber starch can produce up to 16.18% of lactic acid, whereas lactic acid produced from dahlia tuber waste was only 0.40% at pH of 4. The lactic acid production increase significantly for pH 3.5 and 4 until 96 hours of fermentation, then slowed down. On the other hand, for pH 4.5 the lactic acid production increase until 48 hours of fermentation and then slowed down. The identification of fermentation product indicated that the lactic acid produced in this study was 16.20%, acidic, yellow and cloudy with pH 3.4 – 4.2. The density of lactic acid produced ranged between 1.21 to 1.25 gr/ml.

Modeling of anaerobic degradation of solid slaughterhouse waste: inhibition effects of long-chain fatty acids or ammonia.

PubMed

Lokshina, L Y; Vavilin, V A; Salminen, E; Rintala, J

2003-01-01

The anaerobic bioconversion of solid poultry slaughterhouse wastes was kinetically investigated. The modified version of simulation model was applied for description of experimental data in mesophilic laboratory digester and assays. Additionally, stages of formation and consumption of long chain fatty acids (LCFA) were included in the model. Batch data on volatile solids, ammonium, acetate, butyrate, propionate, LCFA concentrations, pH level, cumulative volume, and methane partial pressure were used for model calibration. As a reference, the model was used to describe digestion of solid sorted household waste. Simulation results showed that an inhibition of polymer hydrolysis by volatile fatty acids and acetogenesis by NH3 or LCFA could be responsible for the complex system dynamics during degradation of lipid- and protein-rich wastes.

Process for immobilizing radioactive boric acid liquid wastes

DOEpatents

Greenhalgh, W.O.

1984-05-10

Disclosed is a method of immobilizing boric acid liquid wastes containing radionuclides by neutralizing the solution and evaporating the resulting precipitate to near dryness. The dry residue is then fused into a reduced volume, insoluble, inert, solid form containing substantially all the radionuclides.

40 CFR 61.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...) Phosphogypsum is the solid waste byproduct which results from the process of wet acid phosphorus production. (c) Phosphogypsum stacks or stacks are piles of waste resulting from wet acid phosphorus production, including phosphate mines or other sites that are used for the disposal of phosphogypsum. ...

40 CFR 61.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...) Phosphogypsum is the solid waste byproduct which results from the process of wet acid phosphorus production. (c) Phosphogypsum stacks or stacks are piles of waste resulting from wet acid phosphorus production, including phosphate mines or other sites that are used for the disposal of phosphogypsum. ...

40 CFR 61.201 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...) Phosphogypsum is the solid waste byproduct which results from the process of wet acid phosphorus production. (c) Phosphogypsum stacks or stacks are piles of waste resulting from wet acid phosphorus production, including phosphate mines or other sites that are used for the disposal of phosphogypsum. ...

Humic acid batteries derived from vermicomposts at different C/N ratios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shamsuddin, R. M.; Borhan, A.; Lim, W. K.

2017-06-01

Humic acid is a known fertilizer derived from decomposed organic matters. Organic wastes are normally landfilled for disposal which had contributed negatively to the environment. From waste-to-wealth perspective, such wastes are potential precursors for compost fertilizers. When worms are added into a composting process, the process is termed as vermicomposting. In this work, humic acid from vermicompost derived from campus green wastes was developed into a battery. This adds value proposition to compost instead of being traditionally used solely as soil improver. This research work aimed to study the correlation between electrical potential generated by humic acid at different Carbon to Nitrogen (C/N) ratios of vermicompost at 20, 25, 30 and 35. The temperature and pH profiles of composting revealed that the compost was ready after 55 days. The humic acid was extracted from compost via alkaline extraction followed by precipitation in a strong acid. The extracted humic acid together with other additives were packed into a compartment and termed as vermibattery. Another set of battery running only on the additives was also prepared as a control. The net voltage produced by a single vermibattery cell with Zn and PbO electrodes was in the range of 0.31 to 0.44 V with compost at C/N ratio of 30 gave the highest voltage. The battery can be connected in series to increase the voltage generation. Quality assessment on the compost revealed that the final carbon content is between 16 to 23 wt%, nitrogen content of 0.4 to 0.5 wt%, humic acid yield of 0.7 to 1.5 wt% and final compost mass reduction of 10 to 35 wt%. Composting campus green wastes carries multi-fold benefits of reducing labour requirement, generating fertilizer for campus greenery and green battery construction.

Geochemistry of Mine Waste and Mill Tailings, Meadow Deposits, Streambed Sediment, and General Hydrology and Water Quality for the Frohner Meadows Area, Upper Lump Gulch, Jefferson County, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klein, Terry L.; Cannon, Michael R.; Fey, David L.

2004-01-01

Frohner Meadows, an area of low-topographic gradient subalpine ponds and wetlands in glaciated terrane near the headwaters of Lump Gulch (a tributary of Prickly Pear Creek), is located about 15 miles west of the town of Clancy, Montana, in the Helena National Forest. Mining and ore treatment of lead-zinc-silver veins in granitic rocks of the Boulder batholith over the last 120 years from two sites (Frohner mine and the Nellie Grant mine) has resulted in accumulations of mine waste and mill tailings that have been distributed downslope and downstream by anthropogenic and natural processes. This report presents the results of an investigation of the geochemistry of the wetlands, streams, and unconsolidated-sediment deposits and the hydrology, hydrogeology, and water quality of the area affected by these sources of ore-related metals. Ground water sampled from most shallow wells in the meadow system contained high concentrations of arsenic, exceeding the Montana numeric water-quality standard for human health. Transport of cadmium and zinc in ground water is indicated at one site near Nellie Grant Creek based on water-quality data from one well near the creek. Mill tailings deposited in upper Frohner Meadow contribute large arsenic loads to Frohner Meadows Creek; Nellie Grant Creek contributes large arsenic, cadmium, and zinc loads to upper Frohner Meadows. Concentrations of total-recoverable cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in most surface-water sites downstream from the Nellie Grant mine area exceeded Montana aquatic-life standards. Nearly all samples of surface water and ground water had neutral to slightly alkaline pH values. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and zinc in streambed sediment in the entire meadow below the mine waste and mill tailings accumulations are highly enriched relative to regional watershed-background concentrations and exceed consensus-based, probable-effects concentrations for streambed sediment at most sites. Cadmium, copper, and zinc typically are adsorbed to the surface coatings of streambed-sediment grains. Mine waste and mill tailings contain high concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in a quartz-rich matrix. Most of the waste sites that were sampled had low acid-generating capacity, although one site (fine-grained mill tailings from the Nellie Grant mine deposited in the upper part of lower Frohner Meadows) had extremely high acid-generating potential because of abundant fine-grained pyrite. Two distinct sites were identified as metal sources based on streambed-sediment samples, cores in the meadow substrate, and mine and mill-tailings samples. The Frohner mine and mill site contribute material rich in arsenic and lead; similar material from the Nellie Grant mine and mill site is rich in cadmium and zinc.

Efficient bioconversion of organic wastes to high optical activity of l-lactic acid stimulated by cathode in mixed microbial consortium.

PubMed

Xue, Gang; Lai, Sizhou; Li, Xiang; Zhang, Wenjuan; You, Jiguang; Chen, Hong; Qian, Yajie; Gao, Pin; Liu, Zhenhong; Liu, Yanan

2017-12-12

Lactic acid is one of the emerging top biomass derived platform chemicals that can be fermented from organic wastes. This study evaluated the potential of Cathodic Electro-Fermentation (CEF) as a novel approach to enhance the yield of high optical activity (OA) of l-lactic acid from organic wastes using mixed microbial consortium. The fermentation process was stimulated through the cathode applied with -100 mV versus standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which contributed to 4.73 times higher lactic acid productivity (0.6578 g L -1 h -1 ) compared to that in the open circuit control (0.1392 g L -1 h -1 ), and an improved OA of l-lactic acid was also observed (42.3% vs. 3.6% of the open circuit control). The study elucidated that the optimal voltage at -100 mV promoted the conversion of pyruvate to l-lactate by 77.9% compared to the Blank, which triggered the generation of l-lactic acid to occur rapidly even at low concentration of pyruvate. The significant variation of microbial community in family- and genus-level distributions were observed in CEF system. Furthermore, the open-circuit operation test demonstrated that the cathode providing in-situ electron supply was essential to achieve high efficient bioconversion of organic wastes to lactic acid. Our work highlights the feasibility of CEF to steer high value-added fermentation products deriving from organic wastes by the mixed microbial consortium. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Over production of fermentable sugar for bioethanol production from carbohydrate-rich Malaysian food waste via sequential acid-enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment.

PubMed

Hafid, Halimatun Saadiah; Nor 'Aini, Abdul Rahman; Mokhtar, Mohd Noriznan; Talib, Ahmad Tarmezee; Baharuddin, Azhari Samsu; Umi Kalsom, Md Shah

2017-09-01

In Malaysia, the amount of food waste produced is estimated at approximately 70% of total municipal solid waste generated and characterised by high amount of carbohydrate polymers such as starch, cellulose, and sugars. Considering the beneficial organic fraction contained, its utilization as an alternative substrate specifically for bioethanol production has receiving more attention. However, the sustainable production of bioethanol from food waste is linked to the efficient pretreatment needed for higher production of fermentable sugar prior to fermentation. In this work, a modified sequential acid-enzymatic hydrolysis process has been developed to produce high concentration of fermentable sugars; glucose, sucrose, fructose and maltose. The process started with hydrothermal and dilute acid pretreatment by hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) which aim to degrade larger molecules of polysaccharide before accessible for further steps of enzymatic hydrolysis by glucoamylase. A kinetic model is proposed to perform an optimal hydrolysis for obtaining high fermentable sugars. The results suggested that a significant increase in fermentable sugar production (2.04-folds) with conversion efficiency of 86.8% was observed via sequential acid-enzymatic pretreatment as compared to dilute acid pretreatment (∼42.4% conversion efficiency). The bioethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae utilizing fermentable sugar obtained shows ethanol yield of 0.42g/g with conversion efficiency of 85.38% based on the theoretical yield was achieved. The finding indicates that food waste can be considered as a promising substrate for bioethanol production. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Suppression of muscle wasting by the plant‐derived compound ursolic acid in a model of chronic kidney disease

PubMed Central

Yu, Rizhen; Chen, Ji‐an; Xu, Jing; Cao, Jin; Wang, Yanlin; Thomas, Sandhya S.

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Muscle wasting in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other catabolic disorders contributes to morbidity and mortality, and there are no therapeutic interventions that regularly and safely block losses of muscle mass. We have obtained evidence that impaired IGF‐1/insulin signalling and increases in glucocorticoids, myostatin and/or inflammatory cytokines that contribute to the development of muscle wasting in catabolic disorders by activating protein degradation. Methods Using in vitro and in vivo models of muscle wasting associated with CKD or dexamethasone administration, we measured protein synthesis and degradation and examined mechanisms by which ursolic acid, derived from plants, could block the loss of muscle mass stimulated by CKD or excessive levels of dexamethasone. Results Using cultured C2C12 myotubes to study muscle wasting, we found that exposure to glucocorticoids cause loss of cell proteins plus an increase in myostatin; both responses are significantly suppressed by ursolic acid. Results from promoter and ChIP assays demonstrated a mechanism involving ursolic acid blockade of myostatin promoter activity that is related to CEBP/δ expression. In mouse models of CKD‐induced or dexamethasone‐induced muscle wasting, we found that ursolic acid blocked the loss of muscle mass by stimulating protein synthesis and decreasing protein degradation. These beneficial responses included decreased expression of myostatin and inflammatory cytokines (e.g. TGF‐β, IL‐6 and TNFα), which are initiators of muscle‐specific ubiquitin‐E3 ligases (e.g. Atrogin‐1, MuRF‐1 and MUSA1). Conclusions Ursolic acid improves CKD‐induced muscle mass by suppressing the expression of myostatin and inflammatory cytokines via increasing protein synthesis and reducing proteolysis. PMID:27897418

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vargas, Edmundo; Reyes, Rolando; Palattao, Maria Visitacion

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) in collaboration with the interagency technical committee on radioactive waste has been undertaking a national project to find a final solution to the country's low to intermediate level radioactive waste. The strategy adopted was to co-locate 2 disposal concepts that will address the types of radioactive waste generated from the use of radioactive materials. This strategy is expected to compensate for the small volumes of waste generated in the Philippines as compared to countries with big nuclear energy programs. It will also take advantage of the benefits of a shared infrastructure and R andmore » D work that accompany such project. The preferred site selected from previous site selection and investigations is underlain by highly fractured 'andesitic volcaniclastics' mantled by residual clayey soil which act as the aquifer or water bearing layer. Results of investigation show that the groundwater in the area is relatively dilute and acidic. Springs at the lower elevations of the footprint also indicate acidic waters. The relatively acidic water is attributed to the formation of sulfuric acid by the oxidation of the pyrite in the andesite. A preliminary post closure safety assessment was carried out using the GMS MODFLOW and HYDRUS softwares purchased through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) technical assistance. Results from MODFLOW modeling show that the radionuclide transport follows the natural gradient from the top of the hill down to the natural discharge zones. The vault dispersion model shows a circular direction from the vaults towards the faults and eventually to the creeks. The contaminant transport from borehole shows at least one confined plume from the borehole towards the creek designated as Repo1 and eventually follows downstream. The influx of surface water and rainfall to the disposal vault was modeled using the HYDRUS software. The pressure head and water content at the base of the foundation layer and the bottom of the concrete is where a significant reduction in water content can be observed. It is also noted that water content and pressure remain constant after one year. (authors)« less

Installation Restoration Program. Phase 1. Records Search. Air Force Plant Number 3, Tulsa, Oklahoma

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

treatment plant was designed for cyanide and chromium treat- ment. Wastes are collected in two separate sewer systems; acid-chrome, and alkali cyanide...reduction of hexavalent chrome to trivalent chrome with sulfur dioxide. After the oxidation and reduction are accomplished separately, the wastes are...uses of the water. CCNVEPSI N COATING WASTE: Acidic solution containinq chromium . 0COOLANT: An oil-water mixture used for coolina metal parts durirq

Biological production of products from waste gases

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

2002-01-22

A method and apparatus are designed for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, and carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various products, such as organic acids, alcohols, hydrogen, single cell protein, and salts of organic acids by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified.

Environmental Compliance Assessment Army Reserve (ECAAR)

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

and water Spent mixed acid Spent caustic Spent sulfuric acid Potential Consequences: Heat generation, violent reaction. Group 2-A Group 2-B Aluminum Any...methane reforming furnaces, pulping liquor recovery furnaces, combustion devices used in the recovery of sulfur values from spent sulfuric acid...Industry and USEPA Hazardous Waste Hazard No. Hazardous Waste Code* Generic FOO1 The spent halogenated solvents used in degreasing: Trichloroethylene, (t

Characterisation and classification of solid wastes coming from reductive acid leaching of low-grade manganiferous ore.

PubMed

De Michelis, Ida; Ferella, Francesco; Beolchini, Francesca; Olivieri, Agostino; Vegliò, Francesco

2009-03-15

The present work was focused on the acid leaching process for manganese extraction in reducing environment to low-grade manganiferous ore that comes from Central Italy. The aim of this study was to establish optimum leaching operating conditions to reduce treatment costs of waste or, even better, to allow a waste valorisation as raw materials for other applications. Consequently, the main focus of the work was the characterization and classification of the solid wastes coming from the process carried out at different operating conditions; at the same moment the effect of process parameters on Mn extraction was also analysed. The effect of particles size on the manganese extraction in reductive acid leaching process was investigated, by using lactose as reducing agent. Particle size did not show a large influence on the Mn extraction yields in the investigated process conditions. This aspect suggests the use of the leaching waste for civil and/or environmental application: use of leaching solid wastes like filling material is to be applied, for example, for environmental restoration. The classification of the solid wastes, according to the Italian Laws about Release Test (RT), has demonstrated that the solid waste produced by leaching can be classifiable as "hazardous special waste". An improvement of solid washing let to reduce the SO(4)(2-) and an appropriate treatment is necessary to reduce the dangerousness of these solids. Possible application of ore and waste as raw materials in the ceramic industry was demonstrated not to be feasible.

40 CFR 265.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 265.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL... waste solvent substituted for waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping...

40 CFR 265.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 265.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL... waste solvent substituted for waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping...

40 CFR 265.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 265.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL... waste solvent substituted for waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping...

Anaerobic digestion of tuna waste for the production of volatile fatty acids.

PubMed

Bermúdez-Penabad, Noela; Kennes, Christian; Veiga, Maria C

2017-10-01

Fish canning industries generate a significant amount of solid waste that can be digested anaerobically into volatile fatty acids (VFA). The aim of this research was to study the effect of various pHs, ranging from 5.0 to 10.0, and percentage of total solids on the anaerobic digestion of tuna waste into VFA, both in batch assays and continuous reactor. The production of VFA was affected by pH and was significantly higher under alkaline conditions. At pH 8.0, the VFA production reached 30,611mgCOD/L. The VFA mainly consisted of acetic, propionic, n-butyric and i-valeric acids. Acetic acid was the main product at all the pHs tested. In terms of total solids (TS) the best results were obtained with 2.5% total solids, reaching 0.73gCOD VFA /gCOD waste . At higher TS concentrations (5 and 8% TS) lower yields were reached probably due to inhibition at high VFA concentration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantitative ‘Omics Analyses of Medium Chain Length Polyhydroxyalkanaote Metabolism in Pseudomonas putida LS46 Cultured with Waste Glycerol and Waste Fatty Acids

PubMed Central

Fu, Jilagamazhi; Sharma, Parveen; Spicer, Vic; Krokhin, Oleg V.; Zhang, Xiangli; Fristensky, Brian; Cicek, Nazim; Sparling, Richard; Levin, David. B.

2015-01-01

Transcriptomes and proteomes of Pseudomonas putida LS46 cultured with biodiesel-derived waste glycerol or waste free fatty acids, as sole carbon sources, were compared under conditions that were either permissive or non-permissive for synthesis of medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA). The objectives of this study were to elucidate mechanisms that influence activation of biopolymer synthesis, intra-cellular accumulation, and monomer composition, and determine if these were physiologically specific to the carbon sources used for growth of P. putida LS46. Active mcl-PHA synthesis by P. putida LS46 was associated with high expression levels of key mcl-PHA biosynthesis genes and/or gene products including monomer-supplying proteins, PHA synthases, and granule-associated proteins. ‘Omics data suggested that expression of these genes were regulated by different genetic mechanisms in P. putida LS46 cells in different physiological states, when cultured on the two waste carbon sources. Optimal polymer production by P. putida LS46 was primarily limited by less efficient glycerol metabolism during mcl-PHA synthesis on waste glycerol. Mapping the ‘Omics data to the mcl-PHA biosynthetic pathway revealed significant variations in gene expression, primarily involved in: 1) glycerol transportation; 2) enzymatic reactions that recycle reducing equivalents and produce key mcl-PHA biosynthesis pathway intermediates (e.g. NADH/NADPH, acetyl-CoA). Active synthesis of mcl-PHAs was observed during exponential phase in cultures with waste free fatty acids, and was associated with the fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway. A putative Thioesterase in the beta-oxidation pathway that may regulate the level of fatty acid beta-oxidation intermediates, and thus carbon flux to mcl-PHA biosynthesis, was highly up-regulated. Finally, the data suggested that differences in expression of selected fatty acid metabolism and mcl-PHA monomer-supplying enzymes may play a role in determining the monomer composition of mcl-PHA polymers. Understanding the relationships between genome content, gene and gene product expression, and how these factors influence polymer synthesis, will aid in optimization of mcl-PHA production by P. putida LS46 using biodiesel waste streams. PMID:26544181

Catalytic conversion of carbohydrates to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from the waste liquid of acid hydrolysis NCC.

PubMed

Sun, Yonghui; Liu, Pengtao; Liu, Zhong

2016-05-20

The principal goal of this work was to reuse the carbohydrates and recycle sulfuric acid in the waste liquid of acid hydrolysis nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Therefore, in this work, the optimizations of further hydrolysis of waste liquid of acid hydrolysis NCC and catalytic conversion of L4 to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) were studied. Sulfuric acid was separated by spiral wound diffusion dialysis (SWDD). The results revealed that cellulose can be hydrolyze to glucose absolutely under the condition of temperature 35 °C, 3 h, and sulfuric acid's concentration 62 wt%. And 78.3% sulfuric acid was recovered by SWDD. The yield of 5-HMF was highest in aqueous solution under the optimal condition was as follows, temperature 160 °C, 3 h, and sulfuric acid's concentration 12 wt%. Then the effect of biphasic solvent systems catalytic conversion and inorganic salt as additives were still examined. The results showed that both of them contributed to prepare 5-HMF. The yield and selectivity of 5-HMF was up to 21.0% and 31.4%, respectively. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on Treatment of acidic and highly concentrated fluoride waste water using calcium oxide-calcium chloride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, T.; Gao, X. R.; Zheng, T.; Wang, P.

2016-08-01

There are problems with treating acidic waste water containing high concentration fluorine by chemical precipitation, including the low sludge setting velocity and the high difficulty of reaching the criterion. In Heilongjiang province, a graphite factory producing high-purity graphite generates acidic waste water with a high concentration of fluorine. In this paper, the effect of removals on the concentration of fluoride with the combined treatment of calcium oxide and calcium chloride were discussed with regard to acid waste water. The study improved the sludge characteristics by using polyacrylamide (PAM) and polymeric aluminum chloride (PAC). The effect of different coagulants on sludge was evaluated by the sludge settlement ratio (SV), sludge volume index (SVI) and sludge moisture content. The results showed that the optimal combination for 100 ml waste water was calcium oxide addition amount of 14 g, a calcium chloride addition amount of 2.5 g, a PAM addition amount of 350 mg/L, and the effluent fluoride concentration was below 6 mg/L. PAM significantly improved the sludge settling velocity. The sludge settlement ratio reduced from 87.6% to 60%. The process for wastewater treatment was easily operated and involved low expenditure.

Study on the correlation between volatile fatty acids and gas production in dry fermentation of kitchen waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qiangqiang; Ma, Yunfeng; Du, Boying; Wang, Qi; Hu, Qiongqiong; Bian, Yushan

2018-02-01

In this study, continuous kitchen waste fermentation and anaerobic digestion experiments were conducted to analyze the gas production potential, and to study the correlation between gas production rate and volatile fatty acid (VFAs) and its component concentration. During the experiment, the total solid(TS) concentration of the reaction system was increased by adding the kitchen waste, analysis of kitchen waste dry fermentation process to start, run, imbalance and imbalance after recovery and the parameters in the process of realizing the change trend and influencing factors of dry fermentation process, pH and ammonia concentration.

The impact of illegal waste sites on a transmission of zoonotic viruses.

PubMed

Duh, Darja; Hasic, Sandra; Buzan, Elena

2017-07-20

Illegal waste disposal impacts public health and causes aesthetic and environmental pollution. Waste disposed in places without permitted and controlled facilities can provide a ready source of nutrition and shelter for rodents and thus promote the spread of their ecto- and endoparasites. The presence of two distinct zoonotic viruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), was searched at illegal waste sites. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of infection with both viruses in rodents and to discuss the virus-rodent relations in such environments. Rodents sampled between October 2011 and April 2013 at 7 locations in the Istrian peninsula, were identified morphologically and genetically to minimize misidentification. Serological and molecular techniques were used to determine seroprevalence of infection in rodents and to detect viral RNAs. Serological testing was performed by immune fluorescence assay for detection of LCMV and TBEV specific antibodies. Real-time RT PCR was used for the detection of LCMV nucleoprotein gene and TBEV 3' non-coding region. Data were statistically analysed using SPSS statistic v2.0. Out of 82 rodent sera tested, the presence of LCMV antibodies was demonstrated in 24.93%. The highest prevalence of LCMV infection was found in commensal Mus musculus (47.37%), followed by 11.53%, 19.04% and 25% prevalence of infection in A. agrarius, A. flavicolis and A. sylvaticus, respectively. The highest prevalence of infection in rodents (53.33%) was found in locations with large waste sites and high anthropogenic influence. LCMV seroprevalence was significantly lower in rodents sampled from natural habitats. Viral nucleic acids were screened in 46 samples but yielded no amplicons of LCMV or TBEV. In addition, TBEV specific antibodies were not detected. Illegal waste sites have considerable impact on the area where they are located. Results have shown that the transmission of human pathogens can be significantly increased by the presence of waste sites. However, the pathogen must be endemic in the environment where the waste site is located. The introduction of a human pathogen as a consequence of the waste site in the area of interest could not be proven.

Treatment of electronic waste to recover metal values using thermal plasma coupled with acid leaching--a response surface modeling approach.

PubMed

Rath, Swagat S; Nayak, Pradeep; Mukherjee, P S; Roy Chaudhury, G; Mishra, B K

2012-03-01

The global crisis of the hazardous electronic waste (E-waste) is on the rise due to increasing usage and disposal of electronic devices. A process was developed to treat E-waste in an environmentally benign process. The process consisted of thermal plasma treatment followed by recovery of metal values through mineral acid leaching. In the thermal process, the E-waste was melted to recover the metal values as a metallic mixture. The metallic mixture was subjected to acid leaching in presence of depolarizer. The leached liquor mainly contained copper as the other elements like Al and Fe were mostly in alloy form as per the XRD and phase diagram studies. Response surface model was used to optimize the conditions for leaching. More than 90% leaching efficiency at room temperature was observed for Cu, Ni and Co with HCl as the solvent, whereas Fe and Al showed less than 40% efficiency. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term leaching behavior of phenol in cement/activated-carbon solidified/stabilized hazardous waste.

PubMed

Liu, Jianguo; Nie, Xiaoqin; Zeng, Xianwei; Su, Zhaoji

2013-01-30

The long-term leaching behavior of phenol in solidified/stabilized (S/S) hazardous wastes cured for 28 d with different amounts of activated carbon (AC) was investigated using synthetic inorganic acid (H(2)SO(4):HNO(3) = 2:1, pH = 3.2), acetic acid buffer (HAc/NaAc, pH = 4.93), and deionized water as leachants to simulate the leaching of phenol in three exposure scenarios: acid-precipitation, co-disposal, and neutral-precipitation. Phenol immobilization was enhanced by AC adsorption and impaired by the growth of micropores with increasing amount of AC; thus the optimal added amount of AC to be to added S/S wastes was 2%. The leaching behavior of phenol in co-disposal scenario was unpredictable due to inadequate ionization of HAc in the HAc-NaAc buffer solution. The findings indicated that S/S products should be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills rather than municipal solid waste landfills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of chemically bonded phosphate ceramics for stabilizing low-level mixed wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Seung-Young

1997-11-01

Novel chemically bonded phosphate ceramics have been developed by acid-base reactions between magnesium oxide and an acid phosphate at room temperature for stabilizing U.S. Department of Energy's low-level mixed waste streams that include hazardous chemicals and radioactive elements. Newberyite (MgHPOsb4.3Hsb2O)-rich magnesium phosphate ceramic was formed by an acid-base reaction between phosphoric acid and magnesium oxide. The reaction slurry, formed at room-temperature, sets rapidly and forms stable mineral phases of newberyite, lunebergite, and residual MgO. Rapid setting also generates heat due to exothermic acid-base reaction. The reaction was retarded by partially neutralizing the phosphoric acid solution by adding sodium or potassium hydroxide. This reduced the rate of reaction and heat generation and led to a practical way of producing novel magnesium potassium phosphate ceramic. This ceramic was formed by reacting stoichiometric amount of monopotassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals, MgO, and water, forming pure-phase of MgKPOsb4.6Hsb2O (MKP) with moderate exothermic reaction. Using this chemically bonded phosphate ceramic matrix, low-level mixed waste streams were stabilized, and superior waste forms in a monolithic structure were developed. The final waste forms showed low open porosity and permeability, and higher compression strength than the Land Disposal Requirements (LDRs). The novel MKP ceramic technology allowed us to develop operational size waste forms of 55 gal with good physical integrity. In this improved waste form, the hazardous contaminants such as RCRA heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, etc) were chemically fixed by their conversion into insoluble phosphate forms and physically encapsulated by the phosphate ceramic. In addition, chemically bonded phosphate ceramics stabilized radioactive elements such U and Pu. This was demonstrated with a detailed stabilization study on cerium used as a surrogate (chemically equivalent but nonradioactive) of U and Pu as well as on actual U-contaminated waste water. In particular, the leaching level of mercury in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test was reduced from 5000 to 0.00085 ppm, and the leaching level of cerium in the long term leaching test (ANS 16.1 test) was below the detection limit. These results show that the chemically bonded phosphate ceramics process may be a simple, inexpensive, and efficient method for stabilizing low-level mixed waste streams.

THE EPA/DOE MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

EPA Science Inventory

Mining activities in the US (not counting coal) produce between 1-2B tons of mine waste annually. Since many of the ore mines involve sulfide minerals, the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common problem from these abandoned mine sites. The combination of acidity, heav...

Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 561: Waste Disposal Areas, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, Revision 0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mark Krauss

2011-08-01

CAU 561 comprises 10 CASs: (1) 01-19-01, Waste Dump; (2) 02-08-02, Waste Dump and Burn Area; (3) 03-19-02, Debris Pile; (4) 05-62-01, Radioactive Gravel Pile; (5) 12-23-09, Radioactive Waste Dump; (6) 22-19-06, Buried Waste Disposal Site; (7) 23-21-04, Waste Disposal Trenches ; (8) 25-08-02, Waste Dump; (9) 25-23-21, Radioactive Waste Dump; and (10) 25-25-19, Hydrocarbon Stains and Trench. The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure of CAU 561 with no further corrective action. The purpose of the CAI was to fulfill the following data needs as defined during the DQO process:more » (1) Determine whether COCs are present; (2) If COCs are present, determine their nature and extent; and (3) Provide sufficient information and data to complete appropriate corrective actions. The following contaminants were determined to be present at concentrations exceeding their corresponding FALs: (1) No contamination exceeding FALs was identified at CASs 01-19-01, 03-19-02, 05-62-01, 12-23-09, and 22-19-06. (2) The surface and subsurface soil within the burn area at CAS 02-08-02 contains arsenic and lead above the FALs of 23 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and 800 mg/kg, respectively. The surface and subsurface soil within the burn area also contains melted lead slag (potential source material [PSM]). The soil within the waste piles contains polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) above the FALs. The contamination within the burn area is spread throughout the area, as it was not feasible to remove all the PSM (melted lead), while at the waste piles, the contamination is confined to the piles. (3) The surface and subsurface soils within Trenches 3 and 5 at CAS 23-21-04 contain arsenic and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) above the FALs of 23 mg/kg and 0.74 mg/kg, respectively. The soil was removed from both trenches, and the soil that remains at this CAS does not contain contamination exceeding the FALs. Lead bricks and counterweights were also removed, and the soil below these items does not contain contamination that exceeds the FAL for lead. (4) The concrete-like material at CAS 25-08-02 contains arsenic above the FAL of 23 mg/kg. This concrete-like material was removed, and the soil that remains at this CAS does not contain contamination exceeding the FALs. Lead-acid batteries were also removed, and the soil below the batteries does not contain contamination that exceeds the FAL for lead. (5) The surface soils within the main waste dump at the posted southern radioactive material area (RMA) at CAS 25-23-21 contain cesium (Cs)-137 and PCBs above the FALs of 72.9 picocuries per gram (pCi/g) and 0.74 mg/kg, respectively. The soil was removed from the RMA, and the soil that remains at this CAS does not contain contamination exceeding the FALs. (6) The surface and subsurface soils at CAS 25-25-19 do not contain contamination exceeding the FALs. In addition, lead bricks were removed, and the soil below these items does not contain contamination that exceeds the FAL for lead. The following best management practices were implemented: (1) Housekeeping debris at CASs 02-08-02, 23-21-04, 25-08-02, 25-23-21, and 25-25-19 was removed and disposed of; (2) The open trenches at CAS 23-21-04 were backfilled; (3) The waste piles at CAS 25-08-02 were removed and the area leveled to ground surface; and (4) The remaining waste piles at the main waste dump at CAS 25-23-21 were leveled to ground surface. Therefore, NNSA/NSO provides the following recommendations: (1) No further action for CASs 01-19-01, 03-19-02, 05-62-01, 12-23-09, and 22-19-06; (2) Closure in place with an FFACO use restriction (UR) at CAS 02-08-02 for the remaining PAH-, arsenic-, and lead-contaminated soil, and the melted lead PSM. The UR form and map have been filed in the NNSA/NSO Facility Information Management System, the FFACO database, and the NNSA/NSO CAU/CAS files; (3) No further corrective action at CAS 23-21-04, as the lead bricks and counterweights (PSM) have been removed, and the COCs of arsenic and PCBs in soil have been removed; (4) No further corrective action at CAS 25-08-02, as the COC of arsenic in soil has been removed, and the lead-acid batteries have been removed; (5) No further corrective action at CAS 25-23-21, as the COCs of Cs-137 and PCBs in soil have been removed, and the cast-iron pipes have been removed and disposed of; (6) No further corrective action at CAS 25-25-19, as the lead bricks (PSM) been removed; (7) A Notice of Completion to the NNSA/NSO is requested from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection for closure of CAU 561; and (8) Corrective Action Unit 561 should be moved from Appendix III to Appendix IV of the FFACO.« less

Overview of mine drainage geochemistry at historical mines, Humboldt River basin and adjacent mining areas, Nevada. Chapter E.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nash, J. Thomas; Stillings, Lisa L.

2004-01-01

Reconnaissance hydrogeochemical studies of the Humboldt River basin and adjacent areas of northern Nevada have identified local sources of acidic waters generated by historical mine workings and mine waste. The mine-related acidic waters are rare and generally flow less than a kilometer before being neutralized by natural processes. Where waters have a pH of less than about 3, particularly in the presence of sulfide minerals, the waters take on high to extremely high concentrations of many potentially toxic metals. The processes that create these acidic, metal-rich waters in Nevada are the same as for other parts of the world, but the scale of transport and the fate of metals are much more localized because of the ubiquitous presence of caliche soils. Acid mine drainage is rare in historical mining districts of northern Nevada, and the volume of drainage rarely exceeds about 20 gpm. My findings are in close agreement with those of Price and others (1995) who estimated that less than 0.05 percent of inactive and abandoned mines in Nevada are likely to be a concern for acid mine drainage. Most historical mining districts have no draining mines. Only in two districts (Hilltop and National) does water affected by mining flow into streams of significant size and length (more than 8 km). Water quality in even the worst cases is naturally attenuated to meet water-quality standards within about 1 km of the source. Only a few historical mines release acidic water with elevated metal concentrations to small streams that reach the Humboldt River, and these contaminants and are not detectable in the Humboldt. These reconnaissance studies offer encouraging evidence that abandoned mines in Nevada create only minimal and local water-quality problems. Natural attenuation processes are sufficient to compensate for these relatively small sources of contamination. These results may provide useful analogs for future mining in the Humboldt River basin, but attention must be given to matters of scale: larger volumes of waste and larger volumes of water could easily overwhelm the delicate balance of natural attenuation described here.

[Newly leaching method of copper from waste print circuit board using hydrochloric acid/n-butylamine/copper sulfate].

PubMed

Wang, Hong-Yan; Cui, Zhao-Jie; Yao, Ya-Wei

2010-12-01

A newly leaching method of copper from waste print circuit board was established by using hydrochloric acid-n-butylamine-copper sulfate mixed solution. The conditions of leaching were optimized by changing the hydrochloric acid, n-butylamine, copper sulfate,temperature and other conditions using copper as target mimics. The results indicated that copper could be leached completely after 8 h at 50 degrees C, hydrochloric acid concentration of 1.75 mol/L, n-butylamine concentration of 0.25 mol/L, and copper sulfate mass of 0.96 g. Under the conditions, copper leaching rates in waste print circuit board samples was up to 95.31% after 9 h. It has many advantages such as better effects, low cost, mild reaction conditions, leaching solution recycling.

Analysis of microbial community variation during the mixed culture fermentation of agricultural peel wastes to produce lactic acid.

PubMed

Liang, Shaobo; Gliniewicz, Karol; Gerritsen, Alida T; McDonald, Armando G

2016-05-01

Mixed cultures fermentation can be used to convert organic wastes into various chemicals and fuels. This study examined the fermentation performance of four batch reactors fed with different agricultural (orange, banana, and potato (mechanical and steam)) peel wastes using mixed cultures, and monitored the interval variation of reactor microbial communities with 16S rRNA genes using Illumina sequencing. All four reactors produced similar chemical profile with lactic acid (LA) as dominant compound. Acetic acid and ethanol were also observed with small fractions. The Illumina sequencing results revealed the diversity of microbial community decreased during fermentation and a community of largely lactic acid producing bacteria dominated by species of Lactobacillus developed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical digestion of low level nuclear solid waste material

DOEpatents

Cooley, Carl R.; Lerch, Ronald E.

1976-01-01

A chemical digestion for treatment of low level combustible nuclear solid waste material is provided and comprises reacting the solid waste material with concentrated sulfuric acid at a temperature within the range of 230.degree.-300.degree.C and simultaneously and/or thereafter contacting the reacting mixture with concentrated nitric acid or nitrogen dioxide. In a special embodiment spent ion exchange resins are converted by this chemical digestion to noncombustible gases and a low volume noncombustible residue.

Hazardous Waste Minimization Initiation Decision Report. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-01

different treatment and disposal practices for spent caustic materials. In some cases, the material is placed in drums and sent to DRMO for disposal or to a...often available. As at some Navy facilities, waste caustic may be neutralized with spent acid at the process line with the effluent sent to the IWTP...3-111 PART II - Spent Battery Electrolyte .... 3-112 PART III- Battery Acid Sludges ........ 3-113 3.13.3 Disposal of Wastes from Battery Repair and

Biological production of ethanol from waste gases with Clostridium ljungdahlii

DOEpatents

Gaddy, James L.

2000-01-01

A method and apparatus for converting waste gases from industrial processes such as oil refining, carbon black, coke, ammonia, and methanol production, into useful products is disclosed. The method includes introducing the waste gases into a bioreactor where they are fermented to various product, such as organic acids, alcohols H.sub.2, SCP, and salts of organic acids by anaerobic bacteria within the bioreactor. These valuable end products are then recovered, separated and purified.

Stable condition of dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTAV) and dimethyldithioarsinic acid ( DMDTAV) in landfill leachate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, E.; Yoon, H. O.; Kim, J. A.; Lee, H.; Jung, S.; Kim, Y. T.

2015-12-01

When waste containing arsenic (As) are disposed of landfill, such facilities (i.e., landfill) can play an important role in disseminating As to the surrounding environment. These disposal of waste containing As might cause a serious environmental pollution due to potentially As remobilization in landfill. Especially, As species containing sulfur such as DMDTAv and DMMTAv found occasionally high concentration in landfill leachate. These As species (i.e., DMDTAv and DMMTAv) had the higher toxicity to human cells compared to other pentavalent As species. However, there was no chemical standard material of these As species (i.e., DMDTAv and DMMTAv) commercially. In this study, we synthesized DMDTAv and DMMTAv by simulating reaction with the sufficient sulfur condition from DMAv. DMMTAv was quite changeable to DMDTAv due to its short life time from our preliminary study. Thus, it is important to find the stable condition of synthesis process for DMDTAv and DMMTAv under suitable environmental condition. This study can be very significant in quantitative analysis area to detect the various As species in environmental media such as landfill.

Coupled heating/acidification pretreatment of chemical sludge for dewatering by using waste sulfuric acid at low temperature.

PubMed

Bian, Bo; Zhang, Limin; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, Shaopeng; Yang, Zhen; Yang, Weiben

2018-08-01

A cost-effective approach for pretreatment of chemical sludge for further dewatering, based on the idea of "using waste to treat waste", is provided. It is a coupled heating/acidification pretreatment method, where waste sulfuric acid is employed and relatively low temperatures (<100 °C) are applied. Effects of reaction time, temperature, and dosage of waste acid on dewatering performance (both dewatering speed and degree) are studied. Under the optimal conditions (reaction time: 30 min; temperature: 90 °C; waste acid dosage: 0.175 g/(g dried sludge)), the method of this work demonstrates three advantages compared to the conventional method using lime+polyacrylamide: lower moisture content of treated sludge; higher calorific value for incineration process; and lower cost. Detailed mechanism of the pretreatment for dewatering is investigated via characterizations and statistical analyses of various parameters, among which zeta potential, particle size, protein and polysaccharide contents, soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), reduction of combined water and volatile suspended solid (VSS), are associated with dewatering performance. Both heating and acidification generate disintegration of cells in sludge, giving rise to two phenomena: more organic matters are released into solution and more bound water turns into free water. Meantime, the released organic polymers flocculate sludge particles, further accelerating the solid-liquid separation process. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exposure assessment of heavy metals in an e-waste processing area in northern Vietnam.

PubMed

Oguri, Tomoko; Suzuki, Go; Matsukami, Hidenori; Uchida, Natsuyo; Tue, Nguyen Minh; Tuyen, Le Huu; Viet, Pham Hung; Takahashi, Shin; Tanabe, Shinsuke; Takigami, Hidetaka

2018-04-15

In developing countries, inappropriate recycling of e-waste has resulted in the environmental release of toxicants, including heavy metals, that may have deleterious health effects. In this study, we estimated daily metal intakes in five households in a Vietnamese village located in an e-waste processing area and assessed the health risk posed by exposure to the metals. Garden soil, floor dust, 24-h duplicate diet, and ambient air samples were collected from five households in northern Vietnam in January 2014. All samples were acid-digested, and contents of Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Sb, and Zn were measured by using ICP mass spectrometry and ICP atomic emission spectroscopy. In addition, the soil, dust, and diet samples were subjected to an bioaccessibility extraction test to determine bioaccessible metal concentrations. Hazard quotients were estimated from bioaccessible metal concentrations, provisional tolerable weekly intakes, and reference doses. Garden soil and floor dust were estimated to be mainly contributors to daily Pb intake, as indicated by calculations using bioaccessible metal concentrations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency soil plus dust ingestion rate. Diet was suggested to contribute significantly to daily Cd, Cu, Mn, Sb, and Zn intake. Estimated metal exposures via inhalation were negligible, as indicated by calculations using International Atomic Energy Agency reference inhalation rates. The maximum hazard quotients were calculated as 0.2 (Cd), 0.09 (Cu), 0.3 (Mn), 0.6 (Pb), 0.2 (Sb), and 0.5 (Zn), on the basis of bioaccessible metal concentrations. The contributions of Cd, Cu, Mn, Sb, and Zn except Pb to potential noncancer risk for adult residents of the five households in the e-waste processing area may be low. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anaerobic microbial dissolution of lead and production of organic acids

DOEpatents

Francis, Arokiasamy J.; Dodge, Cleveland; Chendrayan, Krishnachetty; Quinby, Helen L.

1988-01-01

The present invention relates to an anaerobic bacterial culture of Clostridium sp. ATCC No. 53464 which solubilizes lead oxide under anaerobic conditions in coal and industrial wastes and therefore presents a method of removing lead from such wastes before they are dumped into the environment. The rate of lead dissolution during logarithmic growth of the bacteria in 40 ml medium containing 3.32 .mu.moles of lead as lead oxide was 0.042 .mu.moles ml.sup.-1 hr.sup.-1. Dissolution of lead oxide by the bacterial isolate is due to the production of metabolites and acidity in the culture medium. The major metabolites are acetic, butyric and lactic acid. Clostridium sp. ATCC No. 53464 can be used in the recovery of strategic metals from ores and wastes and also for the production of lactic acid for commercial purposes. The process yields large quantities of lactic acid as well as lead complexed in a stable form with said acids.

Recovery and characterization of proteins from pangas (Pangasius pangasius) processing waste obtained through pH shift processing.

PubMed

Surasani, Vijay Kumar Reddy; Kudre, Tanaji; Ballari, Rajashekhar V

2018-04-01

Study was conducted to recover proteins from pangas (Pangasius pangasius) processing waste (fillet frames) using pH shift method and to characterize the recovered isolates. pH 2.0 from acidic range and pH 13.0 from alkaline range were found to have maximum protein recovery (p < 0.05). During the recovery process, acidic pH (pH 2.0) was found to have minimal effect on proteins resulting in more stable isolates and strong protein gels. Alkaline pH (pH 13.0) caused protein denaturation resulting in less stable proteins and poor gel network. Both acidic and alkaline-aided processing caused significant (p < 0.05) reductions in total lipid, myoglobin, and pigment content thus by resulting in whiter protein isolates and gels. The content of total essential amino acids increased during pH shift processing, indicating the enrichment of essential amino acids. No microbial counts were detected in any of the isolates prepared using acid and alkaline extraction methods. pH shift processing was found to be promising in the utilization of fish processing waste for the recovery of functional proteins from pangas processing waste thus by reducing the supply demand gap as well pollution problems.

Green Extraction of Natural Antioxidants from the Sterculia nobilis Fruit Waste and Analysis of Phenolic Profile.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiao-Jiao; Li, Ya; Lin, Sheng-Jun; Li, Hua-Bin

2018-05-02

The waste of Sterculia nobilis fruit was massively produced during food processing, which contains lots of natural antioxidants. In this study, antioxidants in the Sterculia nobilis fruit waste were extracted using the green microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique. The effects of five independent variables (ethanol concentration, solvent/material ratio, extraction time, temperature, and microwave power) on extraction efficiency were explored, and three major factors (ethanol concentration, extraction time, and temperature) showing great influences were chosen to study their interactions by response surface methodology. The optimal conditions were as follows: 40.96% ethanol concentration, 30 mL/g solvent/material ratio, 37.37 min extraction time at 66.76 °C, and 700 W microwave power. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity value obtained in optimal conditions was in agreement with the predicted value. Besides, MAE improved the extraction efficiency compared with maceration and Soxhlet extraction methods. Additionally, the phenolic profile in the extract was analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS, and eight kinds of phenolic compounds were identified and quantified, including epicatechin, protocatechuic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, p -coumaric acid, caffeic acid, quercetin, and p -hydroxycinnamic acid. This study could contribute to the value-added utilization of the waste from Sterculia nobilis fruit, and the extract could be developed as food additive or functional food.

Sources and fate of perfluorinated compounds in the aqueous environment and in drinking water of a highly urbanized and industrialized area in Italy.

PubMed

Castiglioni, Sara; Valsecchi, Sara; Polesello, Stefano; Rusconi, Marianna; Melis, Manuela; Palmiotto, Marinella; Manenti, Angela; Davoli, Enrico; Zuccato, Ettore

2015-01-23

Perfluorinated substances are listed among emerging contaminants because they are globally distributed, environmentally persistent, bioaccumulative and potentially harmful. In a three-year monitoring campaign (2010-2013) we investigated the occurrence, sources and fate of nine perfluoroalkylcarboxylic acids and three perfluoroalkylsulfonic acids, in the most industrialized region of Italy. Composite samples were collected in influents and effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in the main rivers flowing through the basin, and in raw groundwater and finished drinking water. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorinated substances were not removed in WWTPs and those receiving industrial wastes discharged up to 50 times the loads of WWTPs receiving municipal wastes. The mass balance of the emissions in the River Lambro basin showed continuously increasing contamination from north to south and differences in the composition of homologues in the west and east sides of the basin. Ground and drinking water were contaminated in industrial areas, but these substances were removed well in Milan. Contamination from industrial sources was prevalent over urban sources, contributing to 90% of the loads measured at the closure of the basin. The River Lambro was confirmed as one of the main sources of contamination in the Po River. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Risk evaluation of uranium mining: A geochemical inverse modelling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rillard, J.; Zuddas, P.; Scislewski, A.

2011-12-01

It is well known that uranium extraction operations can increase risks linked to radiation exposure. The toxicity of uranium and associated heavy metals is the main environmental concern regarding exploitation and processing of U-ore. In areas where U mining is planned, a careful assessment of toxic and radioactive element concentrations is recommended before the start of mining activities. A background evaluation of harmful elements is important in order to prevent and/or quantify future water contamination resulting from possible migration of toxic metals coming from ore and waste water interaction. Controlled leaching experiments were carried out to investigate processes of ore and waste (leached ore) degradation, using samples from the uranium exploitation site located in Caetité-Bahia, Brazil. In experiments in which the reaction of waste with water was tested, we found that the water had low pH and high levels of sulphates and aluminium. On the other hand, in experiments in which ore was tested, the water had a chemical composition comparable to natural water found in the region of Caetité. On the basis of our experiments, we suggest that waste resulting from sulphuric acid treatment can induce acidification and salinization of surface and ground water. For this reason proper storage of waste is imperative. As a tool to evaluate the risks, a geochemical inverse modelling approach was developed to estimate the water-mineral interaction involving the presence of toxic elements. We used a method earlier described by Scislewski and Zuddas 2010 (Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 6996-7007) in which the reactive surface area of mineral dissolution can be estimated. We found that the reactive surface area of rock parent minerals is not constant during time but varies according to several orders of magnitude in only two months of interaction. We propose that parent mineral heterogeneity and particularly, neogenic phase formation may explain the observed variation of the reactive mineral surface area. The formation of coatings on dissolving mineral surfaces significantly reduces the amount of surface available to react with fluids. Our results show that negatively charged ion complexes, responsible for U transport, decreases when alkalinity and rock buffer capacity is similarly lower. Carbonate ion pairs however, may increase U mobility when radionuclide concentration is high and rock buffer capacity is low. The present work helps to orient future monitoring of this site in Brazil as well as of other sites where uranium is linked to igneous rock formations, without the presence of sulphides. Monitoring SO4 migration (in acidic leaching uranium sites) seems to be an efficient and simple way to track different hazards, especially in tropical conditions, where the succession of dry and wet periods increases the weathering action of the residual H2SO4. Nevertheless, models of risk evaluation should take into account reactive surface areas and neogenic minerals since they determine the U ion complex formation, which in turn, controls uranium mobility in natural systems. Keywords: uranium mining, reactive mineral surface area, uranium complexes, inverse modelling approach, risk evaluation

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in surface soils from e-waste recycling areas and industrial areas in South China: concentration levels, congener profile, and inventory.

PubMed

Gao, Shutao; Hong, Jianwen; Yu, Zhiqiang; Wang, Jingzhi; Yang, Guoyi; Sheng, Guoying; Fu, Jiamo

2011-12-01

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in 60 surface soils from two e-waste recycling sites (Qingyuan and Guiyu, China) and their surrounding areas to assess the extent and influence of PBDEs from e-waste recycling sites on the surrounding areas. A total of 32 surface soils from industrial areas in South China were also investigated for comparison. The mean concentrations of total PBDEs in the e-waste recycling sites of Guiyu and Qingyuan were 2,909 and 3,230 ng/g dry weight, respectively, whereas the PBDE concentrations decreased dramatically (1-2 orders of magnitude) with increasing distance from the recycling site, suggesting that the e-waste recycling activities were the major source of PBDEs in the surrounding areas. Decabromodiphenyl ethers accounted for 77.0 to 85.8% of total PBDEs in e-waste recycling areas, whereas it accounted for 90.2% in industrial areas. Principal component analysis showed that the major source of PBDEs in e-waste recycling areas were a combination of penta-, octa-, and deca-BDE commercial formulations, whereas deca-BDE commercial formulations were the major source of PBDE congeners in industrial areas. The inventories of PBDEs gave preliminary estimates of 6.22 tons and 13.4 tons for the e-waste recycling areas and industrial areas. The results suggested that significantly higher PBDEs in the e-waste recycling sites have already affected surrounding areas negatively within a relatively large distance. Because of the environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity of PBDEs, improving the recycling techniques employed at such facilities and developing e-waste management policies are necessary. Copyright © 2011 SETAC.

Remote Sensing Combined with Field Spectroscopy for the Detection and Monitoring of Heavy Metal Contamination from Informal E-waste Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedlander, L. R.; Garb, Y.

2017-12-01

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of today's fastest growing waste streams. Made up of discarded electronics, e-waste disposal is complex. However, e-waste also provides economic opportunity through the processing and extraction of precious metals. Sometimes referred to as "urban mining," this recycling operates informally or illegally and is characterized by dangerous practices such as, open-pit burning, acid leaching, and burning of low value wastes. Poorly controlled e-waste recycling releases dangerous contaminants, especially heavy metals, directly to the surface environment where they can infiltrate water resources and spread through precipitation events. Despite growing recognition of the prevalence of unregulated e-waste processing, systematic data on the extent and persistence of the released contamination is still limited. In general, contamination is established through techniques that provide only a snapshot in time and in a limited geographic area. Here we present preliminary results from attempts to combine field, laboratory, and remote sensing studies toward a systematic remote sensing methodology for e-waste contamination detection and monitoring. The ongoing work utilizes a tragic "natural experiment," in which over 500 e-waste burn sites were active over more than a decade in a variety of agricultural, residential, and natural contexts. We have collected over 100 soil samples for which we have both XRF and ICP-AES measurements showing soil Pb concentrations as high as 14000 ppm. We have also collected 480 in-situ reflectance spectra with corresponding soil samples over 4 field transects of areas with long-term burn activity. The most heavily contaminated samples come from within the burn sites and are made up of ash. Field spectra of these samples reflect their dark color with low overall reflectance and shallow spectral features. These spectra are challenging to use for image classification due to their similarity with other low-reflectance parts of the image (e.g., shadows). We have begun to distinguish shadows from the dark burn site centers by automatically detecting and masking shadows. This will allow us to utilize images taken at different times and our in-situ field spectral results to develop a method for monitoring contaminant spread from these complex point sources.

IMPACT OF LEAD ACID BATTERIES AND CADMIUM STABILIZERS ON INCINERATOR EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The Waste Analysis Sampling, Testing and Evaluation (WASTE) Program is a multi-year, multi-disciplinary program designed to elicit the source and fate of environmentally significant trace materials as a solid waste progresses through management processes. s part of the WASTE Prog...

Esterification pretreatment of free fatty acid in biodiesel production, from laboratory to industry

EPA Science Inventory

Making biodiesel from recycled oils and fats has expanded from household to commercial operations as a sustainable way to produce alternative energy and reduce waste. However, the high free fatty acids (FFA) content in waste cooking oils can greatly reduce the efficiency of the ...

MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM PREVENTION OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE GENERATION FROM OPEN-PIT HIGHWALLS

EPA Science Inventory

This document summarizes the results of Mine Waste Technology Program Activity III, Project 26, Prevention of Acid Mine Drainage Generation from Open-Pit Highwalls. The intent of this project was to obtain performance data on the ability of four technologies to prevent the gener...

A REVIEW OF ACID COPPER PLATING BATH LIFE EXTENSION AND COPPER RECOVERY FROM ACID COPPER BATHS

EPA Science Inventory

Large quantities of hazardous waste, most in aqueous solution or sludges, are being produced at numerous metal plating and processing facilities in the U.S. Regulatory pressures, future liability, and limited landfill space have driven the cost of metal waste disposal to level...

Performance Test on Polymer Waste Form - 12137

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Se Yup

Polymer solidification was attempted to produce stable waste form for the boric acid concentrates and the dewatered spent resins. The polymer mixture was directly injected into the mold or drum which was packed with the boric acid concentrates and the dewatered spent resins, respectively. The waste form was produced by entirely curing the polymer mixture. A series of performance tests was conducted including compressive strength test, water immersion test, leach test, thermal stability test, irradiation stability test and biodegradation stability test for the polymer waste forms. From the results of the performance tests for the polymer waste forms, it ismore » believed that the polymer waste form is very stable and can satisfy the acceptance criteria for permanent disposal. At present, performance tests with full scale polymer waste forms are being carried out in order to obtain qualification certificate by the regulatory institute in Korea. Polymer waste forms were prepared with the surrogate of boric acid concentrates and the surrogate of spent ion exchange resins respectively. Waste forms were also made in lab scale and in full scale. Lab. scale waste forms were directly subjected to a series of the performance tests. In the case of full scale waste form, the test specimens for the performance test were taken from a part of waste form by coring. A series of performance tests was conducted including compressive strength test, thermal stability test, irradiation stability test and biodegradation stability test, water immersion test, leach test, and free standing water for the polymer waste forms. In addition, a fire resistance test was performed on the waste forms by the requirement of the regulatory institute in Korea. Every polymer waste forms containing the boric acid concentrates and the spent ion exchange resins had exhibited excellent structural integrity of more than 27.58 MPa (4,000 psi) of compressive strength. On thermal stability testing, biodegradation testing and water immersion testing, no degradation was observed in the waste forms. Also, by measuring the compressive strength after these tests, it was confirmed that the structural integrity was still retained. A leach test was performed by using non radioactive cobalt, cesium and strontium. The leaching of cobalt, cesium and strontium from the polymer waste forms was very low. Also, the polymer waste forms were found to possess adequate fire resistance. From the results of the performance tests, it is believed that the polymer waste form is very stable and can satisfy the acceptance criteria for permanent disposal. At present, Performance tests with full scale polymer waste forms are on-going in order to obtain qualification certificate by the regulatory institute in Korea. (authors)« less

Superfund Record of Decision (EPA Region 5): Pristine, Inc. , Reading, OH. (First remedial action), March 1990. (Amendment). Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The 2-acre Pristine site is in Reading, Hamilton County, Ohio. The site is bordered by industrial and residential areas, including a trailer park three hundred feet northeast of the site. In 1979, State investigations identified as many as 8,000 to 10,000 drums and several thousand gallons of liquid wastes onsite. Types of waste included acids, solvents, pesticides, and PCBs. From 1980 to 1983, EPA and Pristine removed onsite wastes including paint and solvent sludge, solvents, pesticides, organics, PCB-contaminated soil, and incinerator ash. The ROD amends the soil component remedy of the 1987 ROD from in-situ vitrification to incineration and soilmore » vapor extraction. The primary contaminants of concern affecting the soil, sediment, debris, and ground water are VOCs including benzene, PCE, TCE, and xylenes; other organics including dioxin and pesticides such as DDT; metals including lead, chromium, and arsenic; and other inorganics.« less

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Wastes to Improve Ethanol and Biogas Production: A Review

PubMed Central

Taherzadeh, Mohammad J.; Karimi, Keikhosro

2008-01-01

Lignocelluloses are often a major or sometimes the sole components of different waste streams from various industries, forestry, agriculture and municipalities. Hydrolysis of these materials is the first step for either digestion to biogas (methane) or fermentation to ethanol. However, enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses with no pretreatment is usually not so effective because of high stability of the materials to enzymatic or bacterial attacks. The present work is dedicated to reviewing the methods that have been studied for pretreatment of lignocellulosic wastes for conversion to ethanol or biogas. Effective parameters in pretreatment of lignocelluloses, such as crystallinity, accessible surface area, and protection by lignin and hemicellulose are described first. Then, several pretreatment methods are discussed and their effects on improvement in ethanol and/or biogas production are described. They include milling, irradiation, microwave, steam explosion, ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX), supercritical CO2 and its explosion, alkaline hydrolysis, liquid hot-water pretreatment, organosolv processes, wet oxidation, ozonolysis, dilute-and concentrated-acid hydrolyses, and biological pretreatments. PMID:19325822

Denitrifying Bacteria from the Genus Rhodanobacter Dominate Bacterial Communities in the Highly Contaminated Subsurface of a Nuclear Legacy Waste Site

PubMed Central

Green, Stefan J.; Prakash, Om; Jasrotia, Puja; Overholt, Will A.; Cardenas, Erick; Hubbard, Daniela; Tiedje, James M.; Watson, David B.; Schadt, Christopher W.; Brooks, Scott C.

2012-01-01

The effect of long-term mixed-waste contamination, particularly uranium and nitrate, on the microbial community in the terrestrial subsurface was investigated at the field scale at the Oak Ridge Integrated Field Research Challenge (ORIFRC) site in Oak Ridge, TN. The abundance, community composition, and distribution of groundwater microorganisms were examined across the site during two seasonal sampling events. At representative locations, subsurface sediment was also examined from two boreholes, one sampled from the most heavily contaminated area of the site and another from an area with low contamination. A suite of DNA- and RNA-based molecular tools were employed for community characterization, including quantitative PCR of rRNA and nitrite reductase genes, community composition fingerprinting analysis, and high-throughput pyrotag sequencing of rRNA genes. The results demonstrate that pH is a major driver of the subsurface microbial community structure and that denitrifying bacteria from the genus Rhodanobacter (class Gammaproteobacteria) dominate at low pH. The relative abundance of bacteria from this genus was positively correlated with lower-pH conditions, and these bacteria were abundant and active in the most highly contaminated areas. Other factors, such as the concentration of nitrogen species, oxygen level, and sampling season, did not appear to strongly influence the distribution of Rhodanobacter bacteria. The results indicate that these organisms are acid-tolerant denitrifiers, well suited to the acidic, nitrate-rich subsurface conditions, and pH is confirmed as a dominant driver of bacterial community structure in this contaminated subsurface environment. PMID:22179233

Anaerobic microbial dissolution of lead and production of organic acids

DOEpatents

Francis, A.J.; Dodge, C.; Chendrayan, K.; Quinby, H.L.

1987-04-16

The present invention related to an anaerobic bacterial culture of Clostridium sp. ATCC No. 53464 which solubilizes lead oxide under anaerobic conditions in coal and industrial wastes and therefore presents a method of removing lead from such wastes before they are dumped into the environment. The rat of lead dissolution during logarithmic growth of the bacteria in 40 ml medium containing 3.32 ..mu..moles of lead as lead oxide was 0.042 ..mu..moles m1/sup /-/1/ hr/sup /-/1/. Dissolution of lead oxide by the bacterial isolate is due to the production of metabolites and acidity in the culture medium. The major metabolites are acetic, butyric and lactic acid. The major metabolites are acetic, butyric and lactic acid. Clostridium sp. ATCC No. 53464 can be used in the recovery of the strategic metals from ores and wastes and also for the production of lactic acid for commercial purposes. The process yields large quantities of lactic acid as well as lead complexed in a stable form with said acids. 4 figs., 3 tabs.

Production of L- and D-lactic acid from waste Curcuma longa biomass through simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation.

PubMed

Nguyen, Cuong Mai; Kim, Jin-Seog; Nguyen, Thanh Ngoc; Kim, Seul Ki; Choi, Gyung Ja; Choi, Yong Ho; Jang, Kyoung Soo; Kim, Jin-Cheol

2013-10-01

Simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF) of Curcuma longa waste biomass obtained after turmeric extraction to L- and D-lactic acid by Lactobacillus coryniformis and Lactobacillus paracasei, respectively, was investigated. This is a rich, starchy, agro-industrial waste with potential for use in industrial applications. After optimizing the fermentation of the biomass by adjusting nitrogen sources, enzyme compositions, nitrogen concentrations, and raw material concentrations, the SSCF process was conducted in a 7-l jar fermentor at 140 g dried material/L. The maximum lactic acid concentration, average productivity, reducing sugar conversion and lactic acid yield were 97.13 g/L, 2.7 g/L/h, 95.99% and 69.38 g/100 g dried material for L-lactic acid production, respectively and 91.61 g/L, 2.08 g/L/h, 90.53% and 65.43 g/100 g dried material for D-lactic acid production, respectively. The simple and efficient process described in this study could be utilized by C. longa residue-based lactic acid industries without requiring the alteration of plant equipment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved production of propionic acid driven by hydrolyzed liquid containing high concentration of l-lactic acid from co-fermentation of food waste and sludge.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Zhang, Wenjuan; Ma, Li; Lai, Sizhou; Zhao, Shu; Chen, Yinguang; Liu, Yanan

2016-11-01

This study investigated the feasibility of improved production propionic acid-enriched volatile fatty acid (VFA) from high concentration (Cs) of food waste and waste activated sludge (WAS) via lactic acid pathway by using of Propionibacterium acidipropionici. It was observed that production of l-lactate overwhelmed to d-lactate at first stage, which improved from 3.21 to 35.45gCOD/L with increase of substrate Cs. However, kinetic model analysis indicated that P. acidipropionici growth rate μmax was decreased with increase of l-lactate concentration, which explained second stage free cell fermentation of propionic acid was inhibited when fed by first stage liquid from R-40, R-55 and R-70. Then, the fibrous bed bioreactor was employed to eliminate the feed inhibition. The maximal percentage of propionic acid (68.3%) and production (16.31gCOD/L) was obtained by feeding liquid of R-55, which was improved by 3.33 folds compared to the free cell fermentation. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The utilization of waste by-products for removing silicate from mineral processing wastewater via chemical precipitation.

PubMed

Kang, Jianhua; Sun, Wei; Hu, Yuehua; Gao, Zhiyong; Liu, Runqing; Zhang, Qingpeng; Liu, Hang; Meng, Xiangsong

2017-11-15

This study investigates an environmentally friendly technology that utilizes waste by-products (waste acid and waste alkali liquids) to treat mineral processing wastewater. Chemical precipitation is used to remove silicate from scheelite (CaWO 4 ) cleaning flotation wastewater and the waste by-products are used as a substitute for calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ). A series of laboratory experiments is conducted to explain the removal of silicate and the characterization and formation mechanism of calcium silicate. The results show that silicate removal reaches 90% when the Ca:Si molar ratio exceeds 1.0. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirm the characterization and formation of calcium silicate. The pH is the key factor for silicate removal, and the formation of polysilicic acid with a reduction of pH can effectively improve the silicate removal and reduce the usage of calcium. The economic analysis shows that the treatment costs with waste acid (0.63 $/m 3 ) and waste alkali (1.54 $/m 3 ) are lower than that of calcium chloride (2.38 $/m 3 ). The efficient removal of silicate is confirmed by industrial testing at a plant. The results show that silicate removal reaches 85% in the recycled water from tailings dam. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of municipal solid waste management in egyptian rural areas.

PubMed

El-Messery, Mamdouh A; Ismail, Gaber A; Arafa, Anwaar K

2009-01-01

A two years study was conducted to evaluate the solid waste management system in 143 villages representing the Egyptian rural areas. The study covers the legal responsibilities, service availability, environmental impacts, service providers, financial resources, private sector participation and the quality of collection services. According to UN reports more than 55% of Egyptian population lives in rural areas. A drastic change in the consumption pattern altered the quantity and quality of the generated solid wastes from these areas. Poor solid waste management systems are stigmata in most of the Egyptian rural areas. This causes several environmental and health problems. It has been found that solid waste collection services cover only 27% of the surveyed villages, while, the statistics show that 75% of the surveyed villages are formally covered. The service providers are local villager units, private contractors and civil community associations with a percentage share 71%, 24% and 5% respectively. The operated services among these sectors were 25%, 71% and 100% respectively. The share of private sector in solid waste management in rural areas is still very limited as a result of the poverty of these communities and the lack of recyclable materials in their solid waste. It has been found that direct throwing of solid waste on the banks of drains and canals as well as open dumping and uncontrolled burning of solid waste are the common practice in most of the Egyptian rural areas. The available land for landfill is not enough, pitiable designed, defectively constructed and unreliably operated. Although solid waste generated in rural areas has high organic contents, no composting plant was installed. Shortage in financial resources allocated for valorization of solid waste management in the Egyptian rural areas and lower collection fees are the main points of weakness which resulted in poor solid waste management systems. On the other hand, the farmer's participation in solid waste management through the composting of organic matter and using of food waste as an animal feed are considered strength points. However, throwing of solid waste on the banks of water streams, open dumping and uncontrolled burning of solid waste are environmental damaging behaviors that need to be changed. Integrated solid waste management in the Egyptian rural areas is not yet among the priorities of the Egyptian government.

Hazards Associated with Legacy Nitrate Salt Waste Drums Managed under the Container Isolation Plan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Funk, David John; Clark, David Lewis

At present, there are 29 drums of nitrate waste salts (oxidizers with potentially acidic liquid bearing RCRA characteristics D001 and D002) that are awaiting processing, specifically to eliminate these characteristics and to allow for ultimate disposition at WIPP. As a result of the Feb. 14th, 2014 drum breach at WIPP, and the subsequent identification of the breached drum as a product ofLANL TRU waste disposition on May 15th, 2014, these 29 containers were moved into the Perrnacon in Dome 231 at TA-54 Area G, as part of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) approved container isolation plan. The plan ismore » designed to mitigate hazards associated with the nitrate salt bearing waste stream. The purpose of this document is to articulate the hazards associated with un-remediated nitrate salts while in storage at LANL. These hazards are distinctly different from the Swheat-remediated nitrate salt bearing drums, and this document is intended to support the request to remove the un-remediated drums from management under the container isolation plan. Plans to remediate and/or treat both of these waste types are being developed separately, and are beyond the scope of this document.« less

Recycling of CdTe photovoltaic waste

DOEpatents

Goozner, Robert E.; Long, Mark O.; Drinkard, Jr., William F.

1999-04-27

A method for extracting and reclaiming metals from scrap CdTe photovoltaic cells and manufacturing waste by leaching the metals in dilute nitric acid, leaching the waste with a leaching solution comprising nitric acid and water, skimming any plastic material from the top of the leaching solution, separating the glass substrate from the liquid leachate, adding a calcium containing base to the leachate to precipitate Cd and Te, separating the precipitated Cd and Te from the leachate, and recovering the calcium-containing base.

Recycling of CdTe photovoltaic waste

DOEpatents

Goozner, R.E.; Long, M.O.; Drinkard, W.F. Jr.

1999-04-27

A method for extracting and reclaiming metals from scrap CdTe photovoltaic cells and manufacturing waste by leaching the metals in dilute nitric acid, leaching the waste with a leaching solution comprising nitric acid and water, skimming any plastic material from the top of the leaching solution, separating the glass substrate from the liquid leachate, adding a calcium containing base to the leachate to precipitate Cd and Te, separating the precipitated Cd and Te from the leachate, and recovering the calcium-containing base. 3 figs.

Method for waste collection and storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, William E., Jr. (Inventor); Whitmore, Henry B. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A method for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment was invented. The system consists of a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of waste gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect fecal matter, scrub the waste collector area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple usages. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which keeps the valve from becomming plugged with the feces. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pads to a face of the piston with each actuation.

Conceptual Model of Uranium in the Vadose Zone for Acidic and Alkaline Wastes Discharged at the Hanford Site Central Plateau

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Truex, Michael J.; Szecsody, James E.; Qafoku, Nikolla

2014-09-01

Historically, uranium was disposed in waste solutions of varying waste chemistry at the Hanford Site Central Plateau. The character of how uranium was distributed in the vadose zone during disposal, how it has continued to migrate through the vadose zone, and the magnitude of potential impacts on groundwater are strongly influenced by geochemical reactions in the vadose zone. These geochemical reactions can be significantly influenced by the disposed-waste chemistry near the disposal location. This report provides conceptual models and supporting information to describe uranium fate and transport in the vadose zone for both acidic and alkaline wastes discharged at amore » substantial number of waste sites in the Hanford Site Central Plateau. The conceptual models include consideration of how co-disposed acidic or alkaline fluids influence uranium mobility in terms of induced dissolution/precipitation reactions and changes in uranium sorption with a focus on the conditions near the disposal site. This information, when combined with the extensive information describing uranium fate and transport at near background pH conditions, enables focused characterization to support effective fate and transport estimates for uranium in the subsurface.« less

Valorization of winery waste vs. the costs of not recycling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Devesa-Rey, R., E-mail: rosa.devesa.rey@uvigo.es; Vecino, X.; Varela-Alende, J.L.

Graphical abstract: Highlights: > Lactic acid, biosurfactants, xylitol or ethanol may be obtained from wine residues. > By-products valorization turns wine wastes into products with industrial applications. > The costs of waste disposal enhances the search of economically viable solutions for valorizing residues. - Abstract: Wine production generates huge amounts of waste. Before the 1990s, the most economical option for waste removal was the payment of a disposal fee usually being of around 3000 Euros. However, in recent years the disposal fee and fines for unauthorized discharges have increased considerably, often reaching 30,000-40,000 Euros, and a prison sentence is sometimesmore » also imposed. Some environmental friendly technologies have been proposed for the valorization of winery waste products. Fermentation of grape marc, trimming vine shoot or vinification lees has been reported to produce lactic acid, biosurfactants, xylitol, ethanol and other compounds. Furthermore, grape marc and seeds are rich in phenolic compounds, which have antioxidants properties, and vinasse contains tartaric acid that can be extracted and commercialized. Companies must therefore invest in new technologies to decrease the impact of agro-industrial residues on the environment and to establish new processes that will provide additional sources of income.« less

Effect of tocopherol treatment on deterioration of edible oil quality (acid value, carbonyl value, free fatty acid and radical activity).

PubMed

Ogata, Fumihiko; Tanaka, Yuko; Kawasaki, Naohito

2014-01-01

In this study, waste edible oil was prepared by both heat and aeration treatment, and the increasing inhibitive effect of tocopherol treatment on the acid value (AV) and carbonyl value (CV) of the oil was investigated. The AV and CV of waste edible oil treated with tocopherol were 0.1-1.0% lower than those of the nontreated oil, indicating that tocopherol exerted a radical-scavenging activity. The concentration of tocopherol decreased with time, while that of the remaining 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals increased. These results suggest that the addition of tocopherol proved to be useful for preventing the deterioration of waste edible oil.

Remote sensing and laboratory techniques for monitoring ocean dumping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ohlhorst, C. W.; Johnson, R. W.; Meyer, E. R.

1977-01-01

Results of field experiments conducted in the Atlantic Coastal Zone indicate that plumes resulting from ocean dumping of acid waste and sewage sludge have distinguishable spectral characteristics when the radiance of the pollutant is normalized (ratioed to) background ocean water. Acid waste spectra peak between 550-650 nm while sewage sludge spectra have peak values at wavelengths of about 700 nm or greater. Results indicate that identification of acid waste and sewage sludge plumes may be independent of geographical location in the Atlantic Coastal Zone. Radiance ratio curves obtained in the laboratory qualitatively agree with those obtained from field experiments. Results from the July 25, 1977, Galveston Deep Ocean Dump Site experiment show the radiance ratio curve of the biodigested industrial waste to be fairly flat and similar to the radiance ratio curves of sewage sludge line dumps and sewage sludge spot dumps that have been in the water for several hours.

Thermo-Acidic Pretreatment of Beach Macroalgae from Rügen to Optimize Biomethane Production—Double Benefit with Simultaneous Bioenergy Production and Improvement of Local Beach and Waste Management

PubMed Central

Barbot, Yann Nicolas; Thomsen, Laurenz; Benz, Roland

2015-01-01

Eutrophication is a phenomenon which can rapidly generate masses of marine macroalgae, particularly in areas with high nutrient pollution. Washed ashore, this biomass impairs coastal tourism and negatively affects the coastal ecosystem. The present study evaluates the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of a macroalgae mix (Rügen-Mix, RM (RM = Rügen-Mix)) originating from Rügen, Germany. To improve biomethane recovery, thermo-acidic pretreatment was applied to the biomass prior to biomethanation to disintegrate the biomass macrostructure. Acid hydrolysis was successfully triggered with 0.2 M industry-grade HCl at 80 °C for a 2 h period, increasing biomethane recovery by +39%, with a maximum BMP of 121 mL·g−1 volatile solids (VS). To reduce the necessity for input material, HCl was replaced by the acidic waste product flue gas condensate (FGC). Improved performance was achieved by showing an increase in biomethane recovery of +24% and a maximum BMP of 108 mL·g−1 VS. Continuous anaerobic digestion trials of RM were conducted for three hydraulic retention times, showing the feasibility of monodigestion. The biomethane recovery was 60 mL and 65 mL·g−1 VS·d−1 for thermophilic and mesophilic operation, respectively. The quality of biomethanation performance aligned to the composition of the source material which exhibited a low carbon/nitrogen ratio and an increased concentration of sulfur compounds. PMID:26404327

Thermo-Acidic Pretreatment of Beach Macroalgae from Rügen to Optimize Biomethane Production--Double Benefit with Simultaneous Bioenergy Production and Improvement of Local Beach and Waste Management.

PubMed

Barbot, Yann Nicolas; Thomsen, Laurenz; Benz, Roland

2015-09-03

Eutrophication is a phenomenon which can rapidly generate masses of marine macroalgae, particularly in areas with high nutrient pollution. Washed ashore, this biomass impairs coastal tourism and negatively affects the coastal ecosystem. The present study evaluates the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of a macroalgae mix (Rügen-Mix, RM (RM = Rügen-Mix)) originating from Rügen, Germany. To improve biomethane recovery, thermo-acidic pretreatment was applied to the biomass prior to biomethanation to disintegrate the biomass macrostructure. Acid hydrolysis was successfully triggered with 0.2 M industry-grade HCl at 80 °C for a 2 h period, increasing biomethane recovery by +39%, with a maximum BMP of 121 mL·g(-1) volatile solids (VS). To reduce the necessity for input material, HCl was replaced by the acidic waste product flue gas condensate (FGC). Improved performance was achieved by showing an increase in biomethane recovery of +24% and a maximum BMP of 108 mL·g(-1) VS. Continuous anaerobic digestion trials of RM were conducted for three hydraulic retention times, showing the feasibility of monodigestion. The biomethane recovery was 60 mL and 65 mL·g(-1) VS·d(-1) for thermophilic and mesophilic operation, respectively. The quality of biomethanation performance aligned to the composition of the source material which exhibited a low carbon/nitrogen ratio and an increased concentration of sulfur compounds.

Exposure to acute severe hypoxia leads to increased urea loss and disruptions in acid-base and ionoregulatory balance in dogfish sharks (Squalus acanthias).

PubMed

Zimmer, Alex M; Wood, Chris M

2014-01-01

The effects of acute moderate (20% air O2 saturation; 6-h exposure) and severe (5% air O2 saturation; 4-h exposure) hypoxia on N-waste, acid-base, and ion balance in dogfish sharks (Squalus acanthias suckleyi) were evaluated. We predicted that the synthesis and/or retention of urea, which are active processes, would be inhibited by hypoxia. Exposure to moderate hypoxia had negligible effects on N-waste fluxes or systemic physiology, except for a modest rise in plasma lactate. Exposure to severe hypoxia led to a significant increase in urea excretion (Jurea), while plasma, liver, and muscle urea concentrations were unchanged, suggesting a loss of urea retention. Ammonia excretion (Jamm) was elevated during normoxic recovery. Moreover, severe hypoxia led to disruptions in acid-base balance, indicated by a large increase in plasma [lactate] and substantial decreases in arterial pHa and plasma [Formula: see text], as well as loss of ionic homeostasis, indicated by increases in plasma [Mg(2+)], [Ca(2+)], and [Na(+)]. We suggest that severe hypoxia in dogfish sharks leads to a reduction in active gill homeostatic processes, such as urea retention, acid-base regulation and ionoregulation, and/or an osmoregulatory compromise due to increased functional gill surface area. Overall, the results provide a comprehensive picture of the physiological responses to a severe degree of hypoxia in an ancient fish species.

Agronomic efficiency of phosphate fertilizers produced by the re-use of a metallurgical acid residue.

PubMed

Barreto, Matheus Sampaio Carneiro; Mattiello, Edson Marcio; Santos, Wedisson Oliveira; Melo, Leônidas Carrijo Azevedo; Vergütz, Leonardus; Novais, Roberto Ferreira

2018-02-15

The production of fertilizers with industrial wastes reduces the environmental impacts of waste disposal and improves environmental sustainability by generating added-value products. Our objective with this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance and potential soil/plant contamination with heavy metals of alternative phosphate (P) fertilizers, obtained from the acidulation of phosphate rocks (PR) by a metallurgical acidic waste. Seven P fertilizers were evaluated: three PR (Araxá, Patos, and Bayóvar), their respective acidulated products (PAPR), and triple superphosphate fertilizer (TSP). A greenhouse trial was carried out to test the agronomic performances of fertilizers in a sequentially cultivated maize-soybean-white oat. The reaction of PR with acid waste was effective to increase their solubility and improve plant yield and P uptake compared to their natural PR. There was a cumulative recovery by plants of 1.4 and 8.1% of added P via PR and PAPR, respectively. No increase in heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ni) availability in soil or accumulation in shoots was observed, indicating that the PAPR were environmentally safe. The usage of acid waste to produce P fertilizers therefore represents a strategic way to employ marginal products for the production of fertilizers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 426.135 - Standards of performance for new sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0... waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques shall meet the following limitations...

40 CFR 426.135 - Standards of performance for new sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0... waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques shall meet the following limitations...

40 CFR 426.135 - Standards of performance for new sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0... waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques shall meet the following limitations...

Mine Waste Technology Program. In Situ Source Control Of Acid Generation Using Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

EPA Science Inventory

This report summarizes the results of the Mine Waste Technology Program (MWTP) Activity III, Project 3, In Situ Source Control of Acid Generation Using Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and jointly administered by EPA and the U.S....

Iron-phosphate ceramics for solidification of mixed low-level waste

DOEpatents

Aloy, Albert S.; Kovarskaya, Elena N.; Koltsova, Tatiana I.; Macheret, Yevgeny; Medvedev, Pavel G.; Todd, Terry

2000-01-01

A method of immobilizing mixed low-level waste is provided which uses low cost materials and has a relatively long hardening period. The method includes: forming a mixture of iron oxide powders having ratios, in mass %, of FeO:Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 :Fe.sub.3 O.sub.4 equal to 25-40:40-10:35-50, or weighing a definite amount of magnetite powder. Metallurgical cinder can also be used as the source of iron oxides. A solution of the orthophosphoric acid, or a solution of the orthophosphoric acid and ferric oxide, is formed and a powder phase of low-level waste and the mixture of iron oxide powders or cinder (or magnetite powder) is also formed. The acid solution is mixed with the powder phase to form a slurry with the ratio of components (mass %) of waste:iron oxide powders or magnetite:acid solution=30-60:15-10:55-30. The slurry is blended to form a homogeneous mixture which is cured at room temperature to form the final product.

Effect of the time of application of phosphorus fertilizer on yield and quality parameters of melon crop amended with winery waste compost.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Requejo Mariscal, María Isabel; Cartagena, María Carmen; Villena Gordo, Raquel; Arce Martínez, Augusto; Ribas Elcorobarrutia, Francisco; Jesús Cabello Cabello, María; Castellanos Serrano, María Teresa

2016-04-01

In Spain, drip irrigation systems are widely used for horticultural crop production. In drip irrigation systems, emitter clogging has been identified as one of the most important concerns. Clogging is closely related to the quality of the irrigation water and the structure of the emitter flow path, and occurs as a result of multiple physical, biological and chemical factors. So, the use of acid fertilizers (e.g. phosphoric acid) in these systems is common to avoid the emitter clogging. Moreover, in this country the use of exhausted grape marc compost as source of nutrients and organic matter has been identified as a good management option of soil fertility, especially in grape-growing areas with a large generation of wastes from the wine and distillery industries. The purpose of this work was to study the effect of the time of application of phosphorus fertilizer with fertirrigation in a melon crop amended with winery waste compost on yield and quality parameters. During two years, the melon crop was grown under field conditions and beside the control treatment, three doses of compost were applied: 6.7, 13.3 and 20.0 t ha-1. All the compost treatments received 120 kg ha-1 of phosphorus fertilizer (phosphoric acid) for the season varying the time of application: The first year phosphorus application started after male and female flowering, and the second year the application started before flowering. Yield and quality parameters were evaluated to assess the suitability of these practices. Acknowledgements: This project has been supported by INIA-RTA2010-00110-C03. Keywords: Phosphorus fertilizer, exhausted grape marc compost, melon crop, yield and quality parameters.

Application of ERTS-1 data to the protection and management of New Jersey's coastal environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yunghans, R. S.; Feinberg, E. B.; Wobber, F. J.; Mairs, R. L. (Principal Investigator); Macomber, R. T.; Stanczuk, D.; Stitt, J. A.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Rapid access to ERTS data was provided by NASA GSFC for the February 26, 1974 overpass of the New Jersey test site. Forty-seven hours following the overpass computer-compatible tapes were ready for processing at EarthSat. The finished product was ready just 60 hours following the overpass and delivered to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. This operational demonstration has been successful in convincing NJDEP as to the worth of ERTS as an operational monitoring and enforcement tool of significant value to the State. An erosion/ accretion severity index has been developed for the New Jersey shore case study area. Computerized analysis techniques have been used for monitoring offshore waste disposal dumping locations, drift vectors, and dispersion rates in the New York Bight area. A computer shade print of the area was used to identify intensity levels of acid waste. A Litton intensity slice print was made to provide graphic presentation of dispersion characteristics and the dump extent. Continued monitoring will lead to the recommendation and justification of permanent dumping sites which pose no threat to water quality in nearshore environments.

Evapotranspiration Cover for the 92-Acre Area Retired Mixed Waste Pits:Interim CQA Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The Delphi Groupe, Inc., and J. A. Cesare and Associates, Inc.

This Interim Construction Quality Assurance (CQA) Report is for the 92-Acre Evapotranspiration Cover, Area 5 Waste Management Division (WMD) Retired Mixed Waste Pits, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada for the period of January 20, 2011 to May 12, 2011. This Interim Construction Quality Assurance (CQA) Report is for the 92-Acre Evapotranspiration Cover, Area 5 Waste Management Division (WMD) Retired Mixed Waste Pits, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada for the period of January 20, 2011 to May 12, 2011. Construction was approved by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) under the Approval of Corrective Action Decision Document/Corrective Action Plan (CADD/CAP)more » for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 111: Area 5 WMD Retired Mixed Waste Pits, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, on January 6, 2011, pursuant to Subpart XII.8a of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. The project is located in Area 5 of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), formerly known as the Nevada Test Site, located in southern Nevada, approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, in Nye County. The project site, in Area 5, is located in a topographically closed basin approximately 14 additional miles north of Mercury Nevada, in the north-central part of Frenchman Flat. The Area 5 RWMS uses engineered shallow-land burial cells to dispose of packaged waste. The 92-Acre Area encompasses the southern portion of the Area 5 RWMS, which has been designated for the first final closure operations. This area contains 13 Greater Confinement Disposal (GCD) boreholes, 16 narrow trenches, and 9 broader pits. With the exception of two active pits (P03 and P06), all trenches and pits in the 92-Acre Area had operational covers approximately 2.4 meters thick, at a minimum, in most areas when this project began. The units within the 92-Acre Area are grouped into the following six informal categories based on physical location, waste types and regulatory requirements: (1) Pit 3 Mixed Waste Disposal Unit (MWDU); (2) Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 111; (3) CAU 207; (4) Low-level waste disposal units; (5) Asbestiform low-level waste disposal units; and (6) One transuranic (TRU) waste trench.« less

Process simulation and economic analysis of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil with membrane bioreactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdurakhman, Yuanita Budiman; Putra, Zulfan Adi; Bilad, Muhammad Roil

2017-10-01

Pollution and shortage of clean energy supply are among major problems that are caused by rapid population growth. Due to this growth, waste cooking oil is one of the pollution sources. On the other hand, biodiesel appears to be one of the most promising and feasible energy sources as it emits less toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases than petroleum diesel. Thus, biodiesel production using waste cooking oil offers a two-in-one solution to cater pollution and energy issues. However, the conventional biodiesel production process using homogeneous base catalyst and stirred tank reactor is unable to produce high purity of biodiesel from waste cooking oil. It is due its sensitivity to free fatty acid (FFA) content in waste cooking oil and purification difficulties. Therefore, biodiesel production using heterogeneous acid catalyst in membrane reactor is suggested. The product of this process is fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) or biodiesel with glycerol as by-product. This project is aimed to study techno-economic feasibility of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil via heterogeneous acid catalyst in membrane reactor. Aspen HYSYS is used to accomplish this aim. Several cases, such as considering different residence times and the production of pharmaceutical (USP) grade glycerol, are evaluated and compared. Economic potential of these cases is calculated by considering capital expenditure, utilities cost, product and by-product sales, as well as raw material costs. Waste cooking oil, inorganic pressure-driven membrane and WAl is used as raw material, type of membrane and heterogeneous acid catalyst respectively. Based on literature data, FAME yield formulation is developed and used in the reactor simulation. Simulation results shows that economic potential increases by 30% if pharmaceutical (USP) grade glycerol is produced regardless the residence time of the reactor. In addition, there is no significant effect of residence time on the economic potential.

Ultrasonic recovery of copper and iron through the simultaneous utilization of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) spent acid etching solution and PCB waste sludge.

PubMed

Huang, Zhiyuan; Xie, Fengchun; Ma, Yang

2011-01-15

A method was developed to recover the copper and iron from Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) manufacturing generated spent acid etching solution and waste sludge with ultrasonic energy at laboratory scale. It demonstrated that copper-containing PCB spent etching solution could be utilized as a leaching solution to leach copper from copper contained PCB waste sludge. It also indicated that lime could be used as an alkaline precipitating agent in this method to precipitate iron from the mixture of acidic PCB spent etching solution and waste sludge. This method provided an effective technique for the recovery of copper and iron through simultaneous use of PCB spent acid solution and waste sludge. The leaching rates of copper and iron enhanced with ultrasound energy were reached at 93.76% and 2.07% respectively and effectively separated copper from iron. Followed by applying lime to precipitate copper from the mixture of leachate and rinsing water produced by the copper and iron separation, about 99.99% and 1.29% of soluble copper and calcium were settled as the solids respectively. Furthermore the settled copper could be made as commercial rate copper. The process performance parameters studied were pH, ultrasonic power, and temperature. This method provided a simple and reliable technique to recover copper and iron from waste streams generated by PCB manufacturing, and would significantly reduce the cost of chemicals used in the recovery. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comprehensive review on removal of arsenic using activated carbon prepared from easily available waste materials.

PubMed

Mondal, Monoj Kumar; Garg, Ravi

2017-05-01

Arsenic contamination in water bodies is a serious problem and causes various health problems due to which US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) set its maximum permissible limit of 10 ppb. The present review article starts with the removal of toxic arsenic using adsorbents prepared from easily available waste materials. Adsorbent either commercial or low-cost adsorbent can be used for arsenic removal but recent research was focused on the low-cost adsorbent. Preparation and activation of various adsorbents were discussed. Adsorption capacities, surface area, thermodynamic, and kinetics data of various adsorbents for As(III) and As(V) removal were compiled. Desorption followed by regeneration and reuse of adsorbents is an important step in adsorption and leads to economical process. Various desorbing and regenerating agents were discussed for arsenic decontamination from the adsorbent surface. Strong acids, bases, and salts are the main desorbing agents. Disposal of arsenic-contaminated adsorbent and arsenic waste was also a big problem because of the toxic and leaching effect of arsenic. So, arsenic waste was disposed of by proper stabilization/solidification (S/S) technique by mixing it in Portland cement, iron, ash, etc. to reduce the leaching effect.

Controlling mechanisms of metals release form cement-based waste form in acetic acid solution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, Kuang Ye.

1991-01-01

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the individual leaching mechanisms of metals by knowing the pH profile within the leached specimen and the physical and chemical properties of the leached material. Leaching of cement-based waste form in acetic acid solutions with different acidic strengths has been investigated in this work. The pH profile along the acid penetration route in the cement-based waste form was identified by various pH color indicators. The pH in the surface altered layer varies from 5.0 to 6.0, which is very close to the pH in the bulk leachate. A reacting zone, where themore » pH abruptly changes from 6 to 12, sharply divides the altered surface layer from the remaining unleached waste form or kernel. Leaching of metals is controlled by the acidity available in the leachant. Dissolution of alkaline materials leaves a silica-rich layer on the surface of the cement-based waste form. This surface layer exhibits different properties than those of the unleached material. The surface layer has a higher water content, is lighter weight, and is soft and friable. Furthermore, the abundant silicate content on the solid surface detains portion of the leached metals, while they are moving through the leached layer into bulk solution. The leaching of metals is a consequence of acid penetration. The distance from the solid/solution interface to the front of the leaching boundary can be regarded as the depth of leaching zone, where the metals dissolve and diffuse out of the waste form. The metal ions diffuse through the leached layer may be retarded on the solid surface by the pH-dependent adsorption reactions. It is found that the leaching process through the leached layer is diffusion-controlled for calcium and cadmium, whereas diffusion and adsorption occur simultaneously in the leached layer for lead and arsenic.« less

Examining of solid waste generation and community awareness between city center and suburban area in Medan City, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khair, H.; Putri, C. N.; Dalimunthe, R. A.; Matsumoto, T.

2018-02-01

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is still an issue in many cities in Indonesia including Medan. Understanding the waste generation, its characteristic and communities involvement could provide effective solid waste management. This research compares waste generation from people who live in the city center and suburban area. The research also examines the willingness and participation of community about environmental aspect, especially solid waste management. The method of waste generation used Indonesian Nasional Standard 19-3964-1994. The city center generates 0.295 kg/person/day of solid waste and 0.180 kg/person/day for suburbs. The result showed that there are the common amount of waste compositions between the city center and suburban area. The majority waste composition was an organic fraction. Questionnaires were distributed to examine the community awareness. The descriptive statistic used to analyze the data. The result showed that people living in the city center are slightly higher in community awareness than in the suburb. This paper highlights that area of living could give some effect to solid waste generation, waste composition and rate of awareness.

Pretreatment of grass waste using combined ionizing radiation-acid treatment for enhancing fermentative hydrogen production.

PubMed

Yang, Guang; Wang, Jianlong

2018-05-01

In this study, the combined ionizing radiation-acid pretreatment process was firstly applied to enhance hydrogen fermentation of grass waste. Results showed that the combined pretreatment synergistically enhanced hydrogen fermentation of grass waste. The SCOD and soluble polysaccharide contents of grass waste increased by 1.6 and 2.91 times after the combined pretreatment, respectively. SEM observation and crystallinity test showed the combined pretreatment effectively disrupted the grass structure. Owing to the more favorable substrate conditions, the hydrogen yield achieved 68 mL/g-dry grass added after the combined pretreatment, which was 161.5%, 112.5% and 28.3% higher than those from raw, ionizing radiation pretreated and acid pretreated grass waste, respectively. The VS removal also increased from 13.9% to 25.6% by the combined pretreatment. Microbial community analysis showed that the abundance of dominant hydrogen producing genus Clostridium sensu stricto 1 increased from 37.9% to 69.4% after the combined pretreatment, which contributed to more efficient hydrogen fermentation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biosorbents for Removing Hazardous Metals and Metalloids †

PubMed Central

Inoue, Katsutoshi; Parajuli, Durga; Ghimire, Kedar Nath; Biswas, Biplob Kumar; Kawakita, Hidetaka; Oshima, Tatsuya; Ohto, Keisuke

2017-01-01

Biosorbents for remediating aquatic environmental media polluted with hazardous heavy metals and metalloids such as Pb(II), Cr(VI), Sb(III and V), and As(III and V) were prepared from lignin waste, orange and apple juice residues, seaweed and persimmon and grape wastes using simple and cheap methods. A lignophenol gel such as lignocatechol gel was prepared by immobilizing the catechol functional groups onto lignin from sawdust, while lignosulfonate gel was prepared directly from waste liquor generated during pulp production. These gels effectively removed Pb(II). Orange and apple juice residues, which are rich in pectic acid, were easily converted using alkali (e.g., calcium hydroxide) into biosorbents that effectively removed Pb(II). These materials also effectively removed Sb(III and V) and As(III and V) when these were preloaded with multi-valent metal ions such as Zr(IV) and Fe(III). Similar biosorbents were prepared from seaweed waste, which is rich in alginic acid. Other biosorbents, which effectively removed Cr(VI), were prepared by simply treating persimmon and grape wastes with concentrated sulfuric acid. PMID:28773217

Alternative Chemical Cleaning Methods for High Level Waste Tanks: Actual Waste Testing with SRS Tank 5F Sludge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, William D.; Hay, Michael S.

Solubility testing with actual High Level Waste tank sludge has been conducted in order to evaluate several alternative chemical cleaning technologies for the dissolution of sludge residuals remaining in the tanks after the exhaustion of mechanical cleaning and sludge sluicing efforts. Tests were conducted with archived Savannah River Site (SRS) radioactive sludge solids that had been retrieved from Tank 5F in order to determine the effectiveness of an optimized, dilute oxalic/nitric acid cleaning reagent toward dissolving the bulk non-radioactive waste components. Solubility tests were performed by direct sludge contact with the oxalic/nitric acid reagent and with sludge that had beenmore » pretreated and acidified with dilute nitric acid. For comparison purposes, separate samples were also contacted with pure, concentrated oxalic acid following current baseline tank chemical cleaning methods. One goal of testing with the optimized reagent was to compare the total amounts of oxalic acid and water required for sludge dissolution using the baseline and optimized cleaning methods. A second objective was to compare the two methods with regard to the dissolution of actinide species known to be drivers for SRS tank closure Performance Assessments (PA). Additionally, solubility tests were conducted with Tank 5 sludge using acidic and caustic permanganate-based methods focused on the “targeted” dissolution of actinide species.« less

Industrial wastes as a promising renewable source for production of microbial lipid and direct transesterification of the lipid into biodiesel.

PubMed

Cheirsilp, Benjamas; Louhasakul, Yasmi

2013-08-01

Two strategies of converting industrial wastes to microbial lipid and direct transesterification of obtained lipid into biodiesel were attempted. Several oleaginous yeasts were cultivated on industrial wastes. The yeasts grew well on the wastes with low C/N ratio (i.e. serum latex) but accumulated high lipid content only when the wastes had a high C/N ratio (i.e. palm oil mill effluent and crude glycerol). The yeast lipids have similar fatty acid composition to that of plant oil indicating their potential use as biodiesel feedstocks. The combination of these wastes and two-phase cultivation for cell growth and lipid accumulation improved lipid productivity of the selected yeast. The direct transesterification process that eliminates cell drying and lipid extraction steps, gave comparable yield of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester >70% within 1h) to that of conventional method. These two successful strategies may contribute greatly to industrializing oil production from microbes and industrial wastes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and landfill leachate in single-phase batch reactors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liao, Xiaofeng; Zhu, Shuangyan; Zhong, Delai

Highlights: • Anaerobic co-digestion strategy for food waste treatment at OLR 41.8 g VS/L. • A certain amount of raw leachate effectively relieved acidic inhibition. • The study showed that food waste was completely degraded. - Abstract: In order to investigate the effect of raw leachate on anaerobic digestion of food waste, co-digestions of food waste with raw leachate were carried out. A series of single-phase batch mesophilic (35 ± 1 °C) anaerobic digestions were performed at a food waste concentration of 41.8 g VS/L. The results showed that inhibition of biogas production by volatile fatty acids (VFA) occurred withoutmore » raw leachate addition. A certain amount of raw leachate in the reactors effectively relieved acidic inhibition caused by VFA accumulation, and the system maintained stable with methane yield of 369–466 mL/g VS. Total ammonia nitrogen introduced into the digestion systems with initial 2000–3000 mgNH{sub 4}–N/L not only replenished nitrogen for bacterial growth, but also formed a buffer system with VFA to maintain a delicate biochemical balance between the acidogenic and methanogenic microorganisms. UV spectroscopy and fluorescence excitation–emission matrix spectroscopy data showed that food waste was completely degraded. We concluded that using raw leachate for supplement water addition and pH modifier on anaerobic digestion of food waste was effective. An appropriate fraction of leachate could stimulate methanogenic activity and enhance biogas production.« less

Forming artificial soils from waste materials for mine site rehabilitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yellishetty, Mohan; Wong, Vanessa; Taylor, Michael; Li, Johnson

2014-05-01

Surface mining activities often produce large volumes of solid wastes which invariably requires the removal of significant quantities of waste rock (overburden). As mines expand, larger volumes of waste rock need to be moved which also require extensive areas for their safe disposal and containment. The erosion of these dumps may result in landform instability, which in turn may result in exposure of contaminants such as trace metals, elevated sediment delivery in adjacent waterways, and the subsequent degradation of downstream water quality. The management of solid waste materials from industrial operations is also a key component for a sustainable economy. For example, in addition to overburden, coal mines produce large amounts of waste in the form of fly ash while sewage treatment plants require disposal of large amounts of compost. Similarly, paper mills produce large volumes of alkaline rejected wood chip waste which is usually disposed of in landfill. These materials, therefore, presents a challenge in their use, and re-use in the rehabilitation of mine sites and provides a number of opportunities for innovative waste disposal. The combination of solid wastes sourced from mines, which are frequently nutrient poor and acidic, with nutrient-rich composted material produced from sewage treatment and alkaline wood chip waste has the potential to lead to a soil suitable for mine rehabilitation and successful seed germination and plant growth. This paper presents findings from two pilot projects which investigated the potential of artificial soils to support plant growth for mine site rehabilitation. We found that pH increased in all the artificial soil mixtures and were able to support plant establishment. Plant growth was greatest in those soils with the greatest proportion of compost due to the higher nutrient content. These pot trials suggest that the use of different waste streams to form an artificial soil can potentially be used in mine site rehabilitation where there is a nutrient-rich source of waste.

Alternative Chemical Cleaning Methods for High Level Waste Tanks: Simulant Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rudisill, T.; King, W.; Hay, M.

Solubility testing with simulated High Level Waste tank heel solids has been conducted in order to evaluate two alternative chemical cleaning technologies for the dissolution of sludge residuals remaining in the tanks after the exhaustion of mechanical cleaning and sludge washing efforts. Tests were conducted with non-radioactive pure phase metal reagents, binary mixtures of reagents, and a Savannah River Site PUREX heel simulant to determine the effectiveness of an optimized, dilute oxalic/nitric acid cleaning reagent and pure, dilute nitric acid toward dissolving the bulk non-radioactive waste components. A focus of this testing was on minimization of oxalic acid additions duringmore » tank cleaning. For comparison purposes, separate samples were also contacted with pure, concentrated oxalic acid which is the current baseline chemical cleaning reagent. In a separate study, solubility tests were conducted with radioactive tank heel simulants using acidic and caustic permanganate-based methods focused on the “targeted” dissolution of actinide species known to be drivers for Savannah River Site tank closure Performance Assessments. Permanganate-based cleaning methods were evaluated prior to and after oxalic acid contact.« less

Antioxidant activities of aqueous extract from Stevia rebaudiana stem waste to inhibit fish oil oxidation and identification of its phenolic compounds.

PubMed

Yu, Hui; Yang, Gangqiang; Sato, Minoru; Yamaguchi, Toshiyasu; Nakano, Toshiki; Xi, Yinci

2017-10-01

We investigated the potential for exploiting Stevia rebaudiana stem (SRS) waste as a source of edible plant-based antioxidants finding for the first time that the hot water extract of SRS had significantly higher antioxidant activity against fish oil oxidation than that of the leaf, despite SRS extract having lower total phenolic content, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ORAC values. To locate the major antioxidant ingredients, SRS extract was fractionated using liquid chromatography. Five phenolic compounds (primary antioxidant components in activity-containing fractions) were identified by NMR and HR-ESI-MS: vanillic acid 4-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (1), protocatechuic acid (2), caffeic acid (3), chlorogenic acid (4) and cryptochlorogenic acid (5). Further analysis showed that, among compounds 2-5, protocatechuic acid had the highest capacity to inhibit peroxides formation, but exhibited the lowest antioxidant activities in DPPH and ORAC assays. These results indicate that SRS waste can be used as strong natural antioxidant materials in the food industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Catalytic pyrolysis of oil fractions separated from food waste leachate over nanoporous acid catalysts.

PubMed

Kim, Seung-Soo; Heo, Hyeon Su; Kim, Sang Guk; Ryoo, Ryong; Kim, Jeongnam; Jeon, Jong-Ki; Park, Sung Hoon; Park, Young-Kwon

2011-07-01

Oil fractions, separated from food waste leachate, can be used as an energy source. Especially, high quality oil can be obtained by catalytic cracking. In this study, nanoporous catalysts such as Al-MCM-41 and mesoporous MFI type zeolite were applied to the catalytic cracking of oil fractions using the pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Mesoporous MFI type zeolite showed better textural porosity than Al-MCM-41. In addition, mesoporous MFI type zeolite had strong Brönsted acidity while Al-MCM-41 had weak acidity. Significant amount of acid components in the food waste oil fractions were converted to mainly oxygenates and aromatics. As a result of its well-defined nanopores and strong acidity, the use of a mesoporous MFI type zeolite produced large amounts of gaseous and aromatic compounds. High yields of hydrocarbons within the gasoline range were also obtained in the case of mesoporous MFI type zeolite, whereas the use of Al-MCM-41, which exhibits relatively weak acidity, resulted in high yields of oxygenates and diesel range hydrocarbons.

Acidogenic fermentation of food waste for volatile fatty acid production with co-generation of biohydrogen.

PubMed

Dahiya, Shikha; Sarkar, Omprakash; Swamy, Y V; Venkata Mohan, S

2015-04-01

Fermentation experiments were designed to elucidate the functional role of the redox microenvironment on volatile fatty acid (VFA, short chain carboxylic acid) production and co-generation of biohydrogen (H2). Higher VFA productivity was observed at pH 10 operation (6.3g/l) followed by pH 9, pH 6, pH 5, pH 7, pH 8 and pH 11 (3.5 g/l). High degree of acidification, good system buffering capacity along with co-generation of higher H2 production from food waste was also noticed at alkaline condition. Experiments illustrated the role of initial pH on carboxylic acids synthesis. Alkaline redox conditions assist solubilization of carbohydrates, protein and fats and also suppress the growth of methanogens. Among the carboxylic acids, acetate fraction was higher at alkaline condition than corresponding neutral or acidic operations. Integrated process of VFA production from waste with co-generation of H2 can be considered as a green and sustainable platform for value-addition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physical, chemical, and biological aspects of subsurface organic waste injection near Wilmington, North Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leenheer, J.A.; Malcolm, R.L.; White, W.R.

1976-01-01

From May 1968 to December 1972, an industrial organic waste was injected at rates of 100 to 200 gallons per minute (6.3 to 12.6 litres per second) into a sand, gravel, and limestone aquifer of Late Cretaceous age by Hercules Inc. located near Wilmington, North Carolina. This report presents both field and laboratory data pertaining to the physical, chemical, and biological effects of waste injection into the subsurface at this particular site, a case history of the operation, predictions of the reactions between certain organic wastes and the aquifer components, and descriptions of the effects of these reactions on the subsurface movement of the wastes. The case history documents a situation in which subsurface waste injection could not be considered a successful means of waste disposal. The first injection well was used only for 1 year due to excessive wellhead pressure build-up above the specified pressure limit of 150 pounds per square inch (10.3 bars). A second injection well drilled as a replacement operated for only 5 months before it too began to have problems with plugging. Upward leakage of waste into shallower aquifers was also detected at several wells in the injection-observation well system. The multiple problems of plugging, high pressures, and waste leakage suggested that the reactive nature of the waste with the aquifer into which it was injected was the primary reason for the difficulties experienced with waste injection. A site study was initiated in June 1971 to investigate waste-aquifer interactions. The first stage of the study determined the hydrogeologic conditions at the site, and characterized the industrial waste and the native ground water found in the injection zone and other aquifers. The injection zone consisted of multiple permeable zones ranging in depth from about 850 to 1,000 feet (259 to 305 metres) below land surface. In addition to the injection zone, aquifers were found near depths of 60, 300, 500, and 700 feet (18, 91, 152, and 213 metres) below land surface. The aquifers from 300 feet (91 metres) down to the injection zone were flowing artesian with the natural pressure of the injection zone being 65 feet (20 metres) above land surface at the site. The dissolved solids concentration in the native ground water increased with depth to an average value of 20,800 mg/l (milligram per litre) (two-thirds that of seawater) in the water from the injection zone. Sodium chloride was the major dissolved solid, and all of the ground water below 300-feet (91-metres) depth was slightly alkaline. Dissolved organic carbon of the industrial waste averaged 7,100 mg/l and 95 percent of the organic carbon was identified and quantified. The major organic waste constituents in order of decreasing abundance were acetic acid, formic acid, p-toluic acid, formaldehyde, methanol, terephthalic acid, phthalic acid, and benzoic acid. Prior to injection, the waste was neutralized with lime to pH 4 so that the major inorganic waste constituent was calcium at a concentration of 1,300 mg/l. The second stage of the site study involved the observation of waste-aquifer interactions at various wells as the waste arrived and passed by the wells. Water samples obtained from three observation wells located 1,500 to 2,000 feet (457 to 607 metres) from the original injection well gave evidence for biochemical waste transformations at low waste concentrations. Gas that effervesced from these water samples contained up to 54 percent methane by volume. Ferrous iron concentrations as high as 35 mg/l, hydrogen sulfide gas, and sulfide precipitates were additional indicators of biochemical reductive processes in the subsurface environment. Approximately 3,000 organisms per millilitre were found in uncontaminated ground water from the injection zone whereas in waste-contaminated wells, the number increased to levels as high as 1,000,000 organisms per millilitre. High concentrations of waste were found to be toxic to microo

Environmental characterisation of coal mine waste rock in the field: an example from New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, J.; Craw, D.; Peake, B.; Lindsay, P.; Weber, P.

2007-08-01

Characterisation of mine waste rock with respect to acid generation potential is a necessary part of routine mine operations, so that environmentally benign waste rock stacks can be constructed for permanent storage. Standard static characterisation techniques, such as acid neutralisation capacity (ANC), maximum potential acidity, and associated acid-base accounting, require laboratory tests that can be difficult to obtain rapidly at remote mine sites. We show that a combination of paste pH and a simple portable carbonate dissolution test, both techniques that can be done in the field in a 15 min time-frame, is useful for distinguishing rocks that are potentially acid-forming from those that are acid-neutralising. Use of these techniques could allow characterisation of mine wastes at the metre scale during mine excavation operations. Our application of these techniques to pyrite-bearing (total S = 1-4 wt%) but variably calcareous coal mine overburden shows that there is a strong correlation between the portable carbonate dissolution technique and laboratory-determined ANC measurements (range of 0-10 wt% calcite equivalent). Paste pH measurements on the same rocks are bimodal, with high-sulphur, low-calcite rocks yielding pH near 3 after 10 min, whereas high-ANC rocks yield paste pH of 7-8. In our coal mine example, the field tests were most effective when used in conjunction with stratigraphy. However, the same field tests have potential for routine use in any mine in which distinction of acid-generating rocks from acid-neutralising rocks is required. Calibration of field-based acid-base accounting characteristics of the rocks with laboratory-based static and/or kinetic tests is still necessary.

Production and Recovery of Pyruvic Acid: Recent Advances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Dharm; Keshav, Amit; Mazumdar, Bidyut; Kumar, Awanish; Uslu, Hasan

2017-12-01

Pyruvic acid is an important keto-carboxylic acid and can be manufactured by both chemical synthesis and biotechnological routes. In the present paper an overview of recent developments and challenges in various existing technique for the production and recovery of pyruvic acid from fermentation broth or from waste streams has been presented. The main obstacle in biotechnological production of pyruvic acid is development of suitable microorganism which can provide high yield and selectivity. On the other hand, technical limitation in recovery of pyruvic acid from fermentation broth is that, it could not be separated as other carboxylic acid in the form of salts by addition of alkali. Besides, pyruvic acid cannot be crystallized. Commercial separation by distillation is very expensive because pyruvic acid decomposes at higher temperature. It is also chemically reactive due to its peculiar molecular structure and has tendency to polymerize. Thus, at high concentration the various type of reaction leads to lower yield of the product, and hence, conventional methods are not favorable. Alternate separation technologies viable to both synthetic and biological routes are the current research areas. Latest techniques such as reactive extraction is new to the field of recovery of pyruvic acid. Recent development and future prospects in downstream processing of biochemically produced pyruvic acids has been discussed in this review article.

Utilization of the wastes of vital activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gusarov, B. G.; Drigo, Y. A.; Novikov, V. M.; Samsonov, N. M.; Farafonov, N. S.; Chizhov, S. V.; Yazdovskiy, V. I.

1979-01-01

The recycling of wastes from the biological complex for use in life-support systems is discussed. Topics include laboratory equipment, heat treatment of waste materials, mineralization of waste products, methods for production of ammonium hydroxide and nitric acid, the extraction of sodium chloride from mineralized products, and the recovery of nutrient substances for plants from urine.

Utilization of solid catfish manure waste as carbon and nutrient source for lactic acid production.

PubMed

Shi, Suan; Li, Jing; Blersch, David M

2018-06-01

The aim of this work was to study the solid waste (manure) produced by catfish as a potential feedstock for the production of lactic acid (LA) via fermentation. The solid waste contains high levels of both carbohydrates and nutrients that are sufficient for LA bacteria. Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) was applied using enzyme and Lactobacillus pentosus, and different loadings of enzyme and solid waste were tested. Results showed LA concentrations of 35.7 g/L were obtained at 15% solids content of catfish waste. Because of the high nutrient content in the fish waste, it could also be used as supplementary substrate for nitrogen and carbon sources with other lignocellulosic materials. A combined feedstock of catfish waste and paper mill sludge was tested, increasing the final LA concentration to 43.1 g/L at 12% solids loading. The catfish waste was shown to be a potential feedstock to provide both carbon and nutrients for LA production, suggesting its use as a sole substrate or in combination with other lignocellulosic materials.

Tanks Focus Area annual report FY2000

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2000-12-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) continues to face a major radioactive waste tank remediation effort with tanks containing hazardous and radioactive waste resulting from the production of nuclear materials. With some 90 million gallons of waste in the form of solid, sludge, liquid, and gas stored in 287 tanks across the DOE complex, containing approximately 650 million curies, radioactive waste storage tank remediation is the nation's highest cleanup priority. Differing waste types and unique technical issues require specialized science and technology to achieve tank cleanup in an environmentally acceptable manner. Some of the waste has been stored for overmore » 50 years in tanks that have exceeded their design lives. The challenge is to characterize and maintain these contents in a safe condition and continue to remediate and close each tank to minimize the risks of waste migration and exposure to workers, the public, and the environment. In 1994, the DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) created a group of integrated, multiorganizational teams focusing on specific areas of the EM cleanup mission. These teams have evolved into five focus areas managed within EM's Office of Science and Technology (OST): Tanks Focus Area (TFA); Deactivation and Decommissioning Focus Area; Nuclear Materials Focus Area; Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area; and Transuranic and Mixed Waste Focus Area.« less

Injection of acidic industrial waste into the Floridan Aquifer near Belle Glade, Florida: upward migration and geochemical interactions, 1973-75

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKenzie, Donald J.

1976-01-01

In 1966, a furfural plant at Belle Glade, Florida, began injecting hot, acidic liquid waste into the saline, water-filled lower part of the Floridan aquifer, between the depths of 1 ,495-1,939 feet. The beds above and below the injection zone were subjected to attack by the acid waste. By 1969, effects of the waste were detected in the water of the well monitoring the upper part of the Floridan aquifer at 1,400 feet. The disposal well was deepened late in 1971 to 2,242 feet in an attempt to stop the upward migration of waste. The results of research investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1966-73 indicated that the waste continued to move upward and laterally. This investigated, continued by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1973-1975, shows that the remedial actions of repairing the disposal well liner and injecting periodically into the deep monitor well at 2,060 feet failed to contain the wastes within the lower part of the Floridan aquifer. The data collected by the Survey are supported by the owner 's chemical-oxygen-demand and pH determinations. A hydraulic connection between the injection zone and the overlying monitoring zone is implied. Plans call for injecting into deepter strata. (Woodard-USGS)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Dongwook; Vardon, Derek R.; Murali, Dheeptha

We demonstrate hydrothermal (300 degrees C, 10 MPa) catalytic conversion of real waste lipids (e.g., waste vegetable oil, sewer trap grease) to liquid hydrocarbon fuels without net need for external chemical inputs (e.g., H2 gas, methanol). A supported bimetallic catalyst (Pt-Re/C; 5 wt % of each metal) previously shown to catalyze both aqueous phase reforming of glycerol (a triacylglyceride lipid hydrolysis coproduct) to H2 gas and conversion of oleic and stearic acid, model unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, to linear alkanes was applied to process real waste lipid feedstocks in water. For reactions conducted with an initially inert headspace gasmore » (N2), waste vegetable oil (WVO) was fully converted into linear hydrocarbons (C15-C17) and other hydrolyzed byproducts within 4.5 h, and H2 gas production was observed. Addition of H2 to the initial reactor headspace accelerated conversion, but net H2 production was still observed, in agreement with results obtained for aqueous mixtures containing model fatty acids and glycerol. Conversion to liquid hydrocarbons with net H2 production was also observed for a range of other waste lipid feedstocks (animal fat residuals, sewer trap grease, dry distiller's grain oil, coffee oil residual). These findings demonstrate potential for valorization of waste lipids through conversion to hydrocarbons that are more compatible with current petroleum-based liquid fuels than the biodiesel and biogas products of conventional waste lipid processing technologies.« less

Recycling of plastic wastes with poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer as compatibilizer and their conversion into high-end product.

PubMed

Rajasekaran, Divya; Maji, Pradip K

2018-04-01

This paper deals with the utilization of plastic wastes to a useful product. The major plastic pollutants that are considered to be in maximum use i.e. PET bottle and PE bags have been taken for consideration for recycling. As these two plastic wastes are not compatible, poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer has been used as compatibilizer to process these two plastic wastes. Effect of dose of poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer as compatibilizer has been studied here. It has been shown that only 3 wt% of poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer is sufficient to make 3:1 mass ratio of PET bottle and polyethylene bags compatible. Compatibility has been examined through mechanical testing, thermal and morphological analysis. After analysing the property of recyclates, better mechanical and thermal property has been observed. Almost 500% of tensile property has been improved by addition of 3 wt% of poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer in 3:1 mass ratio blend of PET bottle and PE bags than that of pristine blend. Morphological analysis by FESEM and AFM has also confirmed the compatibility of the blend. Experimental data showed better performance than available recycling process. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial-processing of fruit and vegetable wastes for production of vital enzymes and organic acids: Biotechnology and scopes.

PubMed

Panda, Sandeep K; Mishra, Swati S; Kayitesi, Eugenie; Ray, Ramesh C

2016-04-01

Wastes generated from fruits and vegetables are organic in nature and contribute a major share in soil and water pollution. Also, green house gas emission caused by fruit and vegetable wastes (FVWs) is a matter of serious environmental concern. This review addresses the developments over the last one decade on microbial processing technologies for production of enzymes and organic acids from FVWs. The advances in genetic engineering for improvement of microbial strains in order to enhance the production of the value added bio-products as well as the concept of zero-waste economy have been briefly discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Valve for waste collection and storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, William E., Jr. (Inventor); Whitmore, Henry B. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A method and valve apparatus for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment is presented. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undersirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect the fecal matter, scrub the waste collection area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, so the valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pads to a face of the piston with each actuation.

Apparatus for waste collection and storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, Jr., William E. (Inventor); Whitmore, Henry B. (Inventor)

1989-01-01

An apparatus for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undesirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect fecal matter, scrub the waste collector area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pad to a face of the piston with each actuation.

40 CFR Appendix V to Part 265 - Examples of Potentially Incompatible Waste

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... pressure, (2) fire or explosion, (3) violent reaction, (4) toxic dusts, mists, fumes, or gases, or (5... analyze his wastes so that he can avoid creating uncontrolled substances or reactions of the type listed... mixed in a way that precludes a reaction (e.g., adding acid to water rather than water to acid) or that...

40 CFR Appendix V to Part 265 - Examples of Potentially Incompatible Waste

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... pressure, (2) fire or explosion, (3) violent reaction, (4) toxic dusts, mists, fumes, or gases, or (5... analyze his wastes so that he can avoid creating uncontrolled substances or reactions of the type listed... mixed in a way that precludes a reaction (e.g., adding acid to water rather than water to acid) or that...

Porous nitrogen-enriched carbonaceous material from marine waste: chitosan-derived layered CNX catalyst for aerial oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

EPA Science Inventory

Chitosan derived porous layered nitrogen-enriched carbonaceous CNx catalyst (PLCNx) has been synthesized from marine waste and its use demonstrated in a metal-free heterogeneous selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) using aeria...

40 CFR 227.7 - Limits established for specific wastes or waste constituents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... that the average total alkalinity or total acidity of the ocean water after allowance for initial mixing, as defined in § 227.29, may be changed, based on stoichiometric calculations, by no more than 10..., consideration shall be given to: (1) The effects of any change in acidity or alkalinity of the water at the...

40 CFR 227.7 - Limits established for specific wastes or waste constituents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... that the average total alkalinity or total acidity of the ocean water after allowance for initial mixing, as defined in § 227.29, may be changed, based on stoichiometric calculations, by no more than 10..., consideration shall be given to: (1) The effects of any change in acidity or alkalinity of the water at the...

40 CFR 227.7 - Limits established for specific wastes or waste constituents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... that the average total alkalinity or total acidity of the ocean water after allowance for initial mixing, as defined in § 227.29, may be changed, based on stoichiometric calculations, by no more than 10..., consideration shall be given to: (1) The effects of any change in acidity or alkalinity of the water at the...

40 CFR 227.7 - Limits established for specific wastes or waste constituents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... that the average total alkalinity or total acidity of the ocean water after allowance for initial mixing, as defined in § 227.29, may be changed, based on stoichiometric calculations, by no more than 10..., consideration shall be given to: (1) The effects of any change in acidity or alkalinity of the water at the...

40 CFR 227.7 - Limits established for specific wastes or waste constituents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... that the average total alkalinity or total acidity of the ocean water after allowance for initial mixing, as defined in § 227.29, may be changed, based on stoichiometric calculations, by no more than 10..., consideration shall be given to: (1) The effects of any change in acidity or alkalinity of the water at the...

Fat, oil and grease waste from municipal wastewater: characterization, activation and sustainable conversion into biofuel.

PubMed

Pastore, Carlo; Pagano, Michele; Lopez, Antonio; Mininni, Giuseppe; Mascolo, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

Fat, oil and grease (FOG) recovered by the oil/water separator of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) were sampled, characterized, activated and converted into biofuel. Free acids (50-55%) and fatty soaps (26-32%) not only composed the main components, but they were also easily separable from the starting waste. The respective free fatty acid profiles were gas-chromatographically evaluated, interestingly verifying that free acids had a different profile (mainly oleic acid) with respect to the soapy fraction (saturated fatty acids were dominant). The inorganic composition was also determined for soaps, confirming that calcium is the most commonly present metal. The chemical activation of this fatty waste was made possible by converting the starting soaps into the respective free fatty acids by using formic acid as activator, coproducing the relevant formates. The activated fatty matter was then converted into biofuel through direct esterification under very mild conditions (345 K, atmospheric pressure) and obtaining thermodynamic conversion in less than 2 h. The process was easily scaled up, isolating at the end pure biodiesel (purity > 96%) through distillation under vacuum, providing a final product conformed to commercial purposes.

Production of ethanol from a mixture of waste paper and kitchen waste via a process of successive liquefaction, presaccharification, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.

PubMed

Nishimura, Hiroto; Tan, Li; Kira, Noriko; Tomiyama, Shigeo; Yamada, Kazuo; Sun, Zhao-Yong; Tang, Yue-Qin; Morimura, Shigeru; Kida, Kenji

2017-09-01

Efficient ethanol production from waste paper requires the addition of expensive nutrients. To reduce the production cost of ethanol from waste paper, a study on how to produce ethanol efficiently by adding kitchen waste (potentially as a carbon source, nutrient source, and acidity regulator) to waste paper was performed and a process of successive liquefaction, presaccharification, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (L+PSSF) was developed. The individual saccharification performances of waste paper and kitchen waste were not influenced by their mixture. Liquefaction of kitchen waste at 90°C prior to presaccharification and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (PSSF) was essential for efficient ethanol fermentation. Ethanol at concentrations of 46.6 or 43.6g/l was obtained at the laboratory scale after fermentation for 96h, even without pH adjustment and/or the addition of extra nutrients. Similarly, ethanol at a concentration of 45.5g/l was obtained at the pilot scale after fermentation for 48h. The ethanol concentration of L+PSSF of the mixture of waste paper and kitchen waste was comparable to that of PSSF of waste paper with added nutrients (yeast extract and peptone) and pH adjustment using H 2 SO 4 , indicating that kitchen waste is not only a carbon source but also an excellent nutrient source and acidity regulator for fermentation of the mixture of waste paper and kitchen waste. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Acid mine water aeration and treatment system

DOEpatents

Ackman, Terry E.; Place, John M.

1987-01-01

An in-line system is provided for treating acid mine drainage which basically comprises the combination of a jet pump (or pumps) and a static mixer. The jet pump entrains air into the acid waste water using a Venturi effect so as to provide aeration of the waste water while further aeration is provided by the helical vanes of the static mixer. A neutralizing agent is injected into the suction chamber of the jet pump and the static mixer is formed by plural sections offset by 90 degrees.

40 CFR 264.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 264.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Manifest... waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping paper. (c) Upon discovering a...

40 CFR 264.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 264.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Manifest... waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping paper. (c) Upon discovering a...

40 CFR 264.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 264.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Manifest... waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping paper. (c) Upon discovering a...

40 CFR 264.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 264.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Manifest... waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping paper. (c) Upon discovering a...

40 CFR 264.72 - Manifest discrepancies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 264.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES Manifest... waste acid, or toxic constituents not reported on the manifest or shipping paper. (c) Upon discovering a...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Edjabou, Maklawe Essonanawe, E-mail: vine@env.dtu.dk; Jensen, Morten Bang; Götze, Ramona

Highlights: • Tiered approach to waste sorting ensures flexibility and facilitates comparison of solid waste composition data. • Food and miscellaneous wastes are the main fractions contributing to the residual household waste. • Separation of food packaging from food leftovers during sorting is not critical for determination of the solid waste composition. - Abstract: Sound waste management and optimisation of resource recovery require reliable data on solid waste generation and composition. In the absence of standardised and commonly accepted waste characterisation methodologies, various approaches have been reported in literature. This limits both comparability and applicability of the results. In thismore » study, a waste sampling and sorting methodology for efficient and statistically robust characterisation of solid waste was introduced. The methodology was applied to residual waste collected from 1442 households distributed among 10 individual sub-areas in three Danish municipalities (both single and multi-family house areas). In total 17 tonnes of waste were sorted into 10–50 waste fractions, organised according to a three-level (tiered approach) facilitating comparison of the waste data between individual sub-areas with different fractionation (waste from one municipality was sorted at “Level III”, e.g. detailed, while the two others were sorted only at “Level I”). The results showed that residual household waste mainly contained food waste (42 ± 5%, mass per wet basis) and miscellaneous combustibles (18 ± 3%, mass per wet basis). The residual household waste generation rate in the study areas was 3–4 kg per person per week. Statistical analyses revealed that the waste composition was independent of variations in the waste generation rate. Both, waste composition and waste generation rates were statistically similar for each of the three municipalities. While the waste generation rates were similar for each of the two housing types (single-family and multi-family house areas), the individual percentage composition of food waste, paper, and glass was significantly different between the housing types. This indicates that housing type is a critical stratification parameter. Separating food leftovers from food packaging during manual sorting of the sampled waste did not have significant influence on the proportions of food waste and packaging materials, indicating that this step may not be required.« less

Mineral Mapping Using AVIRIS Data at Ray Mine, AZ

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCubbin, Ian; Lang, Harold; Green, Robert O.; Roberts, Dar

1998-01-01

Imaging Spectroscopy enables the identification and mapping of surface mineralogy over large areas. This study focused on assessing the utility of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data for environmental impact analysis over the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) high priority Superfund site Ray Mine, AZ. Using the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) algorithm to analyze AVIRIS data makes it possible to map surface materials that are indicative of acid generating minerals. The improved performance of the AVIRIS sensor since 1996 provides data with sufficient signal to noise ratio to characterize up to 8 image endmembers. Specifically we employed SAM to map minerals associated with mine generated acid waste, namely jarositc, goethite, and hematite, in the presence of a complex mineralogical background.

Enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of cellulosic date palm wastes to glucose and lactic acid.

PubMed

Alrumman, Sulaiman A

2016-01-01

The bioconversion of cellulosic wastes into high-value bio-products by saccharification and fermentation processes is an important step that can reduce the environmental pollution caused by agricultural wastes. In this study, enzymatic saccharification of treated and untreated date palm cellulosic wastes by the cellulases from Geobacillus stearothermophilus was optimized. The alkaline pre-treatment of the date palm wastes was found to be effective in increasing the saccharification percentage. The maximum rate of saccharification was found at a substrate concentration of 4% and enzyme concentration of 30 FPU/g of substrate. The optimum pH and temperature for the bioconversions were 5.0 and 50°C, respectively, after 24h of incubation, with a yield of 31.56mg/mL of glucose at a saccharification degree of 71.03%. The saccharification was increased to 94.88% by removal of the hydrolysate after 24h by using a two-step hydrolysis. Significant lactic acid production (27.8mg/mL) was obtained by separate saccharification and fermentation after 72h of incubation. The results indicate that production of fermentable sugar and lactic acid is feasible and may reduce environmental pollution by using date palm wastes as a cheap substrate. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of cellulosic date palm wastes to glucose and lactic acid

PubMed Central

Alrumman, Sulaiman A.

2016-01-01

The bioconversion of cellulosic wastes into high-value bio-products by saccharification and fermentation processes is an important step that can reduce the environmental pollution caused by agricultural wastes. In this study, enzymatic saccharification of treated and untreated date palm cellulosic wastes by the cellulases from Geobacillus stearothermophilus was optimized. The alkaline pre-treatment of the date palm wastes was found to be effective in increasing the saccharification percentage. The maximum rate of saccharification was found at a substrate concentration of 4% and enzyme concentration of 30 FPU/g of substrate. The optimum pH and temperature for the bioconversions were 5.0 and 50 °C, respectively, after 24 h of incubation, with a yield of 31.56 mg/mL of glucose at a saccharification degree of 71.03%. The saccharification was increased to 94.88% by removal of the hydrolysate after 24 h by using a two-step hydrolysis. Significant lactic acid production (27.8 mg/mL) was obtained by separate saccharification and fermentation after 72 h of incubation. The results indicate that production of fermentable sugar and lactic acid is feasible and may reduce environmental pollution by using date palm wastes as a cheap substrate. PMID:26887233

Influence of feed/inoculum ratios and waste cooking oil content on the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste.

PubMed

Li, Yangyang; Jin, Yiying; Borrion, Aiduan; Li, Jinhui

2018-03-01

Information on the anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste (FW) with different waste cooking oil contents is limited in terms of the effect of the initial substrate concentrations. In this work, batch tests were performed to evaluate the combined effects of waste cooking oil content (33-53%) and feed/inoculum (F/I) ratios (0.5-1.2) on biogas/methane yield, process stability parameters and organics reduction during the FW AD. Both waste cooking oil and the inoculation ratios were found to affect digestion parameters during the AD process start-up and the F/I ratio was the predominant factor affecting AD after the start-up phase. The possible inhibition due to acidification caused by volatile fatty acids accumulation, low pH values and long-chain fatty acids was reversible. The characteristics of the final digestate indicated a stable anaerobic system, whereas samples with F/I ratios ranging from 0.8 to 1.2 display higher propionic and valeric acid contents and high amounts of total ammonia nitrogen and free ammonia nitrogen. Overall, F/I ratios higher than 0.70 caused inhibition and resulted in low biogas/methane yields from the FW. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of volatile fatty acid production with co-substrate of food wastes and dewatered excess sludge using response surface methodology.

PubMed

Hong, Chen; Haiyun, Wu

2010-07-01

Central-composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were used to optimize the parameters of volatile fatty acid (VFA) production from food wastes and dewatered excess sludge in a semi-continuous process. The effects of four variables (food wastes composition in the co-substrate of food wastes and excess sludge, hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR), and pH) on acidogenesis were evaluated individually and interactively. The optimum condition derived via RSM was food wastes composition, 88.03%; HRT, 8.92 days; OLR, 8.31 g VSS/ld; and pH 6.99. The experimental VFA concentration was 29,099 mg/l under this optimum condition, which was well in agreement with the predicted value of 28,000 mg/l. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Soil contamination from industrial and community waste in the Cracow area].

PubMed

Jarosz, A; Zołdak, M

1990-01-01

Problems are discussed connected with the contamination of soil with industrial and community waste in the period 1980-1987. In the Cracow area 82 million tons of waste was accumulated on dumping grounds, waste heaps and in sedimentation ponds for sewage which cover already 1.2% of the area. Among this waste 34% is produced by steel plants, 16% is mineral waste, 9% waste is produced by power plants, and 8% by chemical plants. Particular risk is connected with toxic waste produced mainly by the Lenin Steel Plant, Alwernia Chemical Plant, and Bonarka Cracow Inorganic Industry Plant. In the last 4 years an increase was observed in the amount of processed waste and the amount of dumped waste has decreased by 7.6% in the years 1984-1987. Nevertheless, the problem of processing or neutralization of toxic waste remains to be solved.

Municipal Solid Waste Composition Study of Selected Area in Gambang, Pahang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokhtar, Nadiah; Ishak, Wan Faizal Wan; Suraya Romali, Noor; Fatimah Che Osmi, Siti; Armi Abu Samah, Mohd

2013-06-01

The amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated continue to increase in response to rapid growth in population, change in life style and accelerated urbanization and industrialization process. The study on MSW is important in order to determine the composition further seeks an immediate remedy to minimize the waste generated at the early stage. As most of the MSW goes to the landfill or dumping sites, particularly in Malaysia, closure of filled-up landfill may become an alarm clock for an immediate action of proper solid waste management. This research aims to determine the waste composition generated from selected residential area at Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang which represent Old residential area (ORA), Intermediate residential area (IRA) and New residential area (NRA). The study was conducted by segregating and weighing solid waste in the residential area into 6 main components ie., food waste, paper, plastic, glass, metal and others. In a period of four weeks, samples from the residential unit were taken and analyzed. The MSW generation rates were recorded vary from 0.217 to 0.388 kg person-1day-1. Food waste has become the major solid waste component generated daily which mounted up to 50%. From this research, the result revealed that the recyclable composition of waste generated by residents have a potential to be reuse, recycle and reduce at the point sources.

Modification of chitosan by swelling and crosslinking using epichlorohydrin as heavy metal Cr (VI) adsorbent in batik industry wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastuti, B.; Masykur, A.; Hadi, S.

2016-02-01

Study on chitosan modification by swelling and crosslinking and its application as a selective adsorbent for heavy metals Cr (VI) in batik industry wastes was done. Swelling is intended to improve chitosan porosity, whereas crosslinking is to increase the resistance of chitosan against acid. Natural samples are generally acidic, thus limiting chitosan application as an adsorbent. Modification of chitosan by combining swelling and crosslinking is expected to increase its adsorption capacity in binding heavy metal ions in water. The modified chitosan was later contacted with Cr (VI) to test its adsorption capacity with a variation of pH and contact time. Finally, application of modified chitosan was done in batik industry waste containing Cr (IV). Based on the results, chitosan-ECH 25% (v/v) was the optimum concentration of crosslinker to adsorb Cr (VI) ions. Modified chitosan has a solubility resistance to acids, even though a strong acid. Modification of chitosan also improved its adsorption capacity to Cr (VI) from 74% (pure chitosan) to 89% with contact time 30 min at pH 3. On the application to the batik wastes, the modified chitosan were able to adsorb Cr (IV) up to the level of 5 ppm. Thus, the modified chitosan has a potential to be applied to as an adsorbent of Cr (VI) in batik industry wastes.

Supplement B to compilation of air pollutant emission factors, volume 1. Stationary point and area sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This document contains emission factors and process information for more than 200 air pollution source categories. This Supplement to AP-42 addresses pollutant-generating activity from Bituminous And Subbituminous Coal Combustion, Anthracite Coal Combustion, Fuel Oil Combustion, Natural Gas Combustion, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Combustion, Wood Waste Combustion In Boilers, Lignite Combustion, Bagasse Combustion In Sugar Mills, Residential Fireplaces, Residential Wood Stoves, Waste Oil Combustion, Stationary Gas Turbines For Electricity Generation, Heavy-duty Natural Gas-fired Pipeline Compressor Engines And Turbines, Gasoline and Diesel Industrial Engines, Large Stationary Diesel And All Stationary Dual-fuel Engines, Adipic Acid, Cotton Ginning, Alfafalfa Dehydrating, Malt Beverages, Ceramic Products Manufacturing,more » Electroplating, Wildfires And Prescribed Burning, Emissions From Soils-Greenhouse Gases, Termites-Greenhouse Gases, and Lightning Emissions-Greenhouse Gases.« less

Investigation and analysis of medical waste generation in Enshi area of Hubei Province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dengchao, Jin; Hongjun, Teng; Zhenbo, Bao; Yang, Li

2017-03-01

Based on medical waste collecting data of Enshi medical waste disposal center. The generation of medical waste and its change trend in Enshi area were both studied. The influencing factors and changing rules of medical waste generation were also analyzed. It can be found that the amount of medical waste in Enshi area is increasing year by year, the average annual growth rate of about 6.14% between 2011-2014. It was also found that the output of medical wastes varied regularity by seasons. February was the lowest month for medical waste, March and July were the peak months. By statistical analysis, average annual medical waste production per 10000 people was 4.5 ton and per bed average annual production was 133.58 kg.

Geochemical Characteristics of TP3 Mine Wastes at the Elizabeth Copper Mine Superfund Site, Orange County, Vermont

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Piatak, Nadine M.; Seal, Robert R.; Briggs, Paul H.; Meier, Allen L.; Muzik, Timothy L.

2003-01-01

Remediation of the Elizabeth mine Superfund site in the Vermont copper belt poses challenges for balancing environmental restoration goals with issues of historic preservation while adopting cost-effective strategies for site cleanup and long-term maintenance. The waste-rock pile known as TP3, at the headwaters of Copperas Brook, is especially noteworthy in this regard because it is the worst source of surface- and ground-water contamination identified to date, while also being the area of greatest historical significance. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study of the historic mine-waste piles known as TP3 at the Elizabeth mine Superfund site near South Strafford, Orange County, VT. TP3 is a 12.3-acre (49,780 m2) subarea of the Elizabeth mine site. It is a focus area for historic preservation because it encompasses an early 19th century copperas works as well as waste from late 19th- and 20th century copper mining (Kierstead, 2001). Surface runoff and seeps from TP3 form the headwaters of Copperas Brook. The stream flows down a valley onto flotation tailings from 20th century copper mining operations and enters the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River approximately 1 kilometer downstream from the mine site. Shallow drinking water wells down gradient from TP3 exceed drinking water standards for copper and cadmium (Hathaway and others, 2001). The Elizabeth mine was listed as a Superfund site in 2001, mainly because of impacts of acid-mine drainage on the Ompompanoosuc River.

Dissolution of Simulated and Radioactive Savannah River Site High-Level Waste Sludges with Oxalic Acid & Citric Acid Solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

STALLINGS, MARY

This report presents findings from tests investigating the dissolution of simulated and radioactive Savannah River Site sludges with 4 per cent oxalic acid and mixtures of oxalic and citric acid previously recommended by a Russian team from the Khlopin Radium Institute and the Mining and Chemical Combine (MCC). Testing also included characterization of the simulated and radioactive waste sludges. Testing results showed the following: Dissolution of simulated HM and PUREX sludges with oxalic and citric acid mixtures at SRTC confirmed general trends reported previously by Russian testing. Unlike the previous Russian testing six sequential contacts of a mixture of oxalicmore » acid citric acids at a 2:1 ratio (v/w) of acid to sludge did not produce complete dissolution of simulated HM and PUREX sludges. We observed that increased sludge dissolution occurred at a higher acid to sludge ratio, 50:1 (v/w), compared to the recommended ratio of 2:1 (v/w). We observed much lower dissolution of aluminum in a simulated HM sludge by sodium hydroxide leaching. We attribute the low aluminum dissolution in caustic to the high fraction of boehmite present in the simulated sludge. Dissolution of HLW sludges with 4 per cent oxalic acid and oxalic/citric acid followed general trends observed with simulated sludges. The limited testing suggests that a mixture of oxalic and citric acids is more efficient for dissolving HM and PUREX sludges and provides a more homogeneous dissolution of HM sludge than oxalic acid alone. Dissolution of HLW sludges in oxalic and oxalic/citric acid mixtures produced residual sludge solids that measured at higher neutron poison to equivalent 235U weight ratios than that in the untreated sludge solids. This finding suggests that residual solids do not present an increased nuclear criticality safety risk. Generally the neutron poison to equivalent 235U weight ratios of the acid solutions containing dissolved sludge components are lower than those in the untreated sludge solids. We recommend that these results be evaluated further to determine if these solutions contain sufficient neutron poisons. We observed low general corrosion rates in tests in which carbon steel coupons were contacted with solutions of oxalic acid, citric acid and mixtures of oxalic and citric acids. Wall thinning can be minimized by maintaining short contact times with these acid solutions. We recommend additional testing with oxalic and oxalic/citric acid mixtures to measure dissolution performance of sludges that have not been previously dried. This testing should include tests to clearly ascertain the effects of total acid strength and metal complexation on dissolution performance. Further work should also evaluate the downstream impacts of citric acid on the SRS High-Level Waste System (e.g., radiochemical separations in the Salt Waste Processing Facility and addition of organic carbon in the Saltstone and Defense Waste Processing facilities).« less

Environmental Sciences Division annual progress report for period ending September 30, 1990

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-04-01

The Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducts research on the environmental aspects of existing and emerging energy systems and applies this information to ensure that technology development and energy use are consistent with national environmental health and safety goals. Offering an interdisciplinary resource of staff and facilities to address complex environmental problems, the division is currently providing technical leadership for major environmental issues of national concern: (1) acidic deposition and related environmental effects, (2) effects of increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO{sub 2} and the resulting climatic changes to ecosystems and natural and physical resources, (3)more » hazardous chemical and radioactive waste disposal and remediation research and development, and (4) development of commercial biomass energy production systems. This progress report outlines ESD's accomplishments in these and other areas in FY 1990. Individual reports are processed separately for the data bases in the following areas: ecosystem studies; environmental analyses; environmental toxicology; geosciences; technical and administrative support; biofuels feedstock development program; carbon dioxide information analysis and research program; and environmental waste program.« less

High temperature abatement of acid gases from waste incineration. Part I: experimental tests in full scale plants.

PubMed

Biganzoli, Laura; Racanella, Gaia; Rigamonti, Lucia; Marras, Roberto; Grosso, Mario

2015-02-01

In recent years, several waste-to-energy plants in Italy have experienced an increase of the concentration of acid gases (HCl, SO2 and HF) in the raw gas. This is likely an indirect effect of the progressive decrease of the amount of treated municipal waste, which is partially replaced by commercial waste. The latter is characterised by a higher variability of its chemical composition because of the different origins, with possible increase of the load of halogen elements such as chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F), as well as of sulphur (S). A new dolomitic sorbent was then tested in four waste-to-energy plants during standard operation as a pre-cleaning stage, to be directly injected at high temperature in the combustion chamber. For a sorbent injection of about 6 kg per tonne of waste, the decrease of acid gases concentration downstream the boiler was in the range of 7-37% (mean 23%) for HCl, 34-95% (mean 71%) for SO2 and 39-80% (mean 63%) for HF. This pre-abatement of acid gases allowed to decrease the feeding rate of the traditional low temperature sorbent (sodium bicarbonate in all four plants) by about 30%. Furthermore, it was observed by the plant operators that the sorbent helps to keep the boiler surfaces cleaner, with a possible reduction of the fouling phenomena and a consequent increase of the specific energy production. A preliminary quantitative estimate was carried out in one of the four plants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of Eisenia fetida stocking density for the bioconversion of rock phosphate enriched cow dung-waste paper mixtures.

PubMed

Unuofin, F O; Mnkeni, P N S

2014-11-01

Vermitechnology is gaining recognition as an environmental friendly waste management strategy. Its successful implementation requires that the key operational parameters like earthworm stocking density be established for each target waste/waste mixture. One target waste mixture in South Africa is waste paper mixed with cow dung and rock phosphate (RP) for P enrichment. This study sought to establish optimal Eisenia fetida stocking density for maximum P release and rapid bioconversion of RP enriched cow dung-paper waste mixtures. E. fetida stocking densities of 0, 7.5, 12.5, 17.5 and 22.5 g-worms kg(-1) dry weight of cow dung-waste paper mixtures were evaluated. The stocking density of 12.5 g-worms kg(-1) resulted in the highest earthworm growth rate and humification of the RP enriched waste mixture as reflected by a C:N ratio of <12 and a humic acid/fulvic acid ratio of >1.9 in final vermicomposts. A germination test revealed that the resultant vermicompost had no inhibitory effect on the germination of tomato, carrot, and radish. Extractable P increased with stocking density up to 22.5 g-worm kg(-1) feedstock suggesting that for maximum P release from RP enriched wastes a high stocking density should be considered. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Potential of fecal waste for the production of biomethane, bioethanol and biodiesel.

PubMed

Gomaa, Mohamed A; Abed, Raeid M M

2017-07-10

Fecal waste is an environmental burden that requires proper disposal, which ultimately becomes also an economic burden. Because fecal waste is nutrient-rich and contains a diverse methanogenic community, it has been utilized to produce biomethane via anaerobic digestion. Carbohydrates and lipids in fecal waste could reach up to 50% of the dry weight, which also suggests a potential as a feedstock for bioethanol and biodiesel production. We measured biomethane production from fecal waste of cows, chickens, goats and humans and compared the microbial community composition before and after anaerobic digestion. We also compared the fecal waste for cellulase production, saccharification and fermentation to produce bioethanol and for lipid content and fatty acid profiles to produce biodiesel. All fecal waste produced biomethane, with the highest yield of 433.4±77.1ml CH 4 /g VS from cow fecal waste. Production of bioethanol was achieved from all samples, with chicken fecal waste yielding as high as 1.6±0.25g/l. Sludge samples exhibited the highest extractable portion of lipids (20.9±0.08wt%) and conversion to fatty acid methyl esters (11.94wt%). Utilization of fecal waste for the production of biofuels is environmentally and economically beneficial. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contribution of precursor compounds to the release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from waste water treatment plants (WWTPs).

PubMed

Eriksson, Ulrika; Haglund, Peter; Kärrman, Anna

2017-11-01

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are ubiquitous in sludge and water from waste water treatment plants, as a result of their incorporation in everyday products and industrial processes. In this study, we measured several classes of persistent PFASs, precursors, transformation intermediates, and newly identified PFASs in influent and effluent sewage water and sludge from three municipal waste water treatment plants in Sweden, sampled in 2015. For sludge, samples from 2012 and 2014 were analyzed as well. Levels of precursors in sludge exceeded those of perfluoroalkyl acids and sulfonic acids (PFCAs and PFSAs), in 2015 the sum of polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid esters (PAPs) were 15-20ng/g dry weight, the sum of fluorotelomer sulfonic acids (FTSAs) was 0.8-1.3ng/g, and the sum of perfluorooctane sulfonamides and ethanols ranged from non-detected to 3.2ng/g. Persistent PFSAs and PFCAs were detected at 1.9-3.9ng/g and 2.4-7.3ng/g dry weight, respectively. The influence of precursor compounds was further demonstrated by an observed substantial increase for a majority of the persistent PFCAs and PFSAs in water after waste water treatment. Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) had a net mass increase in all WWTPs, with mean values of 83%, 28%, 37% and 58%, respectively. The load of precursors and intermediates in influent water and sludge combined with net mass increase support the hypothesis that degradation of precursor compounds is a significant contributor to PFAS contamination in the environment. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Trenton Biogas LLC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blair, William Brian

During the total period of funding, the project objectives changed. The initial objective of the project was to research the health and efficacy of two commercial derivative products of levulinic acid extracted from food waste and to optimize conversion methods for manufacturing. Unfortunately, and prior to any final conclusions, the scientist performing the studies passed away leaving much of the work incomplete. Analysis of the initial work product suggested that the process for commercializing levulinic acid from the food waste product was cost prohibitive mostly due to the market readiness for the levulinic acid product. The second phase of fundingmore » research period focused on utilizing the food waste (which had already been researched from phase 1) for other sources of energy. The focus and objectives of this phase were more focused on the technology transfer necessary to commercialize anaerobic digestion of food waste in a somewhat urban environment. During this transition, the project name changed from Trenton Fuel Works to Trenton Biogas.« less

Characterisation of source-separated household waste intended for composting

PubMed Central

Sundberg, Cecilia; Franke-Whittle, Ingrid H.; Kauppi, Sari; Yu, Dan; Romantschuk, Martin; Insam, Heribert; Jönsson, Håkan

2011-01-01

Large-scale composting of source-separated household waste has expanded in recent years in the Nordic countries. One problem can be low pH at the start of the process. Incoming biowaste at four composting plants was characterised chemically, physically and microbiologically. The pH of food waste ranged from 4.7 to 6.1 and organic acid concentration from 24 to 81 mmol kg−1. The bacterial diversity in the waste samples was high, with all samples dominated by Gammaproteobacteria, particularly Pseudomonas and Enterobacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter). Lactic acid bacteria were also numerically important and are known to negatively affect the composting process because the lactic acid they produce lowers the pH, inhibiting other bacteria. The bacterial groups needed for efficient composting, i.e. Bacillales and Actinobacteria, were present in appreciable amounts. The results indicated that start-up problems in the composting process can be prevented by recycling bulk material and compost. PMID:21075618

Characterisation of source-separated household waste intended for composting.

PubMed

Sundberg, Cecilia; Franke-Whittle, Ingrid H; Kauppi, Sari; Yu, Dan; Romantschuk, Martin; Insam, Heribert; Jönsson, Håkan

2011-02-01

Large-scale composting of source-separated household waste has expanded in recent years in the Nordic countries. One problem can be low pH at the start of the process. Incoming biowaste at four composting plants was characterised chemically, physically and microbiologically. The pH of food waste ranged from 4.7 to 6.1 and organic acid concentration from 24 to 81 mmol kg(-1). The bacterial diversity in the waste samples was high, with all samples dominated by Gammaproteobacteria, particularly Pseudomonas and Enterobacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter). Lactic acid bacteria were also numerically important and are known to negatively affect the composting process because the lactic acid they produce lowers the pH, inhibiting other bacteria. The bacterial groups needed for efficient composting, i.e. Bacillales and Actinobacteria, were present in appreciable amounts. The results indicated that start-up problems in the composting process can be prevented by recycling bulk material and compost. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Torlakoglu, A.; Gueclue, G.

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flakes were depolymerized by using propylene glycol (PG) in the presence of zinc acetate as catalyst. Glycolysis reaction products of waste PET obtained by using PET/glycol molar ratio 1/2. Two short oil alkyd resins of high acid values (30-40 mgKOH/g) were prepared from phthalic anhydride (PA), glycerin (G), coconut oil fatty acids (COFA) and glycolyzed products of waste PET (PET-based alkyd resins) or glycols (PG) (reference alkyd resins). These alkyd resins were blended with 30%, 40%, and 50% of a commercial urea-formaldehyde, melamine-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde/melamine-formaldehyde mixture (1/1 weight ratio) and heated at 140 deg. C. Themore » physical and chemical properties such as drying time, hardness, abrasion resistance, adhesion strength, water resistance, alkaline resistance, acid resistance, gelation time, and thermal oxidative degradation resistance (with thermogravimetric analysis, TGA) of these alkyd-amino resins were investigated. The properties of the waste PET-based resins were found to be compatible with the properties of the reference resins.« less

40 CFR 426.133 - Effluent limitations guidelines representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0..., discharges greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing...

40 CFR 426.133 - Effluent limitations guidelines representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0..., discharges greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing...

40 CFR 426.133 - Effluent limitations guidelines representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing techniques... any 1 day Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed— Lead 0.2 0.1 Fluoride 26.0..., discharges greater than 50 gallons per day of process waste water, and employs hydrofluoric acid finishing...

Strong and Optically Transparent Films Prepared Using Cellulosic Solid Residue Recovered from Cellulose Nanocrystals Production Waste Stream

Treesearch

Qianqian Wang; J.Y. Zhu; John M. Considine

2013-01-01

We used a new cellulosic material, cellulosic solid residue (CSR), to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) for potential high value applications. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) were produced from CSR recovered from the hydrolysates (waste stream) of acid hydrolysis of a bleached Eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEP) to produce nanocrystals (CNC). Acid hydrolysis greatly facilitated...

40 CFR 60.1130 - How do I make my siting analysis available to the public?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Performance for Small Municipal Waste Combustion Units for Which Construction is Commenced After August 30... area where you will construct your municipal waste combustion unit. (b) Publish a notice of a public... waste combustion unit. (2) The areas where the waste that your municipal waste combustion unit combusts...

Hydrolytic pre-treatment methods for enhanced biobutanol production from agro-industrial wastes.

PubMed

Maiti, Sampa; Gallastegui, Gorka; Suresh, Gayatri; Sarma, Saurabh Jyoti; Brar, Satinder Kaur; Drogui, Patrick; LeBihan, Yann; Buelna, Gerardo; Verma, Mausam; Soccol, Carlos Ricardo

2018-02-01

Brewery industry liquid waste (BLW), brewery spent grain (BSG), apple pomace solid wastes (APS), apple pomace ultrafiltration sludge (APUS) and starch industry wastewater (SIW) have been considered as substrates to produce biobutanol. Efficiency of hydrolysis techniques tested to produce fermentable sugars depended on nature of agro-industrial wastes and process conditions. Acid-catalysed hydrolysis of BLW and BSG gave a total reducing sugar yield of 0.433 g/g and 0.468 g/g respectively. Reducing sugar yield from microwave assisted hydrothermal method was 0.404 g/g from APS and 0.631 g/g from APUS, and, 0.359 g/g from microwave assisted acid-catalysed SIW dry mass. Parameter optimization (time, pH and substrate concentration) for acid-catalysed BLW hydrolysate utilization using central composite model technique produced 307.9 g/kg glucose with generation of inhibitors (5-hydroxymethyl furfural (20 g/kg), furfural (1.6 g/kg), levulinic acid (9.3 g/kg) and total phenolic compound (0.567 g/kg)). 10.62 g/L of acetone-butanol-ethanol was produced by subsequent clostridial fermentation of the substrate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heavy metal contamination of surface soil in electronic waste dismantling area: site investigation and source-apportionment analysis.

PubMed

Jinhui Li; Huabo Duan; Pixing Shi

2011-07-01

The dismantling and disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in developing countries is causing increasing concern because of its impacts on the environment and risks to human health. Heavy-metal concentrations in the surface soils of Guiyu (Guangdong Province, China) were monitored to determine the status of heavy-metal contamination on e-waste dismantling area with a more than 20 years history. Two metalloids and nine metals were selected for investigation. This paper also attempts to compare the data among a variety of e-waste dismantling areas, after reviewing a number of heavy-metal contamination-related studies in such areas in China over the past decade. In addition, source apportionment of heavy metal in the surface soil of these areas has been analysed. Both the MSW open-burning sites probably contained invaluable e-waste and abandoned sites formerly involved in informal recycling activities are the new sources of soil-based environmental pollution in Guiyu. Although printed circuit board waste is thought to be the main source of heavy-metal emissions during e-waste processing, requirement is necessary to soundly manage the plastic separated from e-waste, which mostly contains heavy metals and other toxic substances.

RCRA Facility Investigation report for Waste Area Grouping 6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Volume 2. Sections 4 through 9

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1991-09-01

This report presents compiled information concerning a facility investigation of waste area group 6(WAG-6), of the solid waste management units (SWMU's) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The WAG is a shallow ground disposal area for low-level radioactive wastes and chemical wastes. The report contains information on hydrogeological data, contaminant characterization, radionuclide concentrations, risk assessment and baseline human health evaluation including a toxicity assessment, and a baseline environmental evaluation.

Profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in cement kilns co-processing solid waste.

PubMed

Jin, Rong; Zhan, Jiayu; Liu, Guorui; Zhao, Yuyang; Zheng, Minghui; Yang, Lili; Wang, Mei

2017-05-01

Co-incineration of sewage sludge in cement kilns can be used for its disposal. In the present study, samples were collected from three cement production runs where sewage sludge and other wastes (e.g. municipal solid waste, waste acid and wet sewage sludge) were co-processed. The samples were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The dioxin-like (dl)-PCB concentrations in the stack gases from run 1, 2, and 3 were 344.6, 548.7, and 104.3 pg m -3 , respectively. The toxic equivalency (TEQs) values for runs 1, 2, and 3 were 5.6, 8.9, and 0.7 pg TEQ Nm -3 , respectively. Calculation of net emissions for the three runs indicated that the co-incineration of other waste in addition to sewage sludge in cement kilns would not increase emission of the dl-PCBs. PCB concentrations in samples from the suspension boiler and humidifier tower, kiln-end bag filter, and cyclone preheater were much higher than those in samples from the kiln head area, indicating that these stages will be important for controlling PCB formation. Chlorinated biphenyl (CB)-77, CB-105 and CB-118 were the major dl-PCB congeners, CB-52, CB-101 were the major indicator PCB congeners, and tetra-CB to hexa-CB were the major homologues for the total input or output materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of climate change on acid mine drainage generation and contaminant transport in water ecosystems of semi-arid and arid mining areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anawar, Hossain Md.

Disposal of untreated and treated mining wastes and tailings exerts a significant threat and hazard for environmental contamination including groundwater, surface water, wetlands, land, food chain and animals. In order to facilitate remediation techniques, it is important to understand the oxidation of sulfidic minerals, and the hydrolysis of the oxidation products that result in production of acid mine drainage (AMD), toxic metals, low pH, SO42- and Fe. This review has summarized the impacts of climate change on geochemical reactions, AMD generation, and water quality in semi-arid/arid mining environments. Besides this, the study included the effects of hydrological, seasonal and climate change on composition of AMD, contaminant transport in watersheds and restoration of mining sites. Different models have different types of limitations and benefits that control their adaptability and suitability of application in various mining environments. This review has made a comparative discussion of a few most potential and widely used reactive transport models that can be applied to simulate the effect of climate change on sulfide oxidation and AMD production from mining waste, and contaminant transport in surface and groundwater systems.

Special Analysis: 2016-001 Analysis of the Potential Under-Reporting of Am-241 Inventory for Nitrate Salt Waste at Area G

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chu, Shaoping; Stauffer, Philip H.; Birdsell, Kay Hanson

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) generates radioactive waste as a result of various activities. Operational waste is generated from a wide variety of research and development activities including nuclear weapons development, energy production, and medical research. Environmental restoration (ER), and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) waste is generated as contaminated sites and facilities at LANL undergo cleanup or remediation. The majority of this waste is low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and is disposed of at the Technical Area 54 (TA-54), Area G disposal facility.

[Pollution characteristics of PCBs in electronic waste dismantling areas of Zhejiang province].

PubMed

Wang, Xiaofeng; Lou, Xiaoming; Han, Guangen; Shen, Haitao; Ding, Gangqiang

2011-09-01

To study the pollution level and distribution pattern of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environment media in electronic waste dismantling area of Zhejiang province. Water, soil and PM10 were sampled in electronic waste dismantling areas. The contents, distribution characteristics and toxic equivalents (TEQs) of PCBs in local environment were evaluated by ultra-trace detection methods. The PCBs contents of water, soil and PM10 in Luqiao and Zhenhai, the relatively high polluted areas, were higher than those in Longyou, the control area. The dominant PCBs detected from the environment in Luqiao were hexa-CBs (PCB138 and PCB153), while penta-CBs were dominant in Zhenhai and Longyou. TEQs in electronic waste recycling area were higher than those in control areas. The TEQs of PCBs in water and soil were the highest in Zhenhai, while the TEQs of PM10 were the highest in Luqiao. The local environment has been polluted by PCBs emitted from electronic waste recycling. PCBs pollution monitoring in electronic waste recycling area should be strengthened to prevent PCBs-induced health effects.

Effect of protein on biohydrogen production from starch of food waste.

PubMed

Ding, H B; Liu, X Y; Stabnikova, O; Wang, J-Y

2008-01-01

This study demonstrated the influence of protein on biohydrogen production from carbohydrates, especially starch, by using different combinations of two model food wastes, rice as starch-rich and soybean residue as protein-rich food waste. It was found the maximum specific hydrogen production potential, 0.99 mol H2/mol initial starch as glucose, and the maximum specific hydrogen production rate, 530 ml H2/h g-VS, occurred at a starch/protein ratio of 1.7. The protein content in the initial food waste not only provided buffering capacity to neutralize the volatile fatty acids as concurrent products but also enhanced the hydrogen production by providing readily available organic nitrogen such as soluble proteins and amino acids to microorganisms. Copyright IWA Publishing 2008.

Heavy metals in hair of residents in an e-waste recycling area, south China: contents and assessment of bodily state.

PubMed

Zheng, Jing; Luo, Xiao-Jun; Yuan, Jian-Gang; He, Luo-Yiyi; Zhou, Yi-Hui; Luo, Yong; Chen, She-Jun; Mai, Bi-Xian; Yang, Zhong-Yi

2011-11-01

Heavy metals were measured in hair from occupationally and nonoccupationally exposed populations in an e-waste recycling area and from residents from a control rural town. The levels of five heavy metals were in the following order of Zn > Pb, Cu > Cd > Ni, with the highest levels found in the occupationally exposed workers. The levels of Cd, Pb, and Cu were significantly higher in residents from the e-waste recycling area than in the control area. Elevated Cd, Pb, and Cu contents along with significant positive correlations between them in hair from the e-waste recycling area indicated that these metals were likely to have originated from the e-waste recycling activities. The similarity in heavy metal pattern between children and occupationally exposed workers indicated that children are particularly vulnerable to heavy metal pollution caused by e-waste recycling activities. The increased Cu exposure might be a benefit for the insufficient intake of Cu in the studied area. However, the elevated hair Cd and Pb levels implied that the residents in the e-waste area might be at high risk of toxic metal, especially for children and occupationally exposed workers.

New approach of depollution of solid chromium leather waste by the use of organic chelates: economical and environmental impacts.

PubMed

Malek, Ammar; Hachemi, Messaoud; Didier, Villemin

2009-10-15

Herein, we describe an original novel method which allows the decontamination of the chromium-containing leather wastes to simplify the recovery of its considerable protein fractions. Organic salts and acids such as potassium oxalate, potassium tartrate, acetic and citric acids were tested for their efficiency to separate the chromium from the leather waste. Our investigation is based on the research of the total reversibility of the tanning process, in order to decontaminate the waste without its previous degradation or digestion. The effect of several influential parameters on the treatment process was also studied. Therefore, the action of chemical agents used in decontamination process seems very interesting. The optimal yield of chromium extraction about 95% is obtained. The aim of the present study is to define a preliminary processing of solid leather waste with two main impacts: Removing with reusing chromium in the tanning process with simple, ecological and economic treatment process and potential valorization of the organic matrix of waste decontaminated.

Hazardous metal pollution in a protected coastal area from Northern Patagonia (Argentina).

PubMed

Marinho, C H; Giarratano, E; Esteves, J L; Narvarte, M A; Gil, M N

2017-03-01

The San Antonio Bay is a protected natural coastal area of Argentina that has been exposed to mining wastes over the last three decades. Iron and trace metals of potential concern to biota and human health (Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn) were investigated in the sediments from the bay and in the soils of the Pile (mining wastes). Concentrations of Cd (45 mg kg -1 ), Pb (42,853 mg kg -1 ), Cu (24,505 mg kg -1 ), and Zn (28,686 mg kg -1 ) in the soils Pile exceeded guidelines for agricultural, residential, and industrial land uses. Risk assessment due to exposure to contaminated soils (Pile) was performed. Hazard quotients were superior to non-risk (HQ >1) for all trace metals, while accumulative hazard quotient index indicated a high risk for children (HI = 93) and moderate for adults (HI = 9). In the bay, sediments closest to the Pile (mudflat and salt marsh) exceeded sediment quality guidelines for protection of biota. Results of different acid extraction methods suggest that most of the pseudototal content was potentially mobile. Principal component analysis indicated that the sites near the Pile (Encerrado channel) were more polluted than the distal ones. Tissues of Spartina spp. located within Encerrado channel showed the highest metal levels among all studied sites. These results show that the problem still persists and the mining wastes are the sources of the pollution. Furthermore, the Encerrado channel is a highly impacted area, as it is shown by their metal enriched sediments.

Efficient production of fatty acid methyl ester from waste activated bleaching earth using diesel oil as organic solvent.

PubMed

Kojima, Seiji; Du, Dongning; Sato, Masayasu; Park, Enoch Y

2004-01-01

Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production from waste activated bleaching earth (ABE) discarded by the crude oil refining industry was investigated using fossil fuel as a solvent in the esterification of triglycerides. Lipase from Candida cylindracea showed the highest stability in diesel oil. Using diesel oil as a solvent, 3 h was sufficient to obtain a yield of approximately 100% of FAME in the presence of 10% lipase from waste ABE. Kerosene was also a good solvent in the esterification of triglycerides embedded in the waste ABE. Fuel analysis showed that the FAME produced using diesel oil as a solvent complied with the Japanese diesel standard and the 10% residual carbon amount was lower than that of FAME produced using other solvents. Use of diesel oil as solvent in the FAME production from the waste ABE simplified the process, because there was no need to separate the organic solvent from the FAME-solvent mixture. These results demonstrate a promising reutilization method for the production of FAME, for use as a biodiesel, from industrial waste resources containing waste vegetable oils.

Synthesis of silica gel from waste glass bottles and its application for the reduction of free fatty acid (FFA) on waste cooking oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudjarwo, Wisnu Arfian A.; Bee, Mei Magdayanti F.

2017-06-01

Synthesis of silica gel from waste glass bottles was conducted with aims to characterize the product and to analyze its application forthe reduction of free fatty acid (FFA) on waste cooking oil. Silica source taken from waste glass bottles was synthesized into silica gel by using the sol-gel method. Several types of silica gel were produced with three different weight ratios of waste glass and sodium hydroxide as an extractor. They were: 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3. The results indicated that synthesized silica possessed morphology innano-sizedranging from 85 nm to 459 nm. Adsorption performance was investigated by a batch system atthe temperature between 70°C and 110°C by a range of 10°C in an hour. Analysis of the adsorption characteristic showed that the highest efficiency value of FFA reduction of 91% was obtained by silica gel with ratiosof 1:1 (SG 1) and 1:3 (SG 3). Their performances were also followed by the decline of the refractive index and the density of waste cooking oil.

Identification of the bioactive compounds and antioxidant, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activities of thermally processed agro-industrial waste.

PubMed

Vodnar, Dan Cristian; Călinoiu, Lavinia Florina; Dulf, Francisc Vasile; Ştefănescu, Bianca Eugenia; Crişan, Gianina; Socaciu, Carmen

2017-09-15

The purpose of the research was to identify the bioactive compounds and to evaluate the antioxidant, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activities of the major Romanian agro-industrial wastes (apple peels, carrot pulp, white- and red-grape peels and red-beet peels and pulp) for the purpose of increasing the wastes' value. Each type of waste material was analyzed without (fresh) and with thermal processing (10min, 80°C). Based on the obtained results, the thermal process enhanced the total phenolic content. The highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by thermally processed red-grape waste followed by thermally processed red-beet waste. Linoleic acid was the major fatty acid in all analyzed samples, but its content decreased significantly during thermal processing. The carrot extracts have no antimicrobial effects, while the thermally processed red-grape waste has the highest antimicrobial effect against the studied strains. The thermally processed red-grape sample has the highest antimutagenic activity toward S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrogeology and ground-water quality of the Chromic Acid Pit site, US Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Abeyta, Cynthia G.; Thomas, C.L.

1996-01-01

The Chromic Acid Pit site is an inactive waste disposal site that is regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. The 2.2-cubic-yard cement-lined pit was operated from 1980 to 1983 by a contractor to the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss. The pit, located on the Fort Bliss military reservation, in El Paso, Texas, was used for disposal and evaporation of chromic acid waste generated from chrome plating operations. The site was certified closed in 1989 and the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission issued Permit Number HW-50296 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Permit Number TX4213720101), which approved and implemented post-closure care for the Chromic Acid Pit site. In accordance with an approved post-closure plan, the U.S. Geological Survey is cooperating with the U.S. Army in evaluating hydrogeologic conditions and ground- water quality at the site. One upgradient and two downgradient ground-water monitoring wells were installed adjacent to the chromic acid pit by a private contractor. Quarterly ground-water sampling of these wells by the U.S. Geological Survey began in December 1993. The Chromic Acid Pit site is situated in the Hueco Bolson intermontane valley. The Hueco Bolson is a primary source of ground water in the El Paso area. City of El Paso and U.S. Army water-supply wells are located on all sides of the study area and are completed 600 to more than 1,200 feet below land surface. The ground-water level in the area of the Chromic Acid Pit site has declined about 25 feet from 1982 to 1993. Depth to water at the Chromic Acid Pit site in September 1994 was about 284 feet below land surface; ground-water flow is to the southeast. Ground-water samples collected from monitoring wells at the Chromic Acid Pit site contained dissolved-solids concentrations of 442 to 564 milligrams per liter. Nitrate as nitrogen concentrations ranged from 2.1 to 2.7 milligrams per liter; nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen concentrations ranged from 2.3 to 3.0 milligrams per liter. Nitrate concentrations are abnormally high in the Old Mesa well field located about 5,000 feet southwest of the Chromic Acid Pit site. Volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in water samples were analyzed for the first sampling round; no confirmed volatile or semivolatile organic compounds were detected above the laboratory reporting limits. Total chromium concentrations ranged from 0.0099 to 0.092 milligram per liter; dissolved chromium concentrations ranged from 0.0068 to 0.0094 milligram per liter. Overall, water-quality characteristics in water from the chromic acid pit ground-water monitoring wells are similar to those in the surrounding area. Detected chemical concentrations in water from the chromic acid pit monitoring wells during the four sampling periods were below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-established maximum contaminant levels for public drinking water supplies. Statistical analyses were performed on 39 of the chemical constituents analyzed for in ground water from the chromic acid pit monitoring wells. Concentrations of chloride and fluoride were significantly less in water from the downgradient wells than in water from the upgradient well, whereas concentrations of nitrate as nitrogen, nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen, and dissolved solids were significantly greater in water from the downgradient wells than in water from the upgradient well. Concentrations of nitrate as nitrogen were significantly different in water from the two downgradient wells. Differences detected through statistical analysis of chemical constituents of water in the chromic acid pit monitoring wells did not appear to indicate a release of hazardous chemicals from the chromic acid pit. There was no indication of ground-water contamination in either downgradient well.

Bioremediation of cooking oil waste using lipases from wastes

PubMed Central

do Prado, Débora Zanoni; Facanali, Roselaine; Marques, Márcia Mayo Ortiz; Nascimento, Augusto Santana; Fernandes, Célio Junior da Costa; Zambuzzi, William Fernando

2017-01-01

Cooking oil waste leads to well-known environmental impacts and its bioremediation by lipase-based enzymatic activity can minimize the high cytotoxic potential. In addition, they are among the biocatalysts most commercialized worldwide due to the versatility of reactions and substrates. However, although lipases are able to process cooking oil wastes, the products generated from this process do not necessarily become less toxic. Thus, the aim of the current study is to analyze the bioremediation of lipase-catalyzed cooking oil wastes, as well as their effect on the cytotoxicity of both the oil and its waste before and after enzymatic treatment. Thus, assessed the post-frying modification in soybean oil and in its waste, which was caused by hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by commercial and home-made lipases. The presence of lipases in the extracts obtained from orange wastes was identified by zymography. The profile of the fatty acid esters formed after these reactions was detected and quantified through gas chromatography and fatty acids profile compared through multivariate statistical analyses. Finally, the soybean oil and its waste, with and without enzymatic treatment, were assessed for toxicity in cytotoxicity assays conducted in vitro using fibroblast cell culture. The soybean oil wastes treated with core and frit lipases through transesterification reaction were less toxic than the untreated oils, thus confirming that cooking oil wastes can be bioremediated using orange lipases. PMID:29073166

Solidification as low cost technology prior to land filling of industrial hazardous waste sludge.

PubMed

El-Sebaie, O; Ahmed, M; Ramadan, M

2000-01-01

The aim of this study is to stabilize and solidify two different treated industrial hazardous waste sludges, which were selected from factories situated close to Alexandria. They were selected to ensure their safe transportation and landfill disposal by reducing their potential leaching of hazardous elements, which represent significant threat to the environment, especially the quality of underground water. The selected waste sludges have been characterized. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Cement Kiln Dust (CKD) from Alexandria Portland Cement Company, and Calcium Sulphate as a by-product from the dye industry were used as potential solidification additives to treat the selected treated waste sludges from tanning and dyes industry. Waste sludges as well as the solidified wastes have been leach-tested, using the General Acid Neutralization Capacity (GANC) procedure. Concentration of concerning metals in the leachates was determined to assess changes in the mobility of major contaminants. The treated tannery waste sludge has an acid neutralization capacity much higher than that of the treated dyes waste sludge. Experiment results demonstrated the industrial waste sludge solidification mix designs, and presented the reduction of contaminant leaching from two types of waste sludges. The main advantages of solidification are that it is simple and low cost processing which includes readily available low cost solidification additives that will convert industrial hazardous waste sludges into inert materials.

Bioremediation of cooking oil waste using lipases from wastes.

PubMed

Okino-Delgado, Clarissa Hamaio; Prado, Débora Zanoni do; Facanali, Roselaine; Marques, Márcia Mayo Ortiz; Nascimento, Augusto Santana; Fernandes, Célio Junior da Costa; Zambuzzi, William Fernando; Fleuri, Luciana Francisco

2017-01-01

Cooking oil waste leads to well-known environmental impacts and its bioremediation by lipase-based enzymatic activity can minimize the high cytotoxic potential. In addition, they are among the biocatalysts most commercialized worldwide due to the versatility of reactions and substrates. However, although lipases are able to process cooking oil wastes, the products generated from this process do not necessarily become less toxic. Thus, the aim of the current study is to analyze the bioremediation of lipase-catalyzed cooking oil wastes, as well as their effect on the cytotoxicity of both the oil and its waste before and after enzymatic treatment. Thus, assessed the post-frying modification in soybean oil and in its waste, which was caused by hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by commercial and home-made lipases. The presence of lipases in the extracts obtained from orange wastes was identified by zymography. The profile of the fatty acid esters formed after these reactions was detected and quantified through gas chromatography and fatty acids profile compared through multivariate statistical analyses. Finally, the soybean oil and its waste, with and without enzymatic treatment, were assessed for toxicity in cytotoxicity assays conducted in vitro using fibroblast cell culture. The soybean oil wastes treated with core and frit lipases through transesterification reaction were less toxic than the untreated oils, thus confirming that cooking oil wastes can be bioremediated using orange lipases.

Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper-Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA

PubMed Central

Lapakko, Kim A.; Wenz, Zachary J.; Olson, Michael C.; Roepke, Elizabeth W.; Novak, Paige J.; Bailey, Jake V.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota hosts economically significant deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group elements (PGEs). The primary sulfide mineralogy of these deposits includes the minerals pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite, and weathering experiments show that most sulfide-bearing rock from the Duluth Complex generates moderately acidic leachate (pH 4 to 6). Microorganisms are important catalysts for metal sulfide oxidation and could influence the quality of water from mines in the Duluth Complex. Nevertheless, compared with that of extremely acidic environments, much less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing mine waste, and so existing information may have little relevance to those microorganisms catalyzing oxidation reactions in the Duluth Complex. Here, we characterized the microbial communities in decade-long weathering experiments (kinetic tests) conducted on crushed rock and tailings from the Duluth Complex. Analyses of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts showed that differences among microbial communities correspond to pH, rock type, and experimental treatment. Moreover, microbial communities from the weathered Duluth Complex rock were dominated by taxa that are not typically associated with acidic mine waste. The most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were from the genera Meiothermus and Sulfuriferula, as well as from diverse clades of uncultivated Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria. Specific taxa, including putative sulfur-oxidizing Sulfuriferula spp., appeared to be primarily associated with Duluth Complex rock, but not pyrite-bearing rocks subjected to the same experimental treatment. We discuss the implications of these results for the microbial ecology of moderately acidic mine waste with low sulfide content, as well as for kinetic testing of mine waste. IMPORTANCE Economic sulfide mineral deposits in the Duluth Complex may represent the largest undeveloped source of copper and nickel on Earth. Microorganisms are important catalysts for sulfide mineral oxidation, and research on extreme acidophiles has improved our ability to manage and remediate mine wastes. We found that the microbial assemblages associated with weathered rock from the Duluth Complex are dominated by organisms not widely associated with mine waste or mining-impacted environments, and we describe geochemical and experimental influences on community composition. This report will be a useful foundation for understanding the microbial biogeochemistry of moderately acidic mine waste from these and similar deposits. PMID:28600313

Corrosion impact of reductant on DWPF and downstream facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mickalonis, J. I.; Imrich, K. J.; Jantzen, C. M.

2014-12-01

Glycolic acid is being evaluated as an alternate reductant in the preparation of high level waste for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). During processing, the glycolic acid is not completely consumed and small quantities of the glycolate anion are carried forward to other high level waste (HLW) facilities. The impact of the glycolate anion on the corrosion of the materials of construction throughout the waste processing system has not been previously evaluated. A literature review had revealed that corrosion data in glycolate-bearing solution applicable to SRS systems were not available. Therefore, testing wasmore » recommended to evaluate the materials of construction of vessels, piping and components within DWPF and downstream facilities. The testing, conducted in non-radioactive simulants, consisted of both accelerated tests (electrochemical and hot-wall) with coupons in laboratory vessels and prototypical tests with coupons immersed in scale-up and mock-up test systems. Eight waste or process streams were identified in which the glycolate anion might impact the performance of the materials of construction. These streams were 70% glycolic acid (DWPF feed vessels and piping), SRAT/SME supernate (Chemical Processing Cell (CPC) vessels and piping), DWPF acidic recycle (DWPF condenser and recycle tanks and piping), basic concentrated recycle (HLW tanks, evaporators, and transfer lines), salt processing (ARP, MCU, and Saltstone tanks and piping), boric acid (MCU separators), and dilute waste (HLW evaporator condensate tanks and transfer line and ETF components). For each stream, high temperature limits and worst-case glycolate concentrations were identified for performing the recommended tests. Test solution chemistries were generally based on analytical results of actual waste samples taken from the various process facilities or of prototypical simulants produced in the laboratory. The materials of construction for most vessels, components and piping were not impacted with the presence of glycolic acid or the impact is not expected to affect the service life. However, the presence of the glycolate anion was found to affect corrosion susceptibility of some materials of construction in the DWPF and downstream facilities, especially at elevated temperatures. The following table summarizes the results of the electrochemical and hot wall testing and indicates expected performance in service with the glycolate anion present.« less

Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper-Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA.

PubMed

Jones, Daniel S; Lapakko, Kim A; Wenz, Zachary J; Olson, Michael C; Roepke, Elizabeth W; Sadowsky, Michael J; Novak, Paige J; Bailey, Jake V

2017-08-15

The Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota hosts economically significant deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group elements (PGEs). The primary sulfide mineralogy of these deposits includes the minerals pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite, and weathering experiments show that most sulfide-bearing rock from the Duluth Complex generates moderately acidic leachate (pH 4 to 6). Microorganisms are important catalysts for metal sulfide oxidation and could influence the quality of water from mines in the Duluth Complex. Nevertheless, compared with that of extremely acidic environments, much less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing mine waste, and so existing information may have little relevance to those microorganisms catalyzing oxidation reactions in the Duluth Complex. Here, we characterized the microbial communities in decade-long weathering experiments (kinetic tests) conducted on crushed rock and tailings from the Duluth Complex. Analyses of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts showed that differences among microbial communities correspond to pH, rock type, and experimental treatment. Moreover, microbial communities from the weathered Duluth Complex rock were dominated by taxa that are not typically associated with acidic mine waste. The most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were from the genera Meiothermus and Sulfuriferula , as well as from diverse clades of uncultivated Chloroflexi , Acidobacteria , and Betaproteobacteria Specific taxa, including putative sulfur-oxidizing Sulfuriferula spp., appeared to be primarily associated with Duluth Complex rock, but not pyrite-bearing rocks subjected to the same experimental treatment. We discuss the implications of these results for the microbial ecology of moderately acidic mine waste with low sulfide content, as well as for kinetic testing of mine waste. IMPORTANCE Economic sulfide mineral deposits in the Duluth Complex may represent the largest undeveloped source of copper and nickel on Earth. Microorganisms are important catalysts for sulfide mineral oxidation, and research on extreme acidophiles has improved our ability to manage and remediate mine wastes. We found that the microbial assemblages associated with weathered rock from the Duluth Complex are dominated by organisms not widely associated with mine waste or mining-impacted environments, and we describe geochemical and experimental influences on community composition. This report will be a useful foundation for understanding the microbial biogeochemistry of moderately acidic mine waste from these and similar deposits. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

21 CFR 1250.75 - Disposal of human wastes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Disposal of human wastes. 1250.75 Section 1250.75... SANITATION Servicing Areas for Land and Air Conveyances § 1250.75 Disposal of human wastes. (a) At servicing... so conducted as to avoid contamination of such areas and stations by human wastes. (b) Toilet wastes...

21 CFR 1250.75 - Disposal of human wastes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Disposal of human wastes. 1250.75 Section 1250.75... SANITATION Servicing Areas for Land and Air Conveyances § 1250.75 Disposal of human wastes. (a) At servicing... so conducted as to avoid contamination of such areas and stations by human wastes. (b) Toilet wastes...

21 CFR 1250.75 - Disposal of human wastes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Disposal of human wastes. 1250.75 Section 1250.75... SANITATION Servicing Areas for Land and Air Conveyances § 1250.75 Disposal of human wastes. (a) At servicing... so conducted as to avoid contamination of such areas and stations by human wastes. (b) Toilet wastes...

21 CFR 1250.75 - Disposal of human wastes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Disposal of human wastes. 1250.75 Section 1250.75... SANITATION Servicing Areas for Land and Air Conveyances § 1250.75 Disposal of human wastes. (a) At servicing... so conducted as to avoid contamination of such areas and stations by human wastes. (b) Toilet wastes...

Process for recovery of palladium from nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes

DOEpatents

Campbell, D.O.; Buxton, S.R.

1980-06-16

Palladium is selectively removed from spent nuclear fuel reprocessing waste by adding sugar to a strong nitric acid solution of the waste to partially denitrate the solution and cause formation of an insoluble palladium compound. The process includes the steps of: (a) adjusting the nitric acid content of the starting solution to about 10 M; (b) adding 50% sucrose solution in an amount sufficient to effect the precipitation of the palladium compound; (c) heating the solution at reflux temperature until precipitation is complete; and (d) centrifuging the solution to separate the precipitated palladium compound from the supernatant liquid.

Process for recovery of palladium from nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes

DOEpatents

Campbell, David O.; Buxton, Samuel R.

1981-01-01

Palladium is selectively removed from spent nuclear fuel reprocessing waste by adding sugar to a strong nitric acid solution of the waste to partially denitrate the solution and cause formation of an insoluble palladium compound. The process includes the steps of: (a) adjusting the nitric acid content of the starting solution to about 10 M, (b) adding 50% sucrose solution in an amount sufficient to effect the precipitation of the palladium compound, (c) heating the solution at reflux temperature until precipitation is complete, and (d) centrifuging the solution to separate the precipitated palladium compound from the supernatant liquid.

Mutielemental concentration and physiological responses of Lavandula pedunculata growing in soils developed on different mine wastes.

PubMed

Santos, Erika S; Abreu, Maria Manuela; Saraiva, Jorge A

2016-06-01

This study aimed to: i) evaluate the accumulation and translocation patterns of potentially hazardous elements into the Lavandula pedunculata and their influence in the concentrations of nutrients; and ii) compare some physiological responses associated with oxidative stress (concentration of chlorophylls (Chla, Chlb and total), carotenoids, and total protein) and several components involved in tolerance mechanisms (concentrations of proline and acid-soluble thiols and total/specific activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD)), in plants growing in soils with a multielemental contamination and non-contaminated. Composite samples of soils, developed on mine wastes and/or host rocks, and L. pedunculata (roots and shoots) were collected in São Domingos mine (SE of Portugal) and in a reference area with non-contaminated soils, Corte do Pinto, with the same climatic conditions. São Domingos soils had high total concentrations of several hazardous elements (e.g. As and Pb) but their available fractions were small (mainly <5.8 % of the total). Translocation behaviour of elements was not clear according to the physiological importance of the elements. In general, plant shoots from São Domingos had the highest elements concentrations, but only As, Mn and Zn reached phytotoxic concentrations. Concentration of Chlb in shoots from São Domingos was higher than those from Corte do Pinto. No significant differences were obtained between concentrations of Chla, total protein, proline and acid-soluble thiols in shoots collected in both areas, as well as SOD activity (total and specific) and specific CAT activity. Total CAT activity varied with population being lower in the shoots of the plants from São Domingos, but no correlation was obtained between this enzymatic activity and the concentrations of the studied elements in shoots. Lavandula pedunculata plants are able to survive in soils developed on different mine wastes with multielemental contamination and low fertility showing no symptoms (visible and physiological) of phytotoxicity or deficiency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of products from fast pyrolysis of fractions of waste square timber and ordinary plywood using a fluidized bed reactor.

PubMed

Jung, Su-Hwa; Kim, Seon-Jin; Kim, Joo-Sik

2012-06-01

Fractions of waste square timber and waste ordinary plywood were pyrolyzed in a pyrolysis plant equipped with a fluidized bed reactor and a dual char separation system. The maximum bio-oil yield of about 65 wt.% was obtained at reaction temperatures of 450-500 °C for both feed materials. For quantitative analysis of bio-oil, the relative response factor (RRF) of each component was calculated using an effective carbon number (ECN) that was multiplied by the peak area of each component detected by a GC-FID. The predominant compounds in the bio-oils were methyl acetate, acids, hydroxyacetone, furfural, non-aromatic ketones, levoglucosan and phenolic compounds. The WOP-derived bio-oil showed it to have relatively high nitrogen content. Increasing the reaction temperature was shown to have little effect on nitrogen removal. The ash and solid contents of both bio-oils were below 0.1 wt.% due to the excellent performance of the char separation system. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficient conversion of polyamides to ω-hydroxyalkanoic acids: a new method for chemical recycling of waste plastics.

PubMed

Kamimura, Akio; Ikeda, Kosuke; Suzuki, Shuzo; Kato, Kazunari; Akinari, Yugo; Sugimoto, Tsunemi; Kashiwagi, Kohichi; Kaiso, Kouji; Matsumoto, Hiroshi; Yoshimoto, Makoto

2014-09-01

An efficient transformation of polyamides to ω-hydroxy alkanoic acids was achieved. Treatment of nylon-12 with supercritical MeOH in the presence of glycolic acid gave methyl ω-hydroxydodecanoate in 85% yield and the alcohol/alkene selectivity in the product was enhanced to up to 9.5:1. The use of (18)O-enriched acetic acid for the reaction successfully introduced an (18)O atom at the alcoholic OH group in the product. This strategy may provide a new and economical solution for the chemical recycling of waste plastics. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Long chain fatty acids (LCFA) evolution for inhibition forecasting during anaerobic treatment of lipid-rich wastes: Case of milk-fed veal slaughterhouse waste.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Méndez, R; Le Bihan, Y; Béline, F; Lessard, P

2017-09-01

A detailed study of a solid slaughterhouse waste (SHW) anaerobic treatment is presented. The waste used in this study is rich in lipids and proteins residue. Long chain fatty acids (LCFA), coming from the hydrolysis of lipids were inhibitory to anaerobic processes at different degrees. Acetogenesis and methanogenesis processes were mainly affected by inhibition whereas disintegration and hydrolysis processes did not seem to be affected by high LCFA concentrations. Nevertheless, because of the high energy content, this kind of waste is very suitable for anaerobic digestion but strict control of operating conditions is required to prevent inhibition. For that, two inhibition indicators were identified in this study. Those two indicators, LCFA dynamics and LCFA/VS biomass ratio proved to be useful to predict and to estimate the process inhibition degree. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Useful byproducts from cellulosic wastes of agriculture and food industry--a critical appraisal.

PubMed

Das, Himanish; Singh, Sudhir Kumar

2004-01-01

Cellulose, an important cell wall polysaccharide, which is replenished constantly in nature by photosynthesis, goes waste in a lion's share in the form of pre-harvest and post-harvest agricultural losses and wastes of food processing industry. These cellulose wastes have an immense potential to be utilized for the production and recovery of several products and ingredients in food application. In this present study, a wide spectrum of researches in the arena of properties of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin; their degradation; sources and composition of cellulosic and lignocellulosic wastes of agriculture and food industry; present status of converting them into value-added products of food applications; constraints in their conversions and future prospects therein has been reviewed in details. The study has encompassed production of biomass for various utilization and production and recovery of protein and amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, organic acids, foods & feeds and other miscellaneous products.

Stimulating short-chain fatty acids production from waste activated sludge by nano zero-valent iron.

PubMed

Luo, Jingyang; Feng, Leiyu; Chen, Yinguang; Li, Xiang; Chen, Hong; Xiao, Naidong; Wang, Dongbo

2014-10-10

An efficient and green strategy, i.e. adding nano zero-valent iron into anaerobic fermentation systems to remarkably stimulate the accumulation of short-chain fatty acids from waste activated sludge via accelerating the solubilization and hydrolysis processes has been developed. In the presence of nano zero-valent iron, not only the short-chain fatty acids production was significantly improved, but also the fermentation time for maximal short-chain fatty acids was shortened compared with those in the absence of nano zero-valent iron. Mechanism investigations showed that the solubilization of sludge, hydrolysis of solubilized substances and acidification of hydrolyzed products were all enhanced by addition of nano zero-valent iron. Also, the general microbial activity of anaerobes and relative activities of key enzymes with hydrolysis and acidification of organic matters were improved than those in the control. 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing analysis suggested that the abundance of bacteria responsible for waste activated sludge hydrolysis and short-chain fatty acids production was greatly enhanced due to nano zero-valent iron addition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Volatile fatty acids production from anaerobic treatment of cassava waste water: effect of temperature and alkalinity.

PubMed

Hasan, Salah Din Mahmud; Giongo, Citieli; Fiorese, Mônica Lady; Gomes, Simone Damasceno; Ferrari, Tatiane Caroline; Savoldi, Tarcio Enrico

2015-01-01

The production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), intermediates in the anaerobic degradation process of organic matter from waste water, was evaluated in this work. A batch reactor was used to investigate the effect of temperature, and alkalinity in the production of VFAs, from the fermentation of industrial cassava waste water. Peak production of total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs) was observed in the first two days of acidogenesis. A central composite design was performed, and the highest yield (3400 mg L(-1) of TVFA) was obtained with 30°C and 3 g L(-1) of sodium bicarbonate. The peak of VFA was in 45 h (pH 5.9) with a predominance of acetic (63%) and butyric acid (22%), followed by propionic acid (12%). Decreases in amounts of cyanide (12.9%) and chemical oxygen demand (21.6%) were observed, in addition to the production of biogas (0.53 cm(3) h(-1)). The process was validated experimentally and 3400 g L(-1) of TVFA were obtained with a low relative standard deviation.

Inhalation Cancer Risk Associated with Exposure to Complex Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures in an Electronic Waste and Urban Area in South China

PubMed Central

Wang, Jing; Chen, Shejun; Tian, Mi; Zheng, Xiaobo; Gonzales, Leah; Ohura, Takeshi; Mai, Bixian; Simonich, Staci L. Massey

2012-01-01

Atmospheric particulate matter samples were collected from May 2010 to April 2011 in a rural e-waste area and in Guangzhou, South China, to estimate the lifetime inhalation cancer risk from exposure to parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), high molecular weight PAHs (MW 302 PAHs), and halogenated PAHs (HPAHs). Seasonal variations in the PAH concentrations and profile within and between the e-waste and urban areas indicated different PAH sources in the two areas. Benzo[b]fluoranthene, BaP, dibenz[ah]anthracene, and dibenzo[al]pyrene made the most significant contribution to the inhalation cancer risk. MW 302 PAHs accounting for 18.0% of the total cancer risk in the e-waste area and 13.6% in the urban area, while HPAHs made a minor contribution (< 0.1%) in both the areas. The number of lifetime excess lung cancers due to exposure to parent PAHs, MW 302 PAHs, and HPAHs ranged from 15.1 to 1198 per million people in the e-waste area and from 9.3 to 737 per million people in Guangzhou. PAH exposure accounted for 0.02 to 1.94% of the total lung cancer cases in Guangzhou. On average, the inhalation cancer risk in the e-waste area was 1.6 times higher than in the urban area. The e-waste dismantling activities in South China led to higher inhalation cancer risk due to PAH exposure than the urban area. PMID:22913732

Stabilization and disposal of Argonne-West low-level mixed wastes in ceramicrete waste forms.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barber, D. B.; Singh, D.; Strain, R. V.

1998-02-17

The technology of room-temperature-setting phosphate ceramics or Ceramicrete{trademark} technology, developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)-East is being used to treat and dispose of low-level mixed wastes through the Department of Energy complex. During the past year, Ceramicrete{trademark} technology was implemented for field application at ANL-West. Debris wastes were treated and stabilized: (a) Hg-contaminated low-level radioactive crushed light bulbs and (b) low-level radioactive Pb-lined gloves (part of the MWIR {number_sign} AW-W002 waste stream). In addition to hazardous metals, these wastes are contaminated with low-level fission products. Initially, bench-scale waste forms with simulated and actual waste streams were fabricated by acid-base reactionsmore » between mixtures of magnesium oxide powders and an acid phosphate solution, and the wastes. Size reduction of Pb-lined plastic glove waste was accomplished by cryofractionation. The Ceramicrete{trademark} process produces dense, hard ceramic waste forms. Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) results showed excellent stabilization of both Hg and Pb in the waste forms. The principal advantage of this technology is that immobilization of contaminants is the result of both chemical stabilization and subsequent microencapsulation of the reaction products. Based on bench-scale studies, Ceramicrete{trademark} technology has been implemented in the fabrication of 5-gal waste forms at ANL-West. Approximately 35 kg of real waste has been treated. The TCLP is being conducted on the samples from the 5-gal waste forms. It is expected that because the waste forms pass the limits set by the EPAs Universal Treatment Standard, they will be sent to a radioactive-waste disposal facility.« less

Improved method and apparatus for waste collection and storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, W. E. (Inventor); Whitmore, Henry (Inventor)

1987-01-01

A method and apparatus for the collection of fecal matter are designed to operate efficiently in a zero gravity environment. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within the waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undesirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area to collect fecal matter, scrub the waste collection area, press the matter against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pad to a face of the piston with each actuation.

Special Analysis: 2017-001 Disposal of Drums Containing Enriched Uranium in Pit 38 at Technical Area 54, Area G

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Birdsell, Kay Hanson; Stauffer, Philip H.; French, Sean B.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) generates radioactive waste as a result of various activities. Operational waste is generated from a wide variety of research and development activities including nuclear weapons development, energy production, and medical research. Environmental restoration (ER), and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) waste is generated as contaminated sites and facilities at LANL undergo cleanup or remediation. The majority of this waste is low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and is disposed of at the Technical Area 54 (TA-54), Area G disposal facility. This special analysis, SA 2017-001, evaluates the potential impacts of disposing of this waste in Pit 38 atmore » Area G based on the assumptions that form the basis of the Area G PA/CA. Section 2 describes the methods used to conduct the analysis; the results of the evaluation are provided in Section 3; and conclusions and recommendations are provided in Section 4.« less

Hazardous Waste Management Systems: Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste - Federal Register Notice, May 1, 1991

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The EPA is announcing an administrative stay of a portion of the hazardous waste listing K069 so that the listing does not apply to slurries generated from air pollution control devices that are intended to capture acid gases.

Lactic acid fermentation from food waste with indigenous microbiota: Effects of pH, temperature and high OLR.

PubMed

Tang, Jialing; Wang, Xiaochang; Hu, Yisong; Zhang, Yongmei; Li, Yuyou

2016-06-01

The effects of pH, temperature and high organic loading rate (OLR) on lactic acid production from food waste without extra inoculum addition were investigated in this study. Using batch experiments, the results showed that although the hydrolysis rate increased with pH adjustment, the lactic acid concentration and productivity were highest at pH 6. High temperatures were suitable for solubilization but seriously restricted the acidification processes. The highest lactic acid yield (0.46g/g-TS) and productivity (278.1mg/Lh) were obtained at 37°C and pH 6. In addition, the lactic acid concentration gradually increased with the increase in OLR, and the semi-continuous reactor could be stably operated at an OLR of 18g-TS/Ld. However, system instability, low lactic acid yield and a decrease in VS removal were noticed at high OLRs (22g-TS/Ld). The concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in the fermentation mixture were relatively low but slightly increased with OLR, and acetate was the predominant VFA component. Using high-throughput pyrosequencing, Lactobacillus from the raw food waste was found to selectively accumulate and become dominant in the semi-continuous reactor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method for the recovery of actinide elements from nuclear reactor waste

DOEpatents

Horwitz, E. Philip; Delphin, Walter H.; Mason, George W.

1979-01-01

A process for partitioning and recovering actinide values from acidic waste solutions resulting from reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels by adding hydroxylammonium nitrate and hydrazine to the waste solution to adjust the valence of the neptunium and plutonium values in the solution to the +4 oxidation state, thus forming a feed solution and contacting the feed solution with an extractant of dihexoxyethyl phosphoric acid in an organic diluent whereby the actinide values, most of the rare earth values and some fission product values are taken up by the extractant. Separation is achieved by contacting the loaded extractant with two aqueous strip solutions, a nitric acid solution to selectively strip the americium, curium and rare earth values and an oxalate solution of tetramethylammonium hydrogen oxalate and oxalic acid or trimethylammonium hydrogen oxalate to selectively strip the neptunium, plutonium and fission product values. Uranium values remain in the extractant and may be recovered with a phosphoric acid strip. The neptunium and plutonium values are recovered from the oxalate by adding sufficient nitric acid to destroy the complexing ability of the oxalate, forming a second feed, and contacting the second feed with a second extractant of tricaprylmethylammonium nitrate in an inert diluent whereby the neptunium and plutonium values are selectively extracted. The values are recovered from the extractant with formic acid.

Process for removal of ammonia and acid gases from contaminated waters

DOEpatents

King, C. Judson; MacKenzie, Patricia D.

1985-01-01

Contaminating basic gases, i.e., ammonia, and acid gases, e.g., carbon dioxide, are removed from process waters or waste waters in a combined extraction and stripping process. Ammonia in the form of ammonium ion is extracted by an immiscible organic phase comprising a liquid cation exchange component, especially an organic phosphoric acid derivative, and preferably di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid, dissolved in an alkyl hydrocarbon, aryl hydrocarbon, higher alcohol, oxygenated hydrocarbon, halogenated hydrocarbon, and mixtures thereof. Concurrently, the acidic gaseous contaminants are stripped from the process or waste waters by stripping with steam, air, nitrogen, or the like. The liquid cation exchange component has the ammonia stripped therefrom by heating, and the component may be recycled to extract additional amounts of ammonia.

Process for removal of ammonia and acid gases from contaminated waters

DOEpatents

King, C.J.; Mackenzie, P.D.

1982-09-03

Contaminating basic gases, i.e., ammonia and acid gases, e.g., carbon dioxide, are removed from process waters or waste waters in a combined extraction and stripping process. Ammonia in the form of ammonium ion is extracted by an immiscible organic phase comprising a liquid cation exchange component, especially an organic phosphoric acid derivative, and preferably di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid, dissolved in an alkyl hydrocarbon, aryl hydrocarbon, higher alcohol, oxygenated hydrocarbon, halogenated hydrocarbon, and mixtures thereof. Concurrently, the acidic gaseous contaminants are stripped from the process or waste waters by stripping with stream, air, nitrogen, or the like. The liquid cation exchange component has the ammonia stripped therefrom by heating, and the component may be recycled to extract additional amounts of ammonia.

RCRA Facility Investigation report for Waste Area Grouping 6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Volume 3. Appendixes 1 through 8

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1991-09-01

This report presents compiled information concerning a facility investigation of waste area group 6(WAG-6), of the solid waste management units (SWMU'S) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The WAG is a shallow ground disposal area for low-level radioactive wastes and chemical wastes. The report contains information on hydrogeological data, contaminant characterization, radionuclide concentrations, risk assessment from doses to humans and animals and associated cancer risks, exposure via food chains, and historical data. (CBS)

Proceedings for the Annual Environmental Quality R&D Symposium (13th) Held in Williamsburg, Virginia on 15-17 November 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-01

chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer , acid rain effects, and other warning signs. Obviously, generated wastes must be held to a minimum, and those which...organics from the soil by mechani- cally drawing air through the contaminated soil volume. The technique is applied in soil layers above the water table...through the soil layers . At Site D, thirty-nine (39) three-inch well vents were planned at a 25-feet spacing in an area of approximately 130 feet by

7 CFR 1951.232 - Water and waste disposal systems which have become part of an urban area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Water and waste disposal systems which have become... Water and waste disposal systems which have become part of an urban area. A water and/or waste disposal.... The following will be forwarded to the Administrator, Attention: Water and Waste Disposal Division...

Accumulation of propionic acid during consecutive batch anaerobic digestion of commercial food waste.

PubMed

Capson-Tojo, Gabriel; Ruiz, Diane; Rouez, Maxime; Crest, Marion; Steyer, Jean-Philippe; Bernet, Nicolas; Delgenès, Jean-Philippe; Escudié, Renaud

2017-12-01

The objective of this study was to test three different alternatives to mitigate the destabilizing effect of accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids during food waste anaerobic digestion. The three options tested (low temperature, co-digestion with paper waste and trace elements addition) were compared using consecutive batch reactors. Although methane was produced efficiently (∼500ml CH 4 gVS -1 ; 16l CH 4 lreactor -1 ), the concentrations of propionic acid increased gradually (up to 21.6gl -1 ). This caused lag phases in the methane production and eventually led to acidification at high substrate loads. The addition of trace elements improved the kinetics and allowed higher substrate loads, but could not avoid propionate accumulation. Here, it is shown for the first time that addition of activated carbon, trace elements and dilution can favor propionic acid consumption after its accumulation. These promising options should be optimized to prevent propionate accumulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

State waste discharge permit application: 200 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility (Project W-049H)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-08-01

As part of the original Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Concent Order negotiations, US DOE, US EPA and the Washington State Department of Ecology agreed that liquid effluent discharges to the ground to the Hanford Site are subject to permitting in the State Waste Discharge Permit Program (SWDP). This document constitutes the SWDP Application for the 200 Area TEDF stream which includes the following streams discharged into the area: Plutonium Finishing Plant waste water; 222-S laboratory Complex waste water; T Plant waste water; 284-W Power Plant waste water; PUREX chemical Sewer; B Plant chemical sewer, process condensate, steam condensate; 242-A-81more » Water Services waste water.« less

Investigation of the tracers for plastic-enriched waste burning aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sudhanshu; Aggarwal, Shankar G.; Gupta, Prabhat K.; Kawamura, Kimitaka

2015-05-01

To better identify the tracers for open-waste burning (OWB) aerosols, we have conducted aerosol sampling at 2 landfill sites, i.e., Okhla and Bhalswa in New Delhi. The metals such as, As, Cd, Sb and Sn, which have been observed almost negligible in remote aerosols, are found abundantly in these OWB aerosol samples (n = 26), i.e., 60 ± 65, 41 ± 53, 537 ± 847 and 1325 ± 1218 ng m-3, respectively. Samples (n = 20) collected at urban locations in New Delhi, i.e., at Employees' State Insurance (ESI) hospital and National Physical Laboratory (NPL) also show high abundances of these metals in the particles. Filter samples are also analyzed for water-soluble dicarboxylic acids (C2-C12) and related compounds (oxocarboxylic acids and α-dicarbonyls). Terephthalic acid (tPh) was found to account for more than 77% of total diacids determined in OWB aerosols. However, such a high abundance of tPh is not observed in aerosols collected at urban sites. Instead, phthalic acid (Ph) was found as the third/fourth most abundant diacid (∼3%) following C2 (>70%) and C4 (>12%) in these waste burning influenced urban aerosols. A possible secondary formation pathway of Ph by photo-degradation of phthalate ester (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) in plastic-waste burning aerosol is suggested. Ionic composition of OWB aerosols showed that Cl- is the most abundant ion (40 ± 8% of total ions determined). The correlation studies of the potential metals with the organic tracers of garbage burning, i.e., phthalic, isophthalic and terephthalic acids show that especially Sn can be used as marker for tracing the plastic-enriched waste burning aerosols.

Hot Cell Liners Category of Transuranic Waste Stored Below Ground within Area G

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Robert Wesley; Hargis, Kenneth Marshall

2014-09-01

A large wildfire called the Las Conchas Fire burned large areas near Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 2011 and heightened public concern and news media attention over transuranic (TRU) waste stored at LANL’s Technical Area 54 (TA-54) Area G waste management facility. The removal of TRU waste from Area G had been placed at a lower priority in budget decisions for environmental cleanup at LANL because TRU waste removal is not included in the March 2005 Compliance Order on Consent (Reference 1) that is the primary regulatory driver for environmental cleanup at LANL. The Consent Order is an agreementmore » between LANL and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) that contains specific requirements and schedules for cleaning up historical contamination at the LANL site. After the Las Conchas Fire, discussions were held by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the NMED on accelerating TRU waste removal from LANL and disposing it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This report summarizes available information on the origin, configuration, and composition of the waste containers within the Hot Cell Liners category; their physical and radiological characteristics; the results of the radioassays; and the justification to reclassify the five containers as LLW rather than TRU waste.« less

Tritium Packages and 17th RH Canister Categories of Transuranic Waste Stored Below Ground within Area G

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hargis, Kenneth Marshall

A large wildfire called the Las Conchas Fire burned large areas near Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 2011 and heightened public concern and news media attention over transuranic (TRU) waste stored at LANL’s Technical Area 54 (TA-54) Area G waste management facility. The removal of TRU waste from Area G had been placed at a lower priority in budget decisions for environmental cleanup at LANL because TRU waste removal is not included in the March 2005 Compliance Order on Consent (Reference 1) that is the primary regulatory driver for environmental cleanup at LANL. The Consent Order is a settlementmore » agreement between LANL and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) that contains specific requirements and schedules for cleaning up historical contamination at the LANL site. After the Las Conchas Fire, discussions were held by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the NMED on accelerating TRU waste removal from LANL and disposing it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This report summarizes available information on the origin, configuration, and composition of the waste containers within the Tritium Packages and 17th RH Canister categories; their physical and radiological characteristics; the results of the radioassays; and potential issues in retrieval and processing of the waste containers.« less

Homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic catalysis for transesterification of high free fatty acid oil (waste cooking oil) to biodiesel: a review.

PubMed

Lam, Man Kee; Lee, Keat Teong; Mohamed, Abdul Rahman

2010-01-01

In the last few years, biodiesel has emerged as one of the most potential renewable energy to replace current petrol-derived diesel. It is a renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic fuel which can be easily produced through transesterification reaction. However, current commercial usage of refined vegetable oils for biodiesel production is impractical and uneconomical due to high feedstock cost and priority as food resources. Low-grade oil, typically waste cooking oil can be a better alternative; however, the high free fatty acids (FFA) content in waste cooking oil has become the main drawback for this potential feedstock. Therefore, this review paper is aimed to give an overview on the current status of biodiesel production and the potential of waste cooking oil as an alternative feedstock. Advantages and limitations of using homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic transesterification on oil with high FFA (mostly waste cooking oil) are discussed in detail. It was found that using heterogeneous acid catalyst and enzyme are the best option to produce biodiesel from oil with high FFA as compared to the current commercial homogeneous base-catalyzed process. However, these heterogeneous acid and enzyme catalyze system still suffers from serious mass transfer limitation problems and therefore are not favorable for industrial application. Nevertheless, towards the end of this review paper, a few latest technological developments that have the potential to overcome the mass transfer limitation problem such as oscillatory flow reactor (OFR), ultrasonication, microwave reactor and co-solvent are reviewed. With proper research focus and development, waste cooking oil can indeed become the next ideal feedstock for biodiesel.

75 FR 62040 - Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste; Proposed Exclusion

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-07

... on- site in the pickle acid and low level radioactive wastewater treatment systems. Support... water production waste treatment system. Once- through non-contact cooling water does not require... production (deionized and make- up non-contact cooling water) treatment system and once through non- contact...

75 FR 43409 - Rhode Island: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste Management Program Revisions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-26

..., nickel-cadmium batteries or lithium batteries. Rhode Island has decided to regulate circuit boards, as... universal waste program, Rhode Island regulates certain dry cell batteries (i.e., waste-nickel cadmium, mercuric oxide, and lead acid dry cell batteries), used electronics, mercury containing equipment and...

Removal of hazardous metals from MSW fly ash--an evaluation of ash leaching methods.

PubMed

Fedje, Karin Karlfeldt; Ekberg, Christian; Skarnemark, Gunnar; Steenari, Britt-Marie

2010-01-15

Incineration is a commonly applied management method for municipal solid waste (MSW). However, significant amounts of potentially hazardous metal species are present in the resulting ash, and these may be leached into the environment. A common idea for cleaning the ash is to use enhanced leaching with strong mineral acids. However, due to the alkalinity of the ash, large amounts of acid are needed and this is a drawback. Therefore, this work was undertaken in order to investigate some alternative leaching media (EDTA, ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride and a number of organic acids) and to compare them with the usual mineral acids and water. All leaching methods gave a significant increase in ash specific surface area due to removal of soluble bulk (matrix) compounds, such as CaCO(3) and alkali metal chlorides. The use of mineral acids and EDTA mobilised many elements, especially Cu, Zn and Pb, whereas the organic acids generally were not very effective as leaching agents for metals. Leaching using NH(4)NO(3) was especially effective for the release of Cu. The results show that washing of MSW filter ash with alternative leaching agents is a possible way to remove hazardous metals from MSW fly ash.

Occurrence of organophosphorus flame retardants in indoor dust in multiple microenvironments of southern China and implications for human exposure.

PubMed

He, Chun-Tao; Zheng, Jing; Qiao, Lin; Chen, She-Jun; Yang, Jun-Zhi; Yuan, Jian-Gang; Yang, Zhong-Yi; Mai, Bi-Xian

2015-08-01

Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) are important alternatives to brominated flame retardants (BFRs), but information on their contamination of the environment in China is rare. We examined the occurrence of 12 OPFRs in indoor dust in four microenvironments of southern China, including a rural electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area, a rural non-e-waste area, urban homes, and urban college dormitory rooms. The OPFR concentrations (with a median of 25.0 μg g(-1)) were highest in the e-waste area, and the concentrations in other three areas were lower and comparable (7.48-11.0 μg g(-1)). The levels of OPFRs in the present study were generally relatively lower than the levels of OPFRs found in Europe, Canada, and Japan because BFRs are still widely used as the major FRs in China. The composition profile of OPFRs in the e-waste area was dominated by tricresyl phosphate (TCP) (accounting for 40.7%, on average), while tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) was the most abundant OPFR (64.4%) in the urban areas (homes and college dormitories). These two distribution patterns represent two OPFR sources (i.e., emissions from past e-waste and from current household products and building materials). The difference in the OPFR profiles in the rural area relative to the OPFR profiles in the urban and e-waste areas suggests that the occurrence of OPFRs is due mainly to emissions from characteristic household products in rural homes. Although human exposures to all the OPFRs were under the reference doses, the health risk for residents in the e-waste area is a concern, considering the poor sanitary conditions in this area and exposure from other sources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards Zero Waste in emerging countries - A South African experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matete, Ntlibi; Trois, Cristina

2008-07-01

The aim of this paper is to describe the optimisation of Waste Minimisation/Zero Waste strategies into an already established integrated waste management system and to present a Zero Waste model for post-consumer waste for urban communities in South Africa. The research was undertaken towards the fulfilment of the goals of the Polokwane Declaration on Waste Management , which has set as its target the reduction of waste generation and disposal by 50% and 25%, respectively, by 2012 and the development of a plan for Zero Waste by 2022. Two communities, adjacent to the Mariannhill Landfill site in Durban, were selectedmore » as a case study for a comparative analysis of formal and informal settlements. Since the waste generated from these two communities is disposed of at the Mariannhill landfill, the impact of Zero Waste on landfill volumes could be readily assessed. A Zero Waste scheme, based on costs and landfill airspace savings, was proposed for the area. The case study demonstrates that waste minimisation schemes can be introduced into urban areas, in emerging countries, with differing levels of service and that Zero Waste models are appropriate to urban areas in South Africa.« less

NEARBY LAKE SEDIMENT QUALITY AND SEEDLING TREE SURVIVAL ON ERODED OILY WASTE/BRINE CONTAMINATED SOIL

EPA Science Inventory

An ecosystem restoration study is being conducted at an old oil production area in Northeast Oklahoma. Surface soil samples from areas impacted by discarded crude oil and brine wastes have been chemically characterized. Surface erosion has occurred in areas impacted by waste disc...

Refining and Mutual Separation of Rare Earths Using Biomass Wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inoue, Katsutoshi; Alam, Shafiq

2013-10-01

Two different types of adsorption gels were prepared from biomass wastes. The first gel was produced from astringent persimmon peel rich in persimmon tannin, a polyphenol compound, which was prepared by means of simple dehydration condensation reaction using concentrated sulfuric acid for crosslinking. This adsorption gel was intended to be employed for the removal of radioactive elements, uranium (U(VI)) and thorium (Th(IV)), from rare earths. The second gel was prepared from chitosan, a basic polysaccharide, produced from shells of crustaceans such as crabs, shrimps, prawns, and other biomass wastes generated in marine product industry, by immobilizing functional groups of complexanes such as ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid and diethylentriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA). This gel was developed for the mutual separation of rare earths. Of the two adsorption gels evaluated, the DTPA immobilized chitosan exhibited the most effective mutual separation among light rare earths.

Waste Utilization and Biodiesel Production by the Green Microalga Scenedesmus obliquus▿

PubMed Central

Mandal, Shovon; Mallick, Nirupama

2011-01-01

Scenedesmus obliquus was cultivated in three types of waste discharges to couple waste treatment with biodiesel production. The lipid pool accumulation was boosted to 1.0 g liter−1 against 0.1 g liter−1 for the control. The waste-grown S. obliquus showed an increase in the content of the saturated fatty acid pool, which is desirable for good-quality biodiesel. PMID:21057012

Hydrogeologic and chemical data for the O-Field area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nemoff, P.R.; Vroblesky, D.A.

1989-01-01

O-Field, located at the Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground , Maryland, was periodically used for disposal of munitions, waste chemicals, and chemical-warfare agents from World War II through the 1950' s. This report includes various physical, geologic, chemical, and hydrologic data obtained from well-core, groundwater, surface water, and bottom-sediment sampling sites at and near the O-Field disposal area. The data are presented in tables and hydrographs. Three site-location maps are also included. Well-core data include lithologic logs for 11 well- cluster sites, grain-size distributions, various chemical characteristics, and confining unit characteristics. Groundwater data include groundwater chemistry, method blanks for volatile organic carbon, available data on volatile and base/neutral organics, and compilation of corresponding method blanks, chemical-warfare agents, explosive-related products, radionuclides, herbicides, and groundwater levels. Surface-water data include field-measured characteristics; concentrations of various inorganic constituents including arsenic; selected organic constituents with method blanks; detection limits of organics; and a compilation of information on corresponding acids, volatiles, and semivolatiles. Bottom- sediment data include inorganic properties and constituents; organic chemistry; detection limits for organic chemicals; a compilation of information on acids, volatiles, and semivolatiles; and method blanks corresponding to acids, volatiles, and semivolatiles. A set of 15 water- level hydrographs for the period March 1986 through September 1987 also is included in the report. (USGS)

The Positive Environmental Contribution of Jarosite by Retaining Lead in Acid Mine Drainage Areas

PubMed Central

Figueiredo, Maria-Ondina; da Silva, Teresa Pereira

2011-01-01

Jarosite, KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6, is a secondary iron sulphate often found in acid mine drainage (AMD) environments, particularly in mining wastes from polymetallic sulphide ore deposits. Despite the negative environmental connotation usually ascribed to secondary sulphate minerals due to the release of hazardous elements to aquifers and soils, jarosite acts as an efficient remover and immobilizer of such metals, particularly lead. The mineral chemistry of jarosite is reviewed and the results of a Fe K-edge XANES (X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure) study of K-, Na- and Pb-jarosite are described and discussed within the context of the abandoned old mines of São Domingos and Aljustrel located in southern Portugal, in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). PMID:21655138

Method and apparatus for ion sequestration and a nanostructured metal phosphate

DOEpatents

Mattigod, Shas V [Richland, WA; Fryxell, Glen E [Kennewic, WA; Li, Xiaohong [Richland, WA; Parker, Kent E [Kennewick, WA; Wellman, Dawn M [West Richland, WA

2010-04-06

A nanostructured substance, a process for sequestration of ionic waste, and an ion-sequestration apparatus are disclosed in the specification. The nanostructured substance can comprise a Lewis acid transition metal bound to a phosphate, wherein the phosphate comprises a primary structural component of the substance and the Lewis acid transition metal is a reducing agent. The nanostructured substance has a Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area greater than or equal to approximately 100 m.sup.2/g, and a distribution coefficient for an analyte, K.sub.d, greater than or equal to approximately 5000 ml/g. The process can comprise contacting a fluid and a nanostructured metal phosphate. The apparatus can comprise a vessel and a nanostructured metal phosphate. The vessel defines a volume wherein a fluid contacts the nanostructured metal phosphate.

Solid Waste Management in Greater Shillong Planning Area (GSPA) Using Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Site Suitability Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mipun, B. S.; Hazarika, R.; Mondal, M.; Mukhopadhyay, S.

2015-04-01

In Shillong city the existing solid waste management system is mobile waste bins (72%). About 12 percent burn the waste generated by them. Door to door collection is about 5 percent. Over 2 percent households throw the wastes in the open space. Another 9 percent households throw their wastes into the waste bins located in the neighbourhood. The local headman takes care about half of the household's wastes, while Municipality takes care about 34 percent households. About 10 percent households are ignorant about the collection and disposal of wastes. Some NGO's takes care about 5 percent household's wastes. Awareness about segregation of waste into organic and non-bio degradable waste is 64 percent and a significant numbers do the segregation. In Shillong Municipality Board (SMB) area collects 45.91% (78.42 MT) waste, outside SMB area collection is 32.61% (45.99 MT) and entire GSPA the percentage of garbage collected is 41percent. The only dumping ground in GSPA is Marten, Mawiong, and the capacity to hold garbage is decreasing due to limited landfill. The sanitary landfill site is 5.0 acres that it is not enough to meet the demand. Out of he total area 170.69 sq. km. (GSPA) only 25.67% is most suitable and 18.58% is unsuitable to set up a new landfill area. Eastern part of the GSPA, is most suitable, which fulfils the entire criterion adopted in this study. In this the best-stated criterion are land cover (vacant space), slope (<15%), proximity to road (400-800m), distance from River (>2000m) and elevation (1300-1500m). The eastern part of the GSPA is most suitable landfill location.

The impact measure of solid waste management on health: the hazard index.

PubMed

Musmeci, Loredana; Bellino, Mirella; Cicero, Maria Rita; Falleni, Fabrizio; Piccardi, Augusta; Trinca, Stefania

2010-01-01

The risk associated with waste exposure depends on the level of emissions arising from waste disposal and from the effects of these emissions on human health (dose-response). In 2007 an epidemiological study was conducted in two Italian provinces of the Campania Region, namely Naples and Caserta, with the aim of assessing the health effects deriving from exposure to waste. In these studies, the important aspect is the population exposure assessment, in relation to the different types of waste disposal. The Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Campania) has identified and characterized the various authorized/unauthorized dumping sites in the provinces of Naples and Caserta. Most of the waste disposal used are illegal and invisible (sunken or buried); thus, the toxic substances therein contained are unknown and difficult to identify. In order to locate the possible areas exposed to a higher waste-related health risk, a synthetical "hazard index" (at the municipality level) was designed. By means of GIS, the number of waste impact areas was identified for each of the 196 municipalities in the two provinces; then, Census data (ISTAT 2001) was used to estimate the proportion of the population living in the impact areas. The synthetical hazard index at municipality level accounts for three elements: a) the intrinsic characterization of the waste disposal, determining the way in which the pollutant is released; b) the impact area of the dumping site (within 1 km radius), same areas are influenced by more than one site; c) the density of the population living in the "impact area" surrounding the waste disposal site.

Organic acid production from potato starch waste fermentation by rumen microbial communities from Dutch and Thai dairy cows.

PubMed

Palakawong Na Ayudthaya, Susakul; van de Weijer, Antonius H P; van Gelder, Antonie H; Stams, Alfons J M; de Vos, Willem M; Plugge, Caroline M

2018-01-01

Exploring different microbial sources for biotechnological production of organic acids is important. Dutch and Thai cow rumen samples were used as inocula to produce organic acid from starch waste in anaerobic reactors. Organic acid production profiles were determined and microbial communities were compared using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene amplicon pyrosequencing. In both reactors, lactate was the main initial product and was associated with growth of Streptococcus spp. (86% average relative abundance). Subsequently, lactate served as a substrate for secondary fermentations. In the reactor inoculated with rumen fluid from the Dutch cow, the relative abundance of Bacillus and Streptococcus increased from the start, and lactate, acetate, formate and ethanol were produced. From day 1.33 to 2, lactate and acetate were degraded, resulting in butyrate production. Butyrate production coincided with a decrease in relative abundance of Streptococcus spp. and increased relative abundances of bacteria of other groups, including Parabacteroides , Sporanaerobacter , Helicobacteraceae, Peptostreptococcaceae and Porphyromonadaceae. In the reactor with the Thai cow inoculum, Streptococcus spp. also increased from the start. When lactate was consumed, acetate, propionate and butyrate were produced (day 3-4). After day 3, bacteria belonging to five dominant groups, Bacteroides, Pseudoramibacter _ Eubacterium , Dysgonomonas , Enterobacteriaceae and Porphyromonadaceae, were detected and these showed significant positive correlations with acetate, propionate and butyrate levels. The complexity of rumen microorganisms with high adaptation capacity makes rumen fluid a suitable source to convert organic waste into valuable products without the addition of hydrolytic enzymes. Starch waste is a source for organic acid production, especially lactate.

Application of a set of complementary techniques to understand how varying the proportion of two wastes affects humic acids produced by vermicomposting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fernández-Gómez, Manuel J., E-mail: manuelj.fernandez@eez.csic.es; Nogales, Rogelio; Plante, Alain

2015-01-15

Highlights: • A set of techniques was used to characterize humic acids content of vermicomposts. • The properties of the humic acids produced from different waste mixtures were similar. • This set of techniques allowed distinguishing the humic acids of each vermicomposts. • Increasing humic acid contents in initial mixtures would produce richer vermicomposts. - Abstract: A better understanding of how varying the proportion of different organic wastes affects humic acid (HA) formation during vermicomposting would be useful in producing vermicomposts enriched in HAs. With the aim of improving the knowledge about this issue, a variety of analytical techniques [UV–visiblemore » spectroscopic, Fourier transform infrared, fluorescence spectra, solid-state cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) {sup 13}C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, and thermal analysis] was used in the present study to characterize HAs isolated from two mixtures at two different ratios (2:1 and 1:1) of tomato-plant debris (TD) and paper-mill sludge (PS) before and after vermicomposting. The results suggest that vermicomposting increased the HA content in the TD/PS 2:1 and 1:1 mixtures (15.9% and 16.2%, respectively), but the vermicompost produced from the mixture with a higher amount of TD had a greater proportion (24%) of HAs. Both vermicomposting processes caused equal modifications in the humic precursors contained in the different mixtures of TD and PS, and consequently, the HAs in the vermicomposts produced from different waste mixtures exhibited analogous characteristics. Only the set of analytical techniques used in this research was able to detect differences between the HAs isolated from each type of vermicompost. In conclusion, varying the proportion of different wastes may have a stronger influence on the amount of HAs in vermicomposts than on the properties of HAs.« less

An overview: Recycling of solid barley waste generated as a by-product in distillery and brewery.

PubMed

Nigam, Poonam Singh

2017-04-01

This overview has focused on the options available for the utilisation of residual-biomass generated in distillery and brewery for the production of added-value products. Bio-processing approaches have been reviewed and discussed for the economical bioconversion and utilisation of this waste for the production of bioproducts, such as lactic acid, enzymes, xylitol and animal feed. Though this overview provides several options for the bioprocessing of this residual material, a more suitable one could be chosen according to the processing-facilities available and the amount of residue available in local area. The feasibility of any chosen process should be evaluated on the basis of cost of material available, its local utilisation for animal feed, and the overall economical advantages that could be gained by changing its current traditional landfill use to produce higher added value products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Utilization of wasted cockle shell as a natural coagulant and a neutralizer of polluted water in Bangka Belitung islands, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiandho, Y.; Aldila, H.; Mustari; Megiyo; Afriani, F.

2018-05-01

Bangka Belitung Islands is the largest tin producer in Indonesia. The high activity of tin mining caused the environmental damage which had an impact on the emergence of clean water crisis in some areas in this province. In this paper, a simple water quality improvement method based on wasted cockle shell was developed. Based on x-ray diffraction analysis it is known that calcination of cockle shell powder at 700°C will decompose the powder into calcium oxide compound. The addition of calcined cockle shell powder into acidic water from Merawang Sub-district will increase the pH of water through the process of forming hydroxide groups in the water. The calcined cockle shell powder can also coagulate pollutants in some polluted water from Koba Sub-district. The coagulation results were analyzed using SEM/EDS.

NEVADA TEST SITE WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, NEVADA SITE OFFICE

This document establishes the U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site will accept low-level radioactive and mixed waste for disposal. Mixed waste generated within the State of Nevada by NNSA/NSO activities is accepted for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the Nevada Test Site Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site for storage or disposal.

Geochemical Characterization of Mine Waste, Mine Drainage, and Stream Sediments at the Pike Hill Copper Mine Superfund Site, Orange County, Vermont

USGS Publications Warehouse

Piatak, Nadine M.; Seal, Robert R.; Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Kiah, Richard G.; Deacon, Jeffrey R.; Adams, Monique; Anthony, Michael W.; Briggs, Paul H.; Jackson, John C.

2006-01-01

The Pike Hill Copper Mine Superfund Site in the Vermont copper belt consists of the abandoned Smith, Eureka, and Union mines, all of which exploited Besshi-type massive sulfide deposits. The site was listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Priorities List in 2004 due to aquatic ecosystem impacts. This study was intended to be a precursor to a formal remedial investigation by the USEPA, and it focused on the characterization of mine waste, mine drainage, and stream sediments. A related study investigated the effects of the mine drainage on downstream surface waters. The potential for mine waste and drainage to have an adverse impact on aquatic ecosystems, on drinking- water supplies, and to human health was assessed on the basis of mineralogy, chemical concentrations, acid generation, and potential for metals to be leached from mine waste and soils. The results were compared to those from analyses of other Vermont copper belt Superfund sites, the Elizabeth Mine and Ely Copper Mine, to evaluate if the waste material at the Pike Hill Copper Mine was sufficiently similar to that of the other mine sites that USEPA can streamline the evaluation of remediation technologies. Mine-waste samples consisted of oxidized and unoxidized sulfidic ore and waste rock, and flotation-mill tailings. These samples contained as much as 16 weight percent sulfides that included chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite. During oxidation, sulfides weather and may release potentially toxic trace elements and may produce acid. In addition, soluble efflorescent sulfate salts were identified at the mines; during rain events, the dissolution of these salts contributes acid and metals to receiving waters. Mine waste contained concentrations of cadmium, copper, and iron that exceeded USEPA Preliminary Remediation Goals. The concentrations of selenium in mine waste were higher than the average composition of eastern United States soils. Most mine waste was potentially acid generating because of paste-pH values of less than 4 and negative net-neutralization potentials (NNP). The processed flotation-mill tailings, however, had a near neutral paste pH, positive NNP, and a few weight percent calcite. Leachate tests indicated that elements and compounds such as Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, SO4, and Zn were leached from mine waste in concentrations that exceeded aquatic ecosystem and drinking-water standards. Mine waste from the Pike Hill mines was chemically and mineralogically similar to that from the Elizabeth and Ely mines. In addition, metals were leached and acid was produced from mine waste from the Pike Hill mines in comparable concentrations to those from the Elizabeth and Ely mines, although the host rock of the Pike Hill deposits contains significant amounts of carbonate minerals and, thus, a greater acid-neutralizing capacity when compared to the host rocks of the Elizabeth and Ely deposits. Water samples collected from unimpacted parts of the Waits River watershed generally contained lower amounts of metals compared to water samples from mine drainage, were alkaline, and had a neutral pH, which was likely because of calcareous bedrock. Seeps and mine pools at the mine site had acidic to neutral pH, ranged from oxic to anoxic, and generally contained concentrations of metals, for example, aluminum, cadmium, copper, iron, and zinc, that exceeded aquatic toxicity standards or drinking-water standards, or both. Surface waters directly downstream of the Eureka and Union mines were acidic, as indicated by pH values from 3.1 to 4.2, and contained high concentrations of some elements including as much as 11,400 micrograms per liter (?g/L) Al, as much as 22.9 ?g/L Cd, as much as 6,790 ?g/L Cu, as much as 23,300 ?g/L Fe, as much as 1,400 ?g/L Mn, and as much as 3,570 ?g/L Zn. The concentrations of these elements exceeded water-quality guidelines. Generally, in surface waters, the pH increased and the concentrations of these elemen

A proposal for a test method for assessment of hazard property HP 12 ("Release of an acute toxic gas") in hazardous waste classification - Experience from 49 waste.

PubMed

Hennebert, Pierre; Samaali, Ismahen; Molina, Pauline

2016-12-01

A stepwise method for assessment of the HP 12 is proposed and tested with 49 waste samples. The hazard property HP 12 is defined as "Release of an acute toxic gas": waste which releases acute toxic gases (Acute Tox. 1, 2 or 3) in contact with water or an acid. When a waste contains a substance assigned to one of the following supplemental hazards EUH029, EUH031 and EUH032, it shall be classified as hazardous by HP 12 according to test methods or guidelines (EC, 2014a, 2014b). When the substances with the cited hazard statement codes react with water or an acid, they can release HCl, Cl 2 , HF, HCN, PH 3 , H 2 S, SO 2 (and two other gases very unlikely to be emitted, hydrazoic acid HN 3 and selenium oxide SeO 2 - a solid with low vapor pressure). Hence, a method is proposed:For a set of 49 waste, water addition did not produce gas. Nearly all the solid waste produced a gas in contact with hydrochloric acid in 5 min in an automated calcimeter with a volume >0.1L of gas per kg of waste. Since a plateau of pressure is reached only for half of the samples in 5 min, 6 h trial with calorimetric bombs or glass flasks were done and confirmed the results. Identification of the gases by portable probes showed that most of the tested samples emit mainly CO 2 . Toxic gases are emitted by four waste: metallic dust from the aluminum industry (CO), two air pollution control residue of industrial waste incinerator (H 2 S) and a halogenated solvent (organic volatile(s) compound(s)). HF has not been measured in these trials started before the present definition of HP 12. According to the definition of HP 12, only the H 2 S emission of substances with hazard statement EUH031 is accounted for. In view of the calcium content of the two air pollution control residue, the presence of calcium sulphide (EUH031) can be assumed. These two waste are therefore classified potentially hazardous for HP 12, from a total of 49 waste. They are also classified as hazardous for other properties (HP 7, 10and14 for one of them, and HP 10and14 for the other one respectively). Given these results, it can be assumed that few common household and industrial waste will be classified hazardous only by HP 12. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selective extraction and recovery of rare earth metals from phosphor powders in waste fluorescent lamps using an ionic liquid system.

PubMed

Yang, Fan; Kubota, Fukiko; Baba, Yuzo; Kamiya, Noriho; Goto, Masahiro

2013-06-15

The recycling of rare earth metals from phosphor powders in waste fluorescent lamps by solvent extraction using ionic liquids was studied. Acid leaching of rare earth metals from the waste phosphor powder was examined first. Yttrium (Y) and europium (Eu) dissolved readily in the acid solution; however, the leaching of other rare earth metals required substantial energy input. Ionization of target rare earth metals from the waste phosphor powders into the leach solution was critical for their successful recovery. As a high temperature was required for the complete leaching of all rare earth metals, ionic liquids, for which vapor pressure is negligible, were used as an alternative extracting phase to the conventional organic diluent. An extractant, N, N-dioctyldiglycol amic acid (DODGAA), which was recently developed, showed a high affinity for rare earth metal ions in liquid-liquid extraction although a conventional commercial phosphonic extractant did not. An effective recovery of the rare earth metals, Y, Eu, La and Ce, from the metal impurities, Fe, Al and Zn, was achieved from the acidic leach solution of phosphor powders using an ionic liquid containing DODGAA as novel extractant system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Removal of ammonia from landfill leachate by struvite precipitation with the use of low-cost phosphate and magnesium sources.

PubMed

Huang, Haiming; Xiao, Dean; Zhang, Qingrui; Ding, Li

2014-12-01

This paper presents a study concerning ammonia removal from landfill leachate by struvite precipitation with the use of waste phosphoric acid as the phosphate source. The results indicated that the Al(3+) ions present in the waste phosphoric acid significantly affected the struvite precipitation, and a removal ratio of ammonia close to that of pure phosphate salts could be achieved. Nevertheless, large amounts of NaOH were necessary to neutralize the H(+) present in the waste phosphoric acid. To overcome this problem, a low-cost magnesium source was proposed to be used as well as an alkali reagent in the struvite precipitation. The ammonia removal ratios were found to be 83%, with a remaining phosphate of 56 mg/L, by dosing the low-cost MgO in the Mg:N:P molar ratio of 3:1:1. An economic analysis showed that using waste phosphoric acid plus the low-cost MgO could save chemical costs by 68% compared with the use of pure chemicals. Post-treatment employment of a biological anaerobic filter process demonstrated that the high concentration of Mg(2+) remaining in the effluent of the struvite precipitation has no inhibitory effect on the performance of the biological treatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method and apparatus for waste collection and storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, William E., Jr. (Inventor); Whitemore, Henry B. (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A method and apparatus are disclosed for collection of fecal matter designed to operate efficiently in zero gravity environment. The system comprises a waste collection area within a body having a seat opening. Low pressure within a waste collection area directs fecal matter away from the user's buttocks and prevents the escape of undesirable gases. The user actuates a piston covered with an absorbent pad that sweeps through the waste collection area, press the waste against an end of the waste collection area and retracts, leaving the used pad. Multiple pads are provided on the piston to accommodate multiple uses of the system. Also a valve allows air to be drawn through the body, which valve will not be plugged with fecal matter. A sheet feeder feeds fresh sheets of absorbent pad to a face of the piston with each actuation.

Interim glycol flowsheet reduction/oxidation (redox) model for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jantzen, C. M.; Williams, M. S.; Zamecnik, J. R.

Control of the REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) state of glasses containing high concentrations of transition metals, such as High Level Waste (HLW) glasses, is critical in order to eliminate processing difficulties caused by overly reduced or overly oxidized melts. Operation of a HLW melter at Fe +2/ΣFe ratios of between 0.09 and 0.33, a range which is not overly oxidizing or overly reducing, helps retain radionuclides in the melt, i.e. long-lived radioactive 99Tc species in the less volatile reduced Tc 4+ state, 104Ru in the melt as reduced Ru +4 state as insoluble RuO 2, and hazardous volatile Cr 6+ in themore » less soluble and less volatile Cr +3 state in the glass. The melter REDOX control balances the oxidants and reductants from the feed and from processing additives such as antifoam. Currently, the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is running a formic acid-nitric acid (FN) flowsheet where formic acid is the main reductant and nitric acid is the main oxidant. During decomposition formate and formic acid releases H 2 gas which requires close control of the melter vapor space flammability. A switch to a nitric acid-glycolic acid (GN) flowsheet is desired as the glycolic acid flowsheet releases considerably less H 2 gas upon decomposition. This would greatly simplify DWPF processing. Development of an EE term for glycolic acid in the GN flowsheet is documented in this study.« less

Bioconversion of volatile fatty acids derived from waste activated sludge into lipids by Cryptococcus curvatus.

PubMed

Liu, Jia; Liu, Jia-Nan; Yuan, Ming; Shen, Zi-Heng; Peng, Kai-Ming; Lu, Li-Jun; Huang, Xiang-Feng

2016-07-01

Pure volatile fatty acid (VFA) solution derived from waste activated sludge (WAS) was used to produce microbial lipids as culture medium in this study, which aimed to realize the resource recovery of WAS and provide low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production simultaneously. Cryptococcus curvatus was selected among three oleaginous yeast to produce lipids with VFAs derived from WAS. In batch cultivation, lipid contents increased from 10.2% to 16.8% when carbon to nitrogen ratio increased from about 3.5 to 165 after removal of ammonia nitrogen by struvite precipitation. The lipid content further increased to 39.6% and the biomass increased from 1.56g/L to 4.53g/L after cultivation for five cycles using sequencing batch culture (SBC) strategy. The lipids produced from WAS-derived VFA solution contained nearly 50% of monounsaturated fatty acids, including palmitic acid, heptadecanoic acid, ginkgolic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, which showed the adequacy of biodiesel production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NEVADA TEST SITE WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA, JUNE 2006

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NEVADA SITE OFFICE

This document establishes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site (NTS) will accept low-level radioactive (LLW) and mixed waste (MW) for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the NTS Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) for storage or disposal.

Nevada Test Site Waste Acceptance Criteria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office

This document establishes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) waste acceptance criteria (WAC). The WAC provides the requirements, terms, and conditions under which the Nevada Test Site (NTS) will accept low-level radioactive (LLW) and mixed waste (MW) for disposal. It includes requirements for the generator waste certification program, characterization, traceability, waste form, packaging, and transfer. The criteria apply to radioactive waste received at the NTS Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) for storage or disposal.

Estimate of the Potential Amount of Low-Level Waste from the Fukushima Prefecture - 12370

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hill, Carolyn; Olson, Eric A.J.; Elmer, John

2012-07-01

The amount of waste generated by the cleanup of the Fukushima Prefecture (Fukushima-ken) following the releases from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident (March 2011) is dependent on many factors, including: - Contamination amounts; - Cleanup levels determined for the radioisotopes contaminating the area; - Future land use expectations and human exposure scenarios; - Groundwater contamination considerations; - Costs and availability of storage areas, and eventually disposal areas for the waste; and - Decontamination and volume reduction techniques and technologies used. For the purposes of estimating these waste volumes, Fukushima-ken is segregated into zones of similar contamination level andmore » expected future use. Techniques for selecting the appropriate cleanup methods for each area are shown in a decision tree format. This approach is broadly applied to the 20 km evacuation zone and the total amounts and types of waste are estimated; waste resulting from cleanup efforts outside of the evacuation zone is not considered. Some of the limits of future use and potential zones where residents must be excluded within the prefecture are also described. The size and design of the proposed intermediate storage facility is also discussed and the current situation, cleanup, waste handling, and waste storage issues in Japan are described. The method for estimating waste amounts outlined above illustrates the large amount of waste that could potentially be generated by remediation of the 20 km evacuation zone (619 km{sup 2} total) if the currently proposed cleanup goals are uniformly applied. The Japanese environment ministry estimated in early October that the 1 mSv/year exposure goal would make the government responsible for decontaminating about 8,000 km{sup 2} within Fukushima-ken and roughly 4,900 km{sup 2} in areas outside the prefecture. The described waste volume estimation method also does not give any consideration to areas with localized hot spots. Land use and area dose rate estimates for the 20 km evacuation zone indicate there are large areas where doses to the public can be mitigated through methods other than removal and disposal of soil and other wastes. Several additional options for waste reduction can also be considered, including: - Recycling/reusing or disposing of as municipal waste material that can be unconditionally cleared; - Establishing additional precautionary (e.g., liners) and monitoring requirements for municipal landfills to dispose of some conditionally-cleared material; and - Using slightly-contaminated material in construction of reclamations, banks and roads. Waste estimates for cleanup will continue to evolve as decontamination plans are drafted and finalized. (authors)« less

Special Analysis of Transuranic Waste in Trench T04C at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greg Shott, Vefa Yucel, Lloyd Desotell

2008-05-01

This Special Analysis (SA) was prepared to assess the potential impact of inadvertent disposal of a limited quantity of transuranic (TRU) waste in classified Trench 4 (T04C) within the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The Area 5 RWMS is a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in northern Frenchman Flat on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The Area 5 RWMS is regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under DOE Order 435.1 and DOE Manual (DOE M) 435.1-1. The primary objective of the SA is to evaluate if inadvertent disposal of limitedmore » quantities of TRU waste in a shallow land burial trench at the Area 5 RWMS is in compliance with the existing, approved Disposal Authorization Statement (DAS) issued under DOE M 435.1-1. In addition, supplemental analyses are performed to determine if there is reasonable assurance that the requirements of Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 191, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level, and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes, can be met. The 40 CFR 191 analyses provide supplemental information regarding the risk to human health and the environment of leaving the TRU waste in T04C. In 1989, waste management personnel reviewing classified materials records discovered that classified materials buried in trench T04C at the Area 5 RWMS contained TRU waste. Subsequent investigations determined that a total of 102 55-gallon drums of TRU waste from Rocky Flats were buried in trench T04C in 1986. The disposal was inadvertent because unclassified records accompanying the shipment indicated that the waste was low-level. The exact location of the TRU waste in T04C was not recorded and is currently unknown. Under DOE M 435.1-1, Chapter IV, Section P.5, low-level waste disposal facilities must obtain a DAS. The DAS specifies conditions that must be met to operate within the radioactive waste management basis, consisting of a performance assessment (PA), composite analysis (CA), closure plan, monitoring plan, waste acceptance criteria, and a PA/CA maintenance plan. The DOE issued a DAS for the Area 5 RWMS in 2000. The Area 5 RWMS DAS was, in part, based on review of a CA as required under DOE M 435.1-1, Chapter IV, Section P.(3). A CA is a radiological assessment required for DOE waste disposed before 26 September 1988 and includes the radiological dose from all sources of radioactive material interacting with all radioactive waste disposed at the Area 5 RWMS. The approved Area 5 RWMS CA, which includes the inventory of TRU waste in T04C, indicates that the Area 5 RWMS waste inventory and all interacting sources of radioactive material can meet the 0.3 mSv dose constraint. The composite analysis maximum annual dose for a future resident at the Area 5 RWMS was estimated to be 0.01 mSv at 1,000 years. Therefore, the inadvertent disposal of TRU in T04C is protective of the public and the environment, and compliant with all the applicable requirements in DOE M 435.1-1 and the DAS. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promulgated 40 CFR 191 to establish standards for the planned disposal of spent nuclear fuel, high level, and transuranic wastes in geologic repositories. Although not required, the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office requested a supplemental analysis to evaluate the likelihood that the inadvertent disposal of TRU waste in T04C meets the requirements of 40 CFR 191. The SA evaluates the likelihood of meeting the 40 CFR 191 containment requirements (CRs), assurance requirements, individual protection requirements (IPRs), and groundwater protection standards. The results of the SA indicate that there is a reasonable expectation of meeting all the requirements of 40 CFR 191. The conclusion of the SA is that the Area 5 RWMS with the TRU waste buried in T04C is in compliance with all requirements in DOE M 435.1-1 and the DAS. Compliance with the DAS is demonstrated by the results of the Area 5 RWMS CA. Supplemental analyses in the SA indicate there is a reasonable expectation that the TRU in T04C can meet all the requirements of 40 CFR 191. Therefore, inadvertent disposal of a limited quantity of TRU in a shallow land burial trench at the Area 5 RWMS does not pose a significant risk to the public and the environment.« less

Water quality and discharge of streams in the Lehigh River Basin, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCarren, Edward F.; Keighton, Walter B.

1969-01-01

The Lehigh River, 100 miles long, is the second largest tributary to the Delaware River. It drains 1,364 square miles in four physiographic provinces. The Lehigh River basin includes mountainous and forested areas, broad agricultural valleys and areas of urban and industrial development. In the headwaters the water is of good quality and has a low concentration of solutes. Downstream, some tributaries receive coal-mine drainage and become acidic; others drain areas underlain by limestone and acquire alkaline characteristics. The alkaline streams neutralize and dilute the acid mine water where they mix. The dissolved-oxygen content of river water, which is high in the upper reaches of the stream, is reduced in the lower reaches because of lower turbulence, higher temperature, and the respiration of organisms. The Lehigh is used for public supply, recreation, waterpower, irrigation, and mining and other industrial purposes. Because the river is shallow in its upper reaches, most of the water comes in contact with the atmosphere as it churns over rocks and around islets and large boulders. Aeration of the water is rapid. When water that was low in dissolved-oxygen concentration was released from the lower strata of the Francis E. Walter Reservoir in June 1966, it quickly became aerated in the Lehigh River, and for 40 miles downstream from the dam the water was nearly saturated with oxygen. Most of the river water requires only moderate treatment for industrial use and public distribution throughout the Lehigh River valley. At times, however, some segments of the main river and its tributaries transport industrial wastes and acid coal-mine drainage. Usually the relatively high concentrations of solutes in water and the ensuing damage caused to quality by such waste discharges are more extensive and prolonged during droughts and other periods of low streamflow. For many years the Lehigh River flow has been continuously measured and its water chemically analyzed. Since May 1966 an instrument installed by the U.S. Geological Survey at Easton, Pa., has continuously recorded such water-quality parameters as specific conductance, temperature, and dissolved oxygen content.

Aluminum phosphate ceramics for waste storage

DOEpatents

Wagh, Arun; Maloney, Martin D

2014-06-03

The present disclosure describes solid waste forms and methods of processing waste. In one particular implementation, the invention provides a method of processing waste that may be particularly suitable for processing hazardous waste. In this method, a waste component is combined with an aluminum oxide and an acidic phosphate component in a slurry. A molar ratio of aluminum to phosphorus in the slurry is greater than one. Water in the slurry may be evaporated while mixing the slurry at a temperature of about 140-200.degree. C. The mixed slurry may be allowed to cure into a solid waste form. This solid waste form includes an anhydrous aluminum phosphate with at least a residual portion of the waste component bound therein.

Testing of Candidate Polymeric Materials for Compatibility with Pure Alternate Pretreat as Part of the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wingard, C. D.

2018-01-01

The Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) is an improved Waste Collection System for astronauts living and working in low Earth orbit spacecraft. Polymeric materials used in water recovery on International Space Station are regularly exposed to phosphoric acid-treated 'pretreated' urine. Polymeric materials used in UWMS are not only exposed to pretreated urine, but also to concentrated phosphoric acid with oxidizer before dilution known as 'pure pretreat.' Samples of five different polymeric materials immersed in pure pretreat for 1 year were tested for liquid compatibility by measuring changes in storage modulus with a dynamic mechanical analyzer.

Influence of lime and struvite on microbial community succession and odour emission during food waste composting.

PubMed

Wang, Xuan; Selvam, Ammaiyappan; Lau, Sam S S; Wong, Jonathan W C

2018-01-01

Lime addition as well as formation of struvite through the addition of magnesium and phosphorus salts provide good pH buffering and may reduce odour emission. This study investigated the odour emission during food waste composting under the influence of lime addition, and struvite formation. Composting was performed in 20-L reactors for 56days using artificial food waste mixed with sawdust at 1.2:1 (w/w dry basis). VFA was one of the most important odours during food waste composting. However, during thermophilic phase, ammonia is responsible for max odour index in the exhaust gas. Trapping ammonia through struvite formation significantly reduced the maximum odour unit of ammonia from 3.0×10 4 to 1.8×10 4 . The generation and accumulation of acetic acid and butyric acid led to the acidic conditions. The addition of phosphate salts in treatment with struvite formation improved the variation of total bacteria, which in turn increased the organic decomposition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Catalytic valorization of starch-rich food waste into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF): Controlling relative kinetics for high productivity.

PubMed

Yu, Iris K M; Tsang, Daniel C W; Yip, Alex C K; Chen, Season S; Wang, Lei; Ok, Yong Sik; Poon, Chi Sun

2017-08-01

This study aimed to maximize the valorization of bread waste, a typical food waste stream, into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by improving our kinetic understanding. The highest HMF yield (30mol%) was achieved using SnCl 4 as catalyst, which offered strong derived Brønsted acidity and moderate Lewis acidity. We evaluated the kinetic balance between these acidities to facilitate faster desirable reactions (i.e., hydrolysis, isomerization, and dehydration) relative to undesirable reactions (i.e., rehydration and polymerization). Such catalyst selectivity of SnCl 4 , AlCl 3 , and FeCl 3 was critical in maximizing HMF yield. Higher temperature made marginal advancement by accelerating the undesirable reactions to a similar extent as the desirable pathways. The polymerization-induced metal-impregnated high-porosity carbon was a possible precursor of biochar-based catalyst, further driving up the economic potential. Preliminary economic analysis indicated a net gain of USD 43-236 per kilogram bread waste considering the thermochemical-conversion cost and chemical-trading revenue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methanosarcina as the dominant aceticlastic methanogens during mesophilic anaerobic digestion of putrescible waste.

PubMed

Vavilin, Vasily A; Qu, Xian; Mazéas, Laurent; Lemunier, Melanie; Duquennoi, Christian; He, Pinjing; Bouchez, Theodore

2008-11-01

Taking into account isotope (13)C value a mathematical model was developed to describe the dynamics of methanogenic population during mesophilic anaerobic digestion of putrescible solid waste and waste imitating Chinese municipal solid waste. Three groups of methanogens were considered in the model including unified hydrogenotrophic methanogens and two aceticlastic methanogens Methanosaeta sp. and Methanosarcina sp. It was assumed that Methanosaeta sp. and Methanosarcina sp. are inhibited by high volatile fatty acids concentration. The total organic and inorganic carbon concentrations, methane production, methane and carbon dioxide partial pressures as well as the isotope (13)C incorporation in PSW and CMSW were used for the model calibration and validation. The model showed that in spite of the high initial biomass concentration of Methanosaeta sp. Methanosarcina sp. became the dominant aceticlastic methanogens in the system. This prediction was confirmed by FISH. It is concluded that Methanosarcina sp. forming multicellular aggregates may resist to inhibition by volatile fatty acids (VFAs) because a slow diffusion rate of the acids limits the VFA concentrations inside the Methanosarcina sp. aggregates.

Bacterial leaching of waste uranium materials.

PubMed

Barbic, F F; Bracilović, D M; Krajincanić, B V; Lucić, J L

1976-01-01

The effect of ferrobacteria and thiobacteria on the leaching of waste uranium materials from which 70-80% of uranium was previously leached by classical chemical hydrometallurgical procedure has been investigated. The bacteria used are found in the ore and the mine water of Zletovska River locality, Yugoslavia. Parameters of biological leaching were examined in the laboratory. Leaching conditions were changed with the aim of increasing the amount of uranium leached. The effect of pyrite added to the waste materials before the beginning of leaching has also been examined. Uranium leaching is directly proportional to the composition and number of ferrobacteria and thiobacteria, and increased by almost twice the value obtained from the same starting materials without using bacteria. Increased sulphuric acid concentrations stimulate considerably the rate of leaching. Uranium leaching is increased up to 20% while sulphuric acid consumption is simultaneously decreased by the addition of pyrite. Uranium concentrations in starting waste materials used for leaching were extremely low (0.0278 and 0.372% U) but about 60% recovery of uranium was obtained, with relatively low consumption of sulphuric acid.

Elevated concentrations of U and co-occurring metals in abandoned mine wastes in a northeastern Arizona Native American community

DOE PAGES

Blake, Johanna M.; Avasarala, Sumant; Artyushkova, Kateryna; ...

2015-07-09

The chemical interactions of U and co-occurring metals in abandoned mine wastes in a Native American community in northeastern Arizona were investigated using spectroscopy, microscopy and aqueous chemistry. The concentrations of U (67–169 μg L –1) in spring water samples exceed the EPA maximum contaminant limit of 30 μg L –1. Elevated U (6,614 mg kg –1), V (15,814 mg kg –1), and As (40 mg kg –1) concentrations were detected in mine waste solids. Spectroscopy (XPS and XANES) solid analyses identified U (VI), As (-I and III) and Fe (II, III). Linear correlations for the release of U vsmore » V and As vs Fe were observed for batch experiments when reacting mine waste solids with 10 mM ascorbic acid (~pH 3.8) after 264 h. The release of U, V, As, and Fe was at least 4-fold lower after reaction with 10 mM bicarbonate (~pH 8.3). These results suggest that U–V mineral phases similar to carnotite [K 2(UO 2) 2V 2O 8] and As–Fe-bearing phases control the availability of U and As in these abandoned mine wastes. Elevated concentrations of metals are of concern due to human exposure pathways and exposure of livestock currently ingesting water in the area. This study contributes to understanding the occurrence and mobility of metals in communities located close to abandoned mine waste sites.« less

Valorization of industrial waste and by-product streams via fermentation for the production of chemicals and biopolymers.

PubMed

Koutinas, Apostolis A; Vlysidis, Anestis; Pleissner, Daniel; Kopsahelis, Nikolaos; Lopez Garcia, Isabel; Kookos, Ioannis K; Papanikolaou, Seraphim; Kwan, Tsz Him; Lin, Carol Sze Ki

2014-04-21

The transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a bio-based economy necessitates the exploitation of synergies, scientific innovations and breakthroughs, and step changes in the infrastructure of chemical industry. Sustainable production of chemicals and biopolymers should be dependent entirely on renewable carbon. White biotechnology could provide the necessary tools for the evolution of microbial bioconversion into a key unit operation in future biorefineries. Waste and by-product streams from existing industrial sectors (e.g., food industry, pulp and paper industry, biodiesel and bioethanol production) could be used as renewable resources for both biorefinery development and production of nutrient-complete fermentation feedstocks. This review focuses on the potential of utilizing waste and by-product streams from current industrial activities for the production of chemicals and biopolymers via microbial bioconversion. The first part of this review presents the current status and prospects on fermentative production of important platform chemicals (i.e., selected C2-C6 metabolic products and single cell oil) and biopolymers (i.e., polyhydroxyalkanoates and bacterial cellulose). In the second part, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of waste and by-product streams from existing industrial sectors are presented. In the third part, the techno-economic aspects of bioconversion processes are critically reviewed. Four case studies showing the potential of case-specific waste and by-product streams for the production of succinic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates are presented. It is evident that fermentative production of chemicals and biopolymers via refining of waste and by-product streams is a highly important research area with significant prospects for industrial applications.

Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 428: Area 3 Septic Waste Systems 1 and 5, Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, REVISION 0, march 1999

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

ITLV.

1999-03-01

The Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 428, Area 3 Septic Waste Systems 1 and 5, has been developed in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order that was agreed to by the U. S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office; the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection; and the U. S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 428 consists of Corrective Action Sites 03- 05- 002- SW01 and 03- 05- 002- SW05, respectively known as Area 3 Septic Waste System 1 and Septic Waste System 5. This Corrective Action Investigation Plan is used inmore » combination with the Work Plan for Leachfield Corrective Action Units: Nevada Test Site and Tonopah Test Range, Nevada , Rev. 1 (DOE/ NV, 1998c). The Leachfield Work Plan was developed to streamline investigations at leachfield Corrective Action Units by incorporating management, technical, quality assurance, health and safety, public involvement, field sampling, and waste management information common to a set of Corrective Action Units with similar site histories and characteristics into a single document that can be referenced. This Corrective Action Investigation Plan provides investigative details specific to Corrective Action Unit 428. A system of leachfields and associated collection systems was used for wastewater disposal at Area 3 of the Tonopah Test Range until a consolidated sewer system was installed in 1990 to replace the discrete septic waste systems. Operations within various buildings at Area 3 generated sanitary and industrial wastewaters potentially contaminated with contaminants of potential concern and disposed of in septic tanks and leachfields. Corrective Action Unit 428 is composed of two leachfield systems in the northern portion of Area 3. Based on site history collected to support the Data Quality Objectives process, contaminants of potential concern for the site include oil/ diesel range total petroleum hydrocarbons, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act characteristic volatile organic compounds, semivolatile organic compounds, and metals. A limited number of samples will be analyzed for gamma- emitting radionuclides and isotopic uranium from four of the septic tanks and if radiological field screening levels are exceeded. Additional samples will be analyzed for geotechnical and hydrological properties and a bioassessment may be performed. The technical approach for investigating this Corrective Action Unit consists of the following activities: Perform video surveys of the discharge and outfall lines. Collect samples of material in the septic tanks. Conduct exploratory trenching to locate and inspect subsurface components. Collect subsurface soil samples in areas of the collection system including the septic tanks and outfall end of distribution boxes. Collect subsurface soil samples underlying the leachfield distribution pipes via trenching. Collect surface and near- surface samples near potential locations of the Acid Sewer Outfall if Septic Waste System 5 Leachfield cannot be located. Field screen samples for volatile organic compounds, total petroleum hydrocarbons, and radiological activity. Drill boreholes and collect subsurface soil samples if required. Analyze samples for total volatile organic compounds, total semivolatile organic compounds, total Resource Conservation and Recovery Act metals, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (oil/ diesel range organics). Limited number of samples will be analyzed for gamma- emitting radionuclides and isotopic uranium from particular septic tanks and if radiological field screening levels are exceeded. Collect samples from native soils beneath the distribution system and analyze for geotechnical/ hydrologic parameters. Collect and analyze bioassessment samples at the discretion of the Site Supervisor if total petroleum hydrocarbons exceed field- screening levels.« less

Underground waste barrier structure

DOEpatents

Saha, Anuj J.; Grant, David C.

1988-01-01

Disclosed is an underground waste barrier structure that consists of waste material, a first container formed of activated carbonaceous material enclosing the waste material, a second container formed of zeolite enclosing the first container, and clay covering the second container. The underground waste barrier structure is constructed by forming a recessed area within the earth, lining the recessed area with a layer of clay, lining the clay with a layer of zeolite, lining the zeolite with a layer of activated carbonaceous material, placing the waste material within the lined recessed area, forming a ceiling over the waste material of a layer of activated carbonaceous material, a layer of zeolite, and a layer of clay, the layers in the ceiling cojoining with the respective layers forming the walls of the structure, and finally, covering the ceiling with earth.

Municipal solid waste flow and waste generation characteristics in an urban--rural fringe area in Thailand.

PubMed

Hiramatsu, Ai; Hara, Yuji; Sekiyama, Makiko; Honda, Ryo; Chiemchaisri, Chart

2009-12-01

In the urban-rural fringe of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, rapid urbanization is creating a land-use mixture of agricultural fields and residential areas. To develop appropriate policies to enhance recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW), current MSW management was investigated in the oboto (local administrative district) of Bang Maenang in Nonthaburi Province, adjoining Bangkok. The authors conducted a structural interview survey with waste-related organizations and local residents, analysed household waste generation, and performed global positioning system (GPS) tracking of municipal garbage trucks. It was found that MSW was collected and treated by local government, private-sector entities, and the local community separately. Lack of integrated management of these entities complicated waste flow in the study area, and some residences were not served by MSW collection. Organic waste, such as kitchen garbage and yard waste, accounted for a large proportion of waste generation but was underutilized. Through GPS/GIS analysis, the waste collection rate of the generated waste amount was estimated to be 45.5- 51.1% of total generation.

Mixed Waste Focus Area alternative oxidation technologies development and demonstration program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borduin, L.C.; Fewell, T.; Gombert, D.

1998-07-01

The Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) is currently supporting the development and demonstration of several alternative oxidation technology (AOT) processes for treatment of combustible mixed low-level wastes. The impetus for this support derives from regulatory and political hurdles frequently encountered by traditional thermal techniques, primarily incinerators. AOTs have been defined as technologies that destroy organic material without using open-flame reactions. Whether thermal or nonthermal, the processes have the potential advantages of relatively low-volume gaseous emissions, generation of few or no dioxin/furan compounds, and operation at low enough temperatures that metals (except mercury) and most radionuclides are not volatilized. Technology developmentmore » and demonstration are needed to confirm and realize the potential of AOTs and to compare them on an equal basis with their fully demonstrated thermal counterparts. AOTs include both thermal and nonthermal processes that oxidize organic wastes but operate under significantly different physical and chemical conditions than incinerators. Nonthermal processes currently being studied include Delphi DETOX and acid digestion at the Savannah River Site, and direct chemical oxidation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. All three technologies are at advanced stages of development or are entering the demonstration phase. Nonflame thermal processes include catalytic chemical oxidation, which is being developed and deployed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and team reforming, a commercial process being supported by Department of Energy. Related technologies include two low-flow, secondary oxidation processes (Phoenix and Thermatrix units) that have been tested at MSE, Inc., in Butte, Montana. Although testing is complete on some AOT technologies, most require additional support to complete some or all of the identified development objectives. Brief descriptions, status, and planned paths forward for each of the technologies are presented.« less

Flow behavior and mobility of contaminated waste rock materials in the abandoned Imgi mine in Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, S. W.; Wu, Y.-H.; Cho, Y. C.; Ji, S. W.

2018-01-01

Incomplete mine reclamation can cause ecological and environmental impacts. This paper focuses on the geotechnical and rheological characteristics of waste rock materials, which are mainly composed of sand-size particles, potentially resulting in mass movement (e.g., slide or flow) and extensive acid mine drainage. To examine the potential for contaminant mobilization resulting from physicochemical processes in abandoned mines, a series of scenario-based debris flow simulations was conducted using Debris-2D to identify different hazard scenarios and volumes. The flow behavior of waste rock materials was examined using a ball-measuring rheometric apparatus, which can be adapted for large particle samples, such as debris flow. Bingham yield stresses determined in controlled shear rate mode were used as an input parameter in the debris flow modeling. The yield stresses ranged from 100 to 1000 Pa for shear rates ranging from 10- 5 to 102 s- 1. The results demonstrated that the lowest yield stress could result in high mobility of debris flow (e.g., runout distance > 700 m from the source area for 60 s); consequently, the material contaminants may easily reach the confluence of the Suyoung River through a mountain stream. When a fast slide or debris flow occurs at or near an abandoned mine area, it may result in extremely dynamic and destructive geomorphological changes. Even for the highest yield stress of debris flow simulation (i.e., τy = 2000 Pa), the released debris could flow into the mountain stream; therefore, people living near abandoned mines may become exposed to water pollution throughout the day. To maintain safety at and near abandoned mines, the physicochemical properties of waste materials should be monitored, and proper mitigation measures post-mining should be considered in terms of both their physical damage and chemical pollution potential.

Treatment of electronic waste to recover metal values using thermal plasma coupled with acid leaching - A response surface modeling approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rath, Swagat S., E-mail: swagat.rath@gmail.com; Nayak, Pradeep; Mukherjee, P.S.

2012-03-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Sentences/phrases were modified. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Necessary discussions for different figures were included. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer More discussion have been included on the flue gas analysis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Queries to both the reviewers have been given. - Abstract: The global crisis of the hazardous electronic waste (E-waste) is on the rise due to increasing usage and disposal of electronic devices. A process was developed to treat E-waste in an environmentally benign process. The process consisted of thermal plasma treatment followed by recovery of metal values through mineral acid leaching. In the thermal process, the E-waste was melted to recover the metal values asmore » a metallic mixture. The metallic mixture was subjected to acid leaching in presence of depolarizer. The leached liquor mainly contained copper as the other elements like Al and Fe were mostly in alloy form as per the XRD and phase diagram studies. Response surface model was used to optimize the conditions for leaching. More than 90% leaching efficiency at room temperature was observed for Cu, Ni and Co with HCl as the solvent, whereas Fe and Al showed less than 40% efficiency.« less

Solid Waste Management in Recreational Forest Areas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spooner, Charles S.

The Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, requested the Bureau of Solid Waste Management to conduct a study of National Forest recreation areas to establish waste generation rates for major recreation activities and to determine the cost of solid waste handling for selected Forest Service Districts. This report describes the 1968 solid…

77 FR 43149 - Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-24

..., purification, or distribution of water; and for the collection, treatment, or disposal of waste in rural areas... requirements, Rural areas, Waste treatment and disposal, Water supply, Watersheds. For the reasons discussed in...

Bread enriched in lycopene and other bioactive compounds by addition of dry tomato waste.

PubMed

Nour, Violeta; Ionica, Mira Elena; Trandafir, Ion

2015-12-01

The tomato processing industry generates high amounts of waste, mainly tomato skins and seeds, which create environmental problems. These residues are attractive sources of valuable bioactive components and pigments. A relatively simple recovery technology could consist of production of powders to be directly incorporated into foods. Tomato waste coming from a Romanian tomato processing unit were analyzed for the content of several bioactive compounds like ascorbic acid, β-carotene, lycopene, total phenolics, mineral and trace elements. In addition, its antioxidant capacity was assayed. Results revealed that tomato waste (skins and seeds) could be successfully utilized as functional ingredient for the formulation of antioxidant rich functional foods. Dry tomato processing waste were used to supplement wheat flour at 6 and 10 % levels (w/w flour basis) and the effects on the bread's physicochemical, baking and sensorial characteristics were studied. The following changes were observed: increase in moisture content, titratable acidity and bread crumb elasticity, reduction in specific volume and bread crumb porosity. The addition of dry tomato waste at 6 % resulted in bread with good sensory characteristics and overall acceptability but as the amount of dry tomato waste increased to 10 %, bread was less acceptable.

Muscle wasting and cachexia in heart failure: mechanisms and therapies.

PubMed

von Haehling, Stephan; Ebner, Nicole; Dos Santos, Marcelo R; Springer, Jochen; Anker, Stefan D

2017-06-01

Body wasting is a serious complication that affects a large proportion of patients with heart failure. Muscle wasting, also known as sarcopenia, is the loss of muscle mass and strength, whereas cachexia describes loss of weight. After reaching guideline-recommended doses of heart failure therapies, the most promising approach to treating body wasting seems to be combined therapy that includes exercise, nutritional counselling, and drug treatment. Nutritional considerations include avoiding excessive salt and fluid intake, and replenishment of deficiencies in trace elements. Administration of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is beneficial in selected patients. High-calorific nutritional supplements can also be useful. The prescription of aerobic exercise training that provokes mild or moderate breathlessness has good scientific support. Drugs with potential benefit in the treatment of body wasting that have been tested in clinical studies in patients with heart failure include testosterone, ghrelin, recombinant human growth hormone, essential amino acids, and β 2 -adrenergic receptor agonists. In this Review, we summarize the pathophysiological mechanisms of muscle wasting and cachexia in heart failure, and highlight the potential treatment strategies. We aim to provide clinicians with the relevant information on body wasting to understand and treat these conditions in patients with heart failure.

Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) Dangerous Waste Training Plan (DWTP)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

SIMMONS, F.M.

2000-03-29

This Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility (WESF) Dangerous Waste Training Plan (DWTP) applies to personnel who perform work at, or in support of WESF. The plan, along with the names of personnel, may be given to a regulatory agency inspector upon request. General workers, subcontractors, or visiting personnel who have not been trained in the management of dangerous wastes must be accompanied by an individual who meets the requirements of this training plan. Dangerous waste management includes handling, treatment, storage, and/or disposal of dangerous and/or mixed waste. Dangerous waste management units covered by this plan include: less-than-90-day accumulation area(s); pool cellsmore » 1-8 and 12 storage units; and process cells A-G storage units. This training plan describes general requirements, worker categories, and provides course descriptions for operation of the WESF permitted miscellaneous storage units and the Less-than-90-Day Accumulation Areas.« less

Chemical Interactions of Uranium in Water, Sediments, and Plants Along a Watershed Adjacent to the Abandoned Jackpile Mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, J.; De Vore, C. L.; Avasarala, S.; Ali, A.; Roldan, C.; Bowers, F.; Spilde, M.; Artyushkova, K.; Cerrato, J.

2015-12-01

The chemical interactions, mobility, and plant uptake of uranium (U) near abandoned mine wastes was investigated along the Rio Paguate, adjacent to the Jackpile Mine, located in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. Elevated U concentrations in surface water adjacent to mine waste range from 30 to 710 μg/L seasonally and decrease to 5.77 to 10.0 μg/L at a wetland 4.5 kilometers downstream of the mine. Although U concentrations in stream water are elevated, aqua regia acid digestions performed on co-located stream bed and stream bank sediments reveal that there is limited U accumulation on sediments along the reach between the mine and wetland, with most sediment concentrations being near the 3 mg/kg crustal average. However, U concentrations in sediments in the wetland are 4 times the background concentrations in the area. Individual results from salt cedar roots, stems, and leaves collected along the river transect show higher U concentrations in the roots adjacent to the mine waste (20 and 55 mg/kg) and lower in the stems and leaves. Translocation values calculated below 1 are evident in many of the plant samples, suggesting that U root to shoot translocation is minimal and U is accumulating in the roots. Concentrations of U in salt cedar roots from downstream of the mine waste decrease to 15 mg/kg. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis on sediment samples adjacent to the mine waste show a 75:25% ratio of Fe(III) to Fe(II), which can have an effect on adsorption properties. Electron microprobe results suggest that the ore in this area is present as a uranium-phosphate phase. Our results suggest that dilution, uptake by plants, and U sorption to wetland sediments are the dominant factors that help to decrease the U concentrations downstream of the mine.

Removal of toxic metals from leachates from hazardous solid wastes and reduction of toxicity to microtox by the use of calcium alginate beads containing humic acid.

PubMed

Pandey, Ashok K; Pandey, Shri Dhar; Misra, Virendra

2002-06-01

Improper disposal of hazardous wastes can lead to release of potentially harmful substances through leaching such as heavy metals, which ultimately contaminate soil, sediment surface water, and groundwater through runoff. To remove these toxic metals and avoid any adverse effect on the ecosystem, a novel approach involving calcium alginate (CA) beads containing humic acid (HA) was used. For this, 10% leachates of the waste obtained from two major industrial units with electroplating processess were prepared at neutral pH and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Both leachates contained Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Mn, Fe, and Zn. The concentrations of Ni, Mn, Fe, and Zn in the waste were found to be significant. The leachates analyzed were passed through columns packed with calcium alginate beads with or without humic acid. The concentrations of various metals in beads and in different fractions collected after adsorption were measured. Data recorded indicate that calcium alginate beads containing humic acids are more efficient in removal of all metals in substantial amounts from the two leachates. Along with removal of metals, this process led to considerable detoxification of the leachates as tested by Microtox assay, indicated by earlier protection and higher EC(50). The significance of the results in relation to removal of toxic metals by beads containing humic acid is discussed. (c) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).

Production of poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) from waste organics by the two-stage process: focus on the intermediate volatile fatty acids.

PubMed

Shen, Liang; Hu, Hongyou; Ji, Hongfang; Cai, Jiyuan; He, Ning; Li, Qingbiao; Wang, Yuanpeng

2014-08-01

The two-stage process, coupling volatile fatty acids (VFAs) fermentation and poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) (P(HB/HV)) biosynthesis, was investigated for five waste organic materials. The overall conversion efficiencies were glycerol>starch>molasses>waste sludge>protein, meanwhile the maximum P(HB/HV) (1.674 g/L) was obtained from waste starch. Altering the waste type brought more effects on VFAs composition other than the yield in the first stage, which in turn greatly changed the yield in the second stage. Further study showed that even-number carbon VFAs (or odd-number ones) had a good positive linear relationship with P(HB/HV) content of HB (or HV). Additionally, VFA producing microbiota was analyzed by pyrosequencing methods for five wastes, which indicated that specific species (e.g., Lactobacillus for protein; Ethanoligenens for starch; Ruminococcus and Limnobacter for glycerol) were dominant in the community for VFAs production. Potential competition among acidogenic bacteria specially involved to produce some VFA was proposed as well. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined alkaline hydrolysis and ultrasound-assisted extraction for the release of nonextractable phenolics from cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) waste.

PubMed

Gonzales, Gerard Bryan; Smagghe, Guy; Raes, Katleen; Van Camp, John

2014-04-16

Cauliflower waste contains high amounts phenolic compounds, but conventional solvent extraction misses high amounts of nonextractable phenolics (NEP), which may contribute more to the valorization of these waste streams. In this study, the NEP content and composition of cauliflower waste were investigated. The ability of alkaline hydrolysis, sonication, and their combination to release NEP was assessed. Alkaline hydrolysis with sonication was found to extract the highest NEP content (7.3 ± 0.17 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry waste), which was higher than the extractable fraction. The highest yield was obtained after treatment of 2 M NaOH at 60 °C for 30 min of sonication. Quantification and identification were done using U(H)PLC-DAD and U(H)PLC-ESI-MS(E). Kaempferol and quercetin glucosides along with several phenolic acids were found. The results of the study show that there are higher amounts of valuable health-promoting compounds from cauliflower waste than what is currently described in the literature.

Impact of electronic waste disposal on lead concentrations in landfill leachate.

PubMed

Spalvins, Erik; Dubey, Brajesh; Townsend, Timothy

2008-10-01

Lead is the element most likely to cause discarded electronic devices to be characterized as hazardous waste. To examine the fate of lead from discarded electronics in landfills, five columns were filled with synthetic municipal solid waste (MSW). A mix of electronic devices was added to three columns (6% by weight), while two columns served as controls. A sixth column contained waste excavated from an existing MSW landfill. Leachate quality was monitored for 440 days. In columns with the synthetic waste, leachate pH indicated that the simulated landfill environment was characteristic of the acid phase of waste decomposition; lead leachability should be greater in the acid phase of landfill degradation as compared to the methanogenic phase. Lead concentrations ranged from 7 to 66 microg/L in the columns containing electronic waste and ranged from < 2 to 54 microg/L in the control columns. Although the mean lead concentrations in the columns containing electronic devices were greater than those in the controls, the difference was not found to be statistically significant when comparing the data sets over the entire monitoring period. Lead results from the excavated waste column suggest that lead concentrations in all columns will decrease as the pH increases toward more neutral methanogenic conditions.

Long-term thermophilic mono-digestion of rendering wastes and co-digestion with potato pulp.

PubMed

Bayr, S; Ojanperä, M; Kaparaju, P; Rintala, J

2014-10-01

In this study, mono-digestion of rendering wastes and co-digestion of rendering wastes with potato pulp were studied for the first time in continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) experiments at 55°C. Rendering wastes have high protein and lipid contents and are considered good substrates for methane production. However, accumulation of digestion intermediate products viz., volatile fatty acids (VFAs), long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N and/or free NH3) can cause process imbalance during the digestion. Mono-digestion of rendering wastes at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.5 kg volatile solids (VS)/m(3)d and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 50 d was unstable and resulted in methane yields of 450 dm(3)/kg VS(fed). On the other hand, co-digestion of rendering wastes with potato pulp (60% wet weight, WW) at the same OLR and HRT improved the process stability and increased methane yields (500-680 dm(3)/kg VS(fed)). Thus, it can be concluded that co-digestion of rendering wastes with potato pulp could improve the process stability and methane yields from these difficult to treat industrial waste materials. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recovery of mercury from acid waste residues

DOEpatents

Greenhalgh, Wilbur O.

1989-01-01

Mercury can be recovered from nitric acid-containing fluids by reacting the fluid with aluminum metal to produce mercury metal, and then quenching the reactivity of the nitric acid prior to nitration of the mercury metal.

Recovery of mercury from acid waste residues

DOEpatents

Greenhalgh, Wilbur O.

1989-12-05

Mercury can be recovered from nitric acid-containing fluids by reacting the fluid with aluminum metal to produce mercury metal, and then quenching the reactivity of the nitric acid prior to nitration of the mercury metal.

Bio- and mineral acid leaching of rare earth elements from synthetic phosphogypsum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Z.; Antonick, P.; Fujita, Y.; Reed, D. W.; Riman, R.; Eslamimanesh, A.; Das, G.; Anderko, A.; Wu, L.; Shivaramaiah, R.; Navrotsky, A.

2017-12-01

Rare earth elements (REE) are critical to many clean energy technologies. However, the lack of U.S. domestic production and the reliance on imported REE put U.S. energy security at risk. Consequently development of new sources is of strategic interest. Global phosphate deposits contain 27 million tons of REE and 38% of these REE end up in phosphogypsum (PG) waste during phosphate fertilizer production. Recovering REE from PG is a first step toward a trash-to-treasure transformation. We studied the leaching of REE from synthetic PG samples containing Y, Nd, or Eu using a suite of lixiviants including spent medium from the growth of the bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans ("biolixiviant"), gluconic acid, common mineral acids (phosphoric and sulfuric), and water. Synthetic PG was used to facilitate the comparison of the different lixiviants; real PG waste is extremely heterogeneous. Gluconic acid was the predominant identified organic acid in the biolixiviant. The leaching efficiency of the acidic lixiviants at the same pH (2.1) or molar concentration as gluconic acid in the biolixiviant (220 mM) were compared and rationalized by thermodynamic simulation using the mixed-solvent electrolyte model. Initial results indicate that the biolixiviant was more effective at leaching the REE than the mineral acids at pH 2.1. At 220 mM acid concentrations, sulfuric acid was the most effective, followed by the biolixiviant. Interestingly, for a given lixiviant, the leaching behavior of the REE differed. This study provides insight into the definition of an efficient lixiviant for leaching REE from phosphate fertilizer production waste.

Consolidated conversion of protein waste into biofuels and ammonia using Bacillus subtilis.

PubMed

Choi, Kwon-Young; Wernick, David G; Tat, Christine A; Liao, James C

2014-05-01

The non-recyclable use of nitrogen fertilizers in microbial production of fuels and chemicals remains environmentally detrimental. Conversion of protein wastes into biofuels and ammonia by engineering nitrogen flux in Escherichia coli has been demonstrated as a method to reclaim reduced-nitrogen and curb its environmental deposition. However, protein biomass requires a proteolysis process before it can be taken up and converted by any microbe. Here, we metabolically engineered Bacillus subtilis to hydrolyze polypeptides through its secreted proteases and to convert amino acids into advanced biofuels and ammonia fertilizer. Redirection of B. subtilis metabolism for amino-acid conversion required inactivation of the branched-chain amino-acid (BCAA) global regulator CodY. Additionally, the lipoamide acyltransferase (bkdB) was deleted to prevent conversion of branched-chain 2-keto acids into their acyl-CoA derivatives. With these deletions and heterologous expression of a keto-acid decarboxylase and an alcohol dehydrogenase, the final strain produced biofuels and ammonia from an amino-acid media with 18.9% and 46.6% of the maximum theoretical yield. The process was also demonstrated on several waste proteins. The results demonstrate the feasibility of direct microbial conversion of polypeptides into sustainable products. Copyright © 2014 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative analysis of impact of awareness-raising activities on organic solid waste separation behaviour in Balikpapan City, Indonesia.

PubMed

Murase, Noriaki; Murayama, Takehiko; Nishikizawa, Shigeo; Sato, Yuriko

2017-10-01

Many cities in Indonesia are under pressure to reduce solid waste and dispose of it properly. In response to this pressure, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Indonesian Government have implemented a solid waste separation and collection project to reduce solid waste in the target area (810 households) of Balikpapan City. We used a cluster randomised controlled trial method to measure the impact of awareness-raising activities that were introduced by the project on residents' organic solid waste separation behaviour. The level of properly separated organic solid waste increased by 6.0% in areas that conducted awareness-raising activities. Meanwhile, the level decreased by 3.6% in areas that did not conduct similar activities. Therefore, in relative comparison, awareness-raising increased the level by 9.6%. A comparison among small communities in the target area confirmed that awareness-raising activities had a significant impact on organic solid waste separation. High frequencies of monitoring at waste stations and door-to-door visits by community members had a positive impact on organic solid waste separation. A correlation between the proximity of environmental volunteers' houses to waste stations and a high level of separation was also confirmed. The awareness-raising activities introduced by the project led to a significant increase in the separation of organic solid waste.

Characterization of Products from Fast Micropyrolysis of Municipal Solid Waste Biomass

DOE PAGES

Klemetsrud, Bethany; Ukaew, Suchada; Thompson, Vicki S.; ...

2016-09-05

Biomass feedstock costs remain one of the largest impediments to biofuel production economics. Municipal solid waste (MSW) represents an attractive feedstock with year-round availability, an established collection infrastructure paid for by waste generators, low cost and the potential to be blended with higher cost feedstocks to reduce overall feedstock costs. Paper waste, yard waste and construction and demolition waste (C&D) were examined for their applicability in the pyrolysis conversion pathway. Paper waste consisted of non-recyclable paper such as mixed low grade paper, food and beverage packaging, kitchen paper wastes and coated paper; yard waste consisted of grass clippings and C&Dmore » wastes consisted of engineered wood products obtained from a construction waste landfill. We tested the waste materials for thermochemical conversion potential using a bench scale fast micro-pyrolysis process. Bio-oil yields were the highest for the C&D materials and lowest for the paper waste. The C&D wastes had the highest level of lignin derived compounds (phenolic and cyclics) while the paper waste had higher levels of carbohydrate derived compounds (aldehydes, organic acids, ketones, alcohols and sugar derived). But, the paper material had higher amounts of lignin derived compounds than expected based upon lignin content that is likely due to the presence of polyphenolic resins used in paper processing. The paper and yard wastes had significantly higher levels of ash content than the C&D wastes (14-15% versus 0.5-1.3%), which further correlated to higher levels of alkali and alkaline earth metals, which are known to reduce pyrolysis bio-oil yields. There appeared to be an inverse correlation of both calcium and potassium content with the amount of chromatographic product peaks, indicative of cracking reactions occurring during product formation. Furthermore the effect of acid washing was evaluated for grass clipping and waste paper and the bio-oil yield was increased from 58% to 73% and 67% to 73%, respectively.« less

Characterization of Products from Fast Micropyrolysis of Municipal Solid Waste Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klemetsrud, Bethany; Ukaew, Suchada; Thompson, Vicki S.

Biomass feedstock costs remain one of the largest impediments to biofuel production economics. Municipal solid waste (MSW) represents an attractive feedstock with year-round availability, an established collection infrastructure paid for by waste generators, low cost and the potential to be blended with higher cost feedstocks to reduce overall feedstock costs. Paper waste, yard waste and construction and demolition waste (C&D) were examined for their applicability in the pyrolysis conversion pathway. Paper waste consisted of non-recyclable paper such as mixed low grade paper, food and beverage packaging, kitchen paper wastes and coated paper; yard waste consisted of grass clippings and C&Dmore » wastes consisted of engineered wood products obtained from a construction waste landfill. We tested the waste materials for thermochemical conversion potential using a bench scale fast micro-pyrolysis process. Bio-oil yields were the highest for the C&D materials and lowest for the paper waste. The C&D wastes had the highest level of lignin derived compounds (phenolic and cyclics) while the paper waste had higher levels of carbohydrate derived compounds (aldehydes, organic acids, ketones, alcohols and sugar derived). But, the paper material had higher amounts of lignin derived compounds than expected based upon lignin content that is likely due to the presence of polyphenolic resins used in paper processing. The paper and yard wastes had significantly higher levels of ash content than the C&D wastes (14-15% versus 0.5-1.3%), which further correlated to higher levels of alkali and alkaline earth metals, which are known to reduce pyrolysis bio-oil yields. There appeared to be an inverse correlation of both calcium and potassium content with the amount of chromatographic product peaks, indicative of cracking reactions occurring during product formation. Furthermore the effect of acid washing was evaluated for grass clipping and waste paper and the bio-oil yield was increased from 58% to 73% and 67% to 73%, respectively.« less

Multi-criteria GIS-based siting of transfer station for municipal solid waste: The case of Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Ghana.

PubMed

Bosompem, Christian; Stemn, Eric; Fei-Baffoe, Bernard

2016-10-01

The increase in the quantity of municipal solid waste generated as a result of population growth in most urban areas has resulted in the difficulty of locating suitable land areas to be used as landfills. To curb this, waste transfer stations are used. The Kumasi Metropolitan Area, even though it has an engineered landfill, is faced with the problem of waste collection from the generation centres to the final disposal site. Thus in this study, multi-criteria decision analysis incorporated into a geographic information system was used to determine potential waste transfer station sites. The key result established 11 sites located within six different sub-metros. This result can be used by decision makers for site selection of the waste transfer stations after taking into account other relevant ecological and economic factors. © The Author(s) 2016.

Acid transformation of bauxite residue: Conversion of its alkaline characteristics.

PubMed

Kong, Xiangfeng; Li, Meng; Xue, Shengguo; Hartley, William; Chen, Chengrong; Wu, Chuan; Li, Xiaofei; Li, Yiwei

2017-02-15

Bauxite residue (BR) is a highly alkaline solid hazardous waste produced from bauxite processing for alumina production. Alkaline transformation appears to reduce the environmental risk of bauxite residue disposal areas (BRDAs) whilst potentially providing opportunities for the sustainable reuse and on-going management of BR. Mineral acids, a novel citric acid and a hybrid combination of acid-gypsum treatments were investigated for their potential to reduce residue pH and total alkalinity and transform the alkaline mineral phase. XRD results revealed that with the exception of andradite, the primary alkaline solid phases of cancrinite, grossular and calcite were transformed into discriminative products based on the transformation used. Supernatants separated from BR and transformed bauxite residue (TBR) displayed distinct changes in soluble Na, Ca and Al, and a reduction in pH and total alkalinity. SEM images suggest that mineral acid transformations promote macro-aggregate formation, and the positive promotion of citric acid, confirming the removal or reduction in soluble and exchangeable Na. NEXAFS analysis of Na K-edge revealed that the chemical speciation of Na in TBRs was consistent with BR. Three acid treatments and gypsum combination had no effect on Na speciation, which affects the distribution of Na revealed by sodium STXM imaging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blake, Johanna M.; Avasarala, Sumant; Artyushkova, Kateryna

The chemical interactions of U and co-occurring metals in abandoned mine wastes in a Native American community in northeastern Arizona were investigated using spectroscopy, microscopy and aqueous chemistry. The concentrations of U (67–169 μg L –1) in spring water samples exceed the EPA maximum contaminant limit of 30 μg L –1. Elevated U (6,614 mg kg –1), V (15,814 mg kg –1), and As (40 mg kg –1) concentrations were detected in mine waste solids. Spectroscopy (XPS and XANES) solid analyses identified U (VI), As (-I and III) and Fe (II, III). Linear correlations for the release of U vsmore » V and As vs Fe were observed for batch experiments when reacting mine waste solids with 10 mM ascorbic acid (~pH 3.8) after 264 h. The release of U, V, As, and Fe was at least 4-fold lower after reaction with 10 mM bicarbonate (~pH 8.3). These results suggest that U–V mineral phases similar to carnotite [K 2(UO 2) 2V 2O 8] and As–Fe-bearing phases control the availability of U and As in these abandoned mine wastes. Elevated concentrations of metals are of concern due to human exposure pathways and exposure of livestock currently ingesting water in the area. This study contributes to understanding the occurrence and mobility of metals in communities located close to abandoned mine waste sites.« less

Utilization of Cocoa Pod Husk Waste Composting by Tremella Sp and Pleurotus Sp as A Medium to Growth of Cocoa Seedling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahim, Iradhatullah; Nasruddin, A.; Kuswinanti, T.; Asrul, L.; Rasyid, B.

2018-05-01

Cocoa pod husk waste is a problem in the cocoa field, but it potentially as a source of organic matter to improve soil fertility.The paper discuss about the ability of Tremella sp and Pleurotus sp on producing phytohormone and on degrading cocoa pod husks waste. The research start with isolation, screening, and propagation of rot fungi were collected from decayed cocoa plants. The measurement of IAA is according to the method of Glickman and Dessaux (1995), by addition of L-Tryptophan 0.1 g l-1, whereas the Gibberellic Acid content was measured by using the method of Borrow et al., (1955). Composting process of cocoa pod husks waste was revealed during 40 days. This research showed that the IAA and GA3 content in compost fermented with Tremella sp was higher than treatment with Pleurotus sp. Similarly, the result was also observed in the ability of hemicellulose degradation. However, Pleurotus sp was capable to produce compost with higher nutrient levels. Compost fermented by rot fungi gave significant effect to the growth of cocoa seedlings. Nevertheless the difference in varieties of cocoa had no effect on growth of cocoa seedlings. Cocoa pod husk waste composted by Tremella sp and Pleurotus sp gave the significant effect on Leaf Area Index (LAI), Net Assimilation Rate (NAR), Crop Growth Rate (CGR), Root-shoot ratio, and root dry weight of Cocoa seedling.

Larval digestion of different manure types by the black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) impacts associated volatile emissions.

PubMed

Beskin, Kelly V; Holcomb, Chelsea D; Cammack, Jonathan A; Crippen, Tawni L; Knap, Anthony H; Sweet, Stephen T; Tomberlin, Jeffery K

2018-04-01

Volatile emissions from decomposing animal waste are known environmental pollutants. The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), is being evaluated for industrialization as a means to recycle wastes and produce protein for use as food and feed. We examined the ability of black soldier fly larvae to reduce odorous compounds associated with animal wastes. Black soldier fly larvae were reared under laboratory conditions on poultry, swine, and dairy manure at feed rates of 18.0 and 27.0 g every other day until 40% reached the prepupal stage. Volatile emissions were collected and analyzed from freshly thawed as well as the digested waste when 90% of the black soldier fly larvae reached the prepupal stage. Volatiles were also collected simultaneously from manure not inoculated with black soldier fly larvae (non-digested) and held under similar conditions. Manure samples were analyzed for relative amounts of nine select odorous volatile organic compounds: phenol, 4-methylphenol, indole, 3-methylindole, propanoic acid, 2-methylpropanoic acid, butanoic acid, 3-methylbutanoic acid and pentanoic acid. Black soldier fly larvae reduced emissions of all volatile organic compounds by 87% or greater. Complete reductions were observed for 2-methly propanoic acid in digested poultry manure, phenol, 4-methylphenol, indole and all five fatty acids in digested swine manure, and 4-methylphenol, indole, 3-methylindole and all five acids in digested dairy manure. This study is the first to identify volatile emissions from manure digested by black soldier fly larvae and compare to those found in non-digested manure. These data demonstrate additional benefits of using black soldier fly larvae as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of livestock manure management in comparison to current methods. Black soldier fly larvae are capable of altering the overall profile of volatile organic compounds and reducing levels of targeted odorous compounds in livestock manure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

State waste discharge permit application for the 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility and the State-Approved Land Disposal Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1993-08-01

Application is being made for a permit pursuant to Chapter 173--216 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), to discharge treated waste water and cooling tower blowdown from the 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) to land at the State-Approved Land Disposal Site (SALDS). The ETF is located in the 200 East Area and the SALDS is located north of the 200 West Area. The ETF is an industrial waste water treatment plant that will initially receive waste water from the following two sources, both located in the 200 Area on the Hanford Site: (1) the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility (LERF)more » and (2) the 242-A Evaporator. The waste water discharged from these two facilities is process condensate (PC), a by-product of the concentration of waste from DSTs that is performed in the 242-A Evaporator. Because the ETF is designed as a flexible treatment system, other aqueous waste streams generated at the Hanford Site may be considered for treatment at the ETF. The origin of the waste currently contained in the DSTs is explained in Section 2.0. An overview of the concentration of these waste in the 242-A Evaporator is provided in Section 3.0. Section 4.0 describes the LERF, a storage facility for process condensate. Attachment A responds to Section B of the permit application and provides an overview of the processes that generated the wastes, storage of the wastes in double-shell tanks (DST), preliminary treatment in the 242-A Evaporator, and storage at the LERF. Attachment B addresses waste water treatment at the ETF (under construction) and the addition of cooling tower blowdown to the treated waste water prior to disposal at SALDS. Attachment C describes treated waste water disposal at the proposed SALDS.« less

Hazardous Waste Reduction Naval Air Station Oceana

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

their inherent nature and/or quantities, require special handling during disposal. Hazardous waste under this definition includes paints, acids, caustics ...including naphthenes ), 2% aromatics with less than 0.1% benzene. The boiling range is fror 3130 to 4040 F. It has a petroleum odor and the threshold limit in...7ulfide sludge is generated in the battery during its lifetime. .- second sludge is generated by pretreatment of the spent battery acids. Both of these