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Ultimate Disposal of Liquid Wastes by Chemical Fixation JESSE R. CONNER, President CHEMFIX, Inc. Division of Environmental Sciences, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15226 INTRODUCTION In the last decade, concern over the environment has led to rapid development and use of water and air pollution control equipment and processes. Along with such control techniques, however, has come a new problem: the disposal of concentrated residues from equipment and processes which discharge purified air and water to the environment. As a result, a new segment of the environmental industry is developing which is perhaps best described by the words "Ultimate Disposal." It is new only in the sense that the problem has become more intense and, therefore, better recognized, although it has always existed. "Ultimate Disposal" means the final disposition of waste which, for either technical or economic reasons, may not be recycled or further reduced in volume by conventional treatment processes. For example, non-combustible solids such as metal compounds, which have insufficient economic value at present to allow their recycling, eventually result from certain wastewater treatment processes regardless of what techniques are used. Having removed them from the air we breathe or the water we drink, we have already made the choice to dispose of them on the land we live on, or in the depths of our oceans. The necessity for dealing with these wastes — in fact even the existence of any problem — was ignored for many years, probably because no easy solution was in sight. Difficulties were both chemical and physical, and the huge volume was frightening to anyone tackling the problem. Almost all of the available information from the literature, from universities, and from practical experience was based on results and experience dealing with municipal sewage. A number of processes were developed for "disposing of" such wastes: incineration (or other oxidation methods), reduction to dry fertilizer or soil conditioner, or most frequently, simply dumping. Little or no thought was given to the minor toxic constituents in the waste, and the problem was considered to be primarily a biological one. METHODS OF ULTIMATE DISPOSAL Some of the methods which have been used for ultimate disposal (1, 2, 3,4) are shown in Table I. When we consider the chemical and physical nature of many of these wastes (Table II) and the economic climate surrounding their potential re-use, it is obvious that disposal must be on or in the land. This, of course, is not surprising since we now dispose of almost all of garbage, refuse, construction debris, and other so called "solid wastes" by landfill. Two problems always encountered in using land disposal methods have been availability of land and the effect of the disposal method on the surrounding environment. Where suitable land is attainable, sanitary landfill of solid waste is often adequate and undoubtedly will be continued as the primary disposal method in the near future, regardless of developments in recycling and energy utilization. However, the problem with liquid or semi-liquid ultimate wastes is more complex and difficult to solve. Typically, these wastes contain dissolved or soluble constituents which can contaminate ground and surface water supplies or which might be toxic to plants or animals. Their physical form is such that they tend to remain in the liquid or semi-liquid state under ambient conditions, thereby eliminating other use of the land in that area as well as posing potential hazards. 906
Object Description
Purdue Identification Number | ETRIWC197485 |
Title | Ultimate disposal of liquid wastes by chemical fixation |
Author | Conner, Jesse R. |
Date of Original | 1974 |
Conference Title | Proceedings of the 29th Industrial Waste Conference |
Conference Front Matter (copy and paste) | http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/engext,24462 |
Extent of Original | p. 906-922 |
Series | Engineering extension series no. 145 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Date Digitized | 2009-06-05 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
Description
Title | page906 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Transcript | Ultimate Disposal of Liquid Wastes by Chemical Fixation JESSE R. CONNER, President CHEMFIX, Inc. Division of Environmental Sciences, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15226 INTRODUCTION In the last decade, concern over the environment has led to rapid development and use of water and air pollution control equipment and processes. Along with such control techniques, however, has come a new problem: the disposal of concentrated residues from equipment and processes which discharge purified air and water to the environment. As a result, a new segment of the environmental industry is developing which is perhaps best described by the words "Ultimate Disposal." It is new only in the sense that the problem has become more intense and, therefore, better recognized, although it has always existed. "Ultimate Disposal" means the final disposition of waste which, for either technical or economic reasons, may not be recycled or further reduced in volume by conventional treatment processes. For example, non-combustible solids such as metal compounds, which have insufficient economic value at present to allow their recycling, eventually result from certain wastewater treatment processes regardless of what techniques are used. Having removed them from the air we breathe or the water we drink, we have already made the choice to dispose of them on the land we live on, or in the depths of our oceans. The necessity for dealing with these wastes — in fact even the existence of any problem — was ignored for many years, probably because no easy solution was in sight. Difficulties were both chemical and physical, and the huge volume was frightening to anyone tackling the problem. Almost all of the available information from the literature, from universities, and from practical experience was based on results and experience dealing with municipal sewage. A number of processes were developed for "disposing of" such wastes: incineration (or other oxidation methods), reduction to dry fertilizer or soil conditioner, or most frequently, simply dumping. Little or no thought was given to the minor toxic constituents in the waste, and the problem was considered to be primarily a biological one. METHODS OF ULTIMATE DISPOSAL Some of the methods which have been used for ultimate disposal (1, 2, 3,4) are shown in Table I. When we consider the chemical and physical nature of many of these wastes (Table II) and the economic climate surrounding their potential re-use, it is obvious that disposal must be on or in the land. This, of course, is not surprising since we now dispose of almost all of garbage, refuse, construction debris, and other so called "solid wastes" by landfill. Two problems always encountered in using land disposal methods have been availability of land and the effect of the disposal method on the surrounding environment. Where suitable land is attainable, sanitary landfill of solid waste is often adequate and undoubtedly will be continued as the primary disposal method in the near future, regardless of developments in recycling and energy utilization. However, the problem with liquid or semi-liquid ultimate wastes is more complex and difficult to solve. Typically, these wastes contain dissolved or soluble constituents which can contaminate ground and surface water supplies or which might be toxic to plants or animals. Their physical form is such that they tend to remain in the liquid or semi-liquid state under ambient conditions, thereby eliminating other use of the land in that area as well as posing potential hazards. 906 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
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