Control of Wastes from a
Caprolactam Production Plant
J. L. HAMRICK, JR., Waste Control Engineer
National Aniline Division
Allied Chemical Corporation
Hopewell, Virginia
It is hoped that this paper will give you a few ideas to try in your plants
and will stimulate your thinking along trie recovery and prevention-road to
pollution abatement. We do not use "pollution abatement" in our thinking.
We think of our problem as one of "waste-control" for, after all, waste materials from a production plant are what cause pollution in the streams and not
the product that is made and sold. However, "waste" materials can mean
anything that is allowed to reach the sewer, from purified product to the unusable materials from side reactions.
National Aniline Division, Allied Chemical Corporation, started construction of a plant to produce caprolactam monomer at Hopewell, Virginia, in
December 1952. Initial operation of some areas began in late September and
early October 1954, with actual production starting in February 1955. In May
1955 production of adipic acid was started.
The plant is located at the confluence of the Appomattox and James
Rivers. The city of Hopewell is a relatively young city, having developed
during the first world war from a small village, City Point, that, reputably,
is the oldest continuously-inhabited English settlement in this country.
At present, Hopewell is an industrial city having within its confines five
relatively large plants and numerous small ones. Firestone Synthetic Fibers
Company, Continental Can Company, Hercules Powder Company, and two
divisions of Allied Chemical Corporation have plants located in Hopewell.
Within 25 miles, up the James River, is located the city of Richmond with its
numerous industries, especially cigarette manufacturing, and two plants of the
duPont Company. National Aniline Division also has a polymer and fiber
plant across the Appomattox River at Bermuda Hundred for the production of
nylon six molding polymer and fiber.
The James River and its tributaries have a drainage area of about 10, 000
square miles, practically all in Virginia, running from the mountains on the
Virginia-West Virginia border to the Chesapeake Bay. The river above Hopewell receives industrial waste and sewage, both treated and untreated, but
arrives in Hopewell in fairly good condition. The James River is characterized
by flashy discharge, ranging from about 60, 000 cfs to drought flows below
1000 cfs at Richmond. The river is affected by tides below the fall line at
Richmond. Above Hopewell, both the James and the Appomattox Rivers are
used for major municipal and industrial water supplies, but below Hopewell
the chief uses are navigation, recreation, fishing, and shell fishing. The water supply for the city of Hopewell is taken from the Appomattox River near
the confluence with the James River.
In 1953, before the National Aniline Plant went into operation, the waste
from the Hopewell area, both sanitary and industrial, amounted to about
147, 000 lbs per day of five-day 20 C BOD.   Of this amount, industrial waste
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