Development of reactive artificial liner using recycled materials. 2. Chemical transport properties.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have so far been found to permeate through geomembranes within days and potentially pollute the surrounding groundwater if no sufficient depth of underlain soil barrier existed In order to cope with the fast breakthrough of VOCs through high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane in the composite liner system, a composite material made of recycled materials was proposed and its mechanical properties were analyzed in a previous study. This artificial liner was composed of crumb rubber, organo-clay, silica fume and epoxy binder together with an environmentally-friendly solvent recycled from paper pulping, and dimethyl sulfoxide as a plasticizer. In this study, the new artificial liner and a typical HDPE geomembrane were tested to compare their abilities to mitigate the movement of VOCs, specifically partition coefficient, diffusion coefficient and mass fluxes. It was found that this new artificial liner had 2-3 orders of magnitude less VOC mass flux than the HDPE geomembrane. The new artificial liner is thought to have a great potential for containing VOCs, even with a thickness of 2.5 cm, and as a substitute for the clay liner. The cost of installing the artificial liner was estimated to be $13.78/m(2). This is lower than the current geomembrane-related price of $19.70-26.91/m(2). The new liner might give a new perspective in future liner design and alleviate the concerning issue of groundwater pollution caused by landfill leachate, which might contain highly mobile VOCs.

Development of reactive artificial liner using recycled materials. 1. Mechanical properties and chemical compatibility.

There have been several studies showing that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can diffuse a geomembrane within days and migrate to groundwater and the surrounding environment. To ease the concern of potential pollution of the surrounding environment, an alternative artificial liner consisting of recycled materials is proposed. This composite liner consisted of recycled crumb rubber, organo-clay, silica fume, and epoxy binder. Dimethyl sulfoxide, an environmentally-friendly solvent recycled from paper pulp, was used as a plasticizer. The objective of this study was to determine the best combination of ingredients used at the initial stage and to develop artificial liners suitable for containing VOCs in leachate by comparing various physical properties. A series of screening tests including bending, tearing and elongating was performed to determine the most suitable mixture ratios. Then, more intensive tests were performed with the specimens that had the best physical properties. The new artificial liner demonstrated satisfactory mechanical properties with the minimum elongation and maximum strength after 40 years. Both artificial liners and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) specimens had ~136 kg cm(-2) after 4 months of thermal stress while the artificial liner had 40% less elongation at break than HDPE. The artificial liner's fully developed strength was about ten times stronger than HDPE. This new type of composite material that can be applied on site may provide a new perspective in liner design and alleviate the issue of potential groundwater pollution caused by landfill leachate and highly mobile VOCs which is a matter of much concern.

Phosphorus and heavy metal extraction from wastewater treatment plant sludges using microwaves for generation of exceptional quality biosolids.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the amount of phosphorus and metals in sludge that can be released into solution by microwave irradiation when applied to sludge before anaerobic digestion and determine the effectiveness of subsequent lime precipitation. The fraction of phosphorus in the soluble form increased to 23 to 28% for thickened sludge and to 31 to 38% for unthickened sludge, after raising temperatures by microwave heating to 50 to 70 degrees C. Microwave irradiation also caused the release of arsenic, molybdenum, nickel, and selenium into solution to 33, 15, 13, and 28% for thickened sludge and 63, 61, 37, and 27% for unthickened sludge, respectively. Microwave irradiation has been found to destruct pathogens in sludge to meet Class A biosolids requirements. Therefore, the reduction of phosphorus and metals in biosolids using microwave heating is economically attractive when considered as a secondary benefit to the use of microwave heating to generate Class A biosolids.

Pretreatment of sludge with microwaves for pathogen destruction and improved anaerobic digestion performance.

A new way of generating Class A sludge using microwaves was evaluated through a series of laboratory-scale experiments. Microwaves provide rapid and uniform heating throughout the material. Other benefits of microwave treatment include instant and accurate control and selective and concentrated heating on materials, such as sludge, that have a high dielectric loss factor. Sludge was irradiated with 2450-MHz microwaves, and fecal coliforms were counted. Fecal coliforms were not detected at 65 degrees C for primary sludge and anaerobic digester sludge and at 85 degrees C for waste activated sludge when sludge was irradiated with 2450-MHz microwaves. During the bench-scale anaerobic digester operation, the highest average log reduction of fecal coliforms was achieved by the anaerobic digester fed with microwave-pretreated sludge (> or = 2.66 log removal). The anaerobic digester fed with microwave-irradiated sludge was more efficient in inactivation of fecal coliforms than the other two digesters fed with raw sludge and externally heated sludge, respectively. It took more than three hydraulic retention times for a bench-scale mesophilic anaerobic digester to meet Class A sludge requirements after feeding microwave-irradiated sludge. Class A sludge can be produced consistently with a continuously fed mesophilic anaerobic digester if sludge is pretreated with microwaves to reach 65 degrees C.

Enhanced anaerobic biodegradability and inactivation of fecal coliforms and Salmonella spp. in wastewater sludge by using microwaves.

During continuous operation of three mesophilic-anaerobic digesters, the effect of microwave irradiation, as sludge thermal pretreatment (60 to 65 degrees C), was studied. The fecal coliforms log inactivation for microwaved/digested sludge was 4.2 +/- 0.4, whereas for conventionally heated/digested sludge and control were 2.9 +/- 0.5 and 1.5 +/- 0.5, respectively. In the case of Salmonella spp., no colonies were detected in 85% of the microwaved/digested samples. Considering the detection limit, the log inactivation of these samples was greater than 2.0 +/- 0.3. The conventionally heated/digested sludge and control showed log inactivations of 1.9 +/- 0.2 and 1.1 +/- 0.3, respectively. At the 95% confidence level, microwaved/digested sludge increased the biogas production by 16.4 +/- 5.6% and 6.3 +/- 2.4%, as compared to control and conventionally heated/digested sludge, respectively. When thermally treated sludge was analyzed for soluble chemical oxygen demand, microwaved waste-activated sludge showed considerable solubilization between 37 and 60 degrees C. Microwaved/digested sludge showed a reduction of capillary suction times by 11.1 +/- 5.9% and 10.7 +/- 5.6%, as compared to control and conventionally heated/digested sludge, respectively.

Characterization and recovery of mercury from spent fluorescent lamps.

Fluorescent lamps rely on mercury as the source of ultraviolet radiation for the production of visible light. Partitioning of mercury among vapor phase, loose phosphor powders produced during breaking and washing steps, glass matrices, phosphor powders attached on the glass and aluminum end caps was examined from simulated laboratory lamp recycling tests for different types of spent and new fluorescent lamps. Mercury concentrations in lamp glasses taken from commercial lamp recyclers were also analyzed for comparison with the simulated results of spent and new lamps of different types. The mercury content of the glass from spent lamps was highly variable depending on the lamp type and manufacturer; the median values of the mercury concentration in glasses for spent 26- (T8) and 38-mm (T12) diameter fluorescent lamps were approximately 30 and 45 microg/g, respectively. The average mercury concentration of samples taken from recycler A was 29.6 microg/g, which was about 64% of median value measured from the spent T12 lamps. Over 94% of total mercury in lamps remained either as a component of phosphor powders attached inside the lamp or in glass matrices. New T12 lamps had a higher partitioning percentage of elemental mercury in the vapor phase (0.17%) than spent T12 lamps (0.04%), while spent lamps had higher partitioning percentages of mercury resided on end-caps and phosphor powders detached from the breaking and washing steps. The TCLP values of simulated all lamp-glasses and samples obtained from recyclers were higher than the limit of LDR standard (0.025 mg/L). After investigating acid treatment and high temperature treatment as mercury reclamation techniques, it was found that heating provided the most effective mercury capture. Although the initial mercury concentrations of individual sample were different, the mercury concentrations after 1 h exposure at 100 degrees C were below 4 mug/g for all samples (i.e., <1% remaining). Therefore, it is recommended that heating be used for recovering mercury from spent fluorescent lamps.

Mechanisms of microwave irradiation involved in the destruction of fecal coliforms from biosolids.

Microwaves have been found to be effective in destructing pathogens in sewage sludge (biosolids) (75th Annual Water Environment Federation Conference, Chicago, September 29-October 2, 2002; Third World Water Congress, International Water Association, Melbourne, Australia, April 7-12, 2002). Mechanisms and roles of microwaves on fecal coliform destruction were investigated using bacterial viability tests, electron transport system (ETS) and beta-galactosidase activity assays, gel electrophoresis, and genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) optical density (OD) measurements with fecal coliforms isolated from biosolids. Bacterial viability tests demonstrated cell membrane damage as microwave irradiation intensity and temperature increased. Above 60+/-3 degrees C, viable cells were rarely found when pure fecal coliforms were irradiated with microwaves. ETS and beta-galactosidase activity assays revealed increased activity for externally heated samples due to fecal coliform growth but decreased activity for microwave-irradiated samples as temperature was increased from 20 degrees C to 57 degrees C, indicating other destruction mechanisms besides heating. Between 57 degrees C and 68 degrees C, microwave irradiation led to a more rapid decrease in activity than external heating by convection. Above 68 degrees C, bacterial activity almost ceased for both pretreatments. DNA bands in gel electrophoresis tests and OD of genomic DNA decreased more rapidly for microwave-irradiated samples than for externally heated samples, implying that microwaves disrupted DNA in fecal coliform cells at lower temperatures than external heating. Microwave irradiation of sludge appears to be a viable and economical method of destructing pathogens and generating environmentally safe sludge.

Emission of volatile organic compounds during composting of municipal solid wastes.

The objective of this study was to identify and quantify volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during composting of the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW). A laboratory experiment was conducted using organic components of MSW that were decomposed under controlled aerobic conditions. Mixed paper primarily produced alkylated benzenes, alcohols and alkanes. Yard wastes primarily produced terpenes, alkylated benzenes, ketones and alkanes, while food wastes primarily produced sulfides, acids and alcohols. Among 13 aromatic VOCs found in MSW composting facilities, toluene, ethylbenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, p-isopropyl toluene, and naphthalene were in the largest amounts. Unseeded mixed paper, seeded mixed paper, seeded yard wastes, unseeded yard wastes, seeded food wastes and unseeded food wastes produced approximately 6.5, 6.1, 2.1, 0.83, 2.5 and 0.33 mg of 13 volatile and semi-volatile aromatic organic compounds combined, respectively, per dry kg. All VOCs were emitted early during the composting process and their production rates decreased with time at thermophilic temperatures.

Suitability of shredded tyres as a substitute for a landfill leachate collection medium.

A series of tests were conducted to investigate the fate of heavy metals and gasoline components in a simulated landfill, consisting of a 30 cm thick clay liner and a leachate collection layer containing tyres as well as in two test cells installed in a landfill. Arsenic, selenium, mercury, barium, and lead concentrations were lower while zinc concentration was higher in the tank containing tyre-chips than the tank without tyre-chips. When samples were filtered, however, concentrations of zinc as well as other inorganics were lower in the tank containing tyre-chips, indicating that metals in the leachate exposed to tyre-chips travel more slowly in a subsurface environment due to filtering effect. In a test cell study, arsenic, cobalt, lead and nickel concentrations were lower in the cell containing tyre-chips than in the cell without tyre-chips, except iron and zinc. Both tests indicate that some inorganic contaminants are sorbed to tyre-chips. Gasoline components were also significantly sorbed by tyre-chips in field cell tests. Although tyre-chips are known to leach organic and inorganic contaminants, concentrations in field conditions will be lower than the reported experimental results since the tests were performed under worst-case scenarios. If tyre-chips are used in areas where contamination levels are high, then they can be used as a sorbent for environmental clean-up.