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TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION SUMMARY: THE AMERICAN COMBUSTION PYRETRON THERMAL DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AT THE U.S. EPA'S COMBUSTION FACILITY
Citation:
U.S. EPA. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION SUMMARY: THE AMERICAN COMBUSTION PYRETRON THERMAL DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AT THE U.S. EPA'S COMBUSTION FACILITY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/S5-89/008, 1989.
Impact/Purpose:
to inform the public
Description:
The American Combustion Pyretron Thermal Destruction System at the U.S. EPA's Combustion Research Facility. Under the auspices of the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation, or SITE, program, a critical assessment was made of the American Combustion Pyretron™ oxygen enhanced burner system during eight separate tests at the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Combustion Research Facility (CRF) in Jefferson, Arkansas. The report includes a description of the Pyretron and of the facilities used at the CRF, the tests conducted as part of this demonstration, the data obtained, and an overall performance and cost evaluation of the system. Results show that Destruction and Removal Efficiencies (DREs) of 99.99 percent were achieved for a series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in decanter tank tar sludge, RCRA listed waste K087, the organic waste tested during this demonstration. Particulate emissions of less than 180 mg/dscm at 7 percent 02 were measured for all tests. The use of oxygen enhancement with the Pyretron enabled the feed rate of the waste to be doubled. All solid and liquid residues generated during these tests were contaminant free. The costs associated with using the Pyretron in place of an air-only burner depend upon the relative costs of oxygen and fuel and to some extent the capital costs of the burners themselves. For this demonstration, operating the Pyretron with oxygen enhancement used oxygen worth between $3250 and S3870 (it was provided free of charge) and roughly $2672 worth of propane. Operation without oxygen enhancement consumed $4000 worth of propane. During this period 1820 kg of waste were treated using oxygen and 1180 kg were treated without oxygen. The Pyretron burners used in this demonstration had an estimated cost of $150,000 and involved $50,000 of design and development effort. This Summary was developed by EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of the SITE program demonstration that is fully documented in two separate reports.