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DYNAPHORE, INC. FORAGER SPONGE TECHNOLOGY - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION REPORT
Citation:
Vaccaro, G. AND O. KITAPLIOGLU. DYNAPHORE, INC. FORAGER SPONGE TECHNOLOGY - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION REPORT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/R-94/522 (NTIS PB95-268041), 1995.
Description:
The Forager Sponge is an open-celled cellulose sponge incorporating an amine-containing chelating polymer that selectively absorbs dissolved heavy metals from aqueous waste streams. The Developer states that the technology can be utilized to remove and concentrate heavy metals from a wide variety of contaminated aqueous media such as groundwater, surface water, landfill leachate, and industrial effluents. The selective affinity of the polymer employed allows the Sponge to preferentially bind toxic heavy metals over common innocuous cations such as Ca++, Mg++, K+, and Na+. The Sponge can be regenerated with chemical solutions or directly disposed; its matrix allows for compaction to a small disposal volume. The Sponge could also be incorporated into varied treatment configurations. For this demonstration the Sponge was utilized in a pump-and-treat mode as a series of four columns, mounted on a mobile trailer unit. Each column contained a removable fishnet bag of approximately 24,000 half inch sponge cubes. The Developer also reports that the Sponge may have potential in-situ treatment applications; however, there is insufficient data currently available which demonstrates the viability of this treatment option. The Forager Sponge Technology was demonstrated at the NL Industries, Inc. site in Pedricktown, N.J. from April 5 to 8, 1994. This mobile pump-and-treat system treated heavy-metal contaminated groundwater over a continuous 72-hr operational period. Based on field and laboratory treatability tests, the Developer claimed that the technology would achieve at least a 90% reduction of lead and copper, an 80% reduction of cadmium and a 50% reduction of chromium (as trivalent chrome) in the groundwater. Raw influent concentrations for these metals ranged from 426 µg/L for chromium to 917 µg/L for copper.