Client: Bechtel Hanford Company
Waste treated: Asbestos
Project initiated: December 1996
Project completed: September 1997

Project goal: Validate technology for asbestos destruction pursuant to 40 CFR 61.155

The Department of Energy (DOE) at Hanford contracted with ARI through their prime contractor Bechtel Hanford for ARI to provide a thermochemical conversion Unit (TCCU) and use it to destroy asbestos. The project required that the demonstration be performed in accordance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) requirements for Asbestos Conversion Processes, 40 CFR Subpart M, 61.155.

ARI performed under this contract for a period of nine months from December 1996 until September 1997. During this time, ARI processed a variety of DOE asbestos-containing materials (ACM) including pipe lagging, asbestos-contaminated soil, asbestos-containing vinyl tiles, transite, and duct insulation.

Processing rates for the ACM ranged from 300 to 600 lb. per hour and the end products were tested for presence of asbestos and for physical properties. As required by EPA protocols, the project involved 90 days of process sampling. All of the product produced by the project was certified to be 100% asbestos free and was found to have suitable physical properties to be used in construction applications such as roadbed gravel. The volume of the waste was reduced an average of 70%.

An evaporator was used to reduce the quantity of blow-down water from the particulate scrubber system thus minimizing the quantity of secondary waste produced by the system. The DOE estimated that the asbestos conversion program will reduce costs by $2.9 million by eliminating landfill expansion.

The successful project resulted in the US EPA granting approval of ARI's TCCT as an accepted method for destruction for asbestos. In addition, ARI was granted approval to construct multiple processing units for deployment and operation.