Hazardous Industrial Waste Research Articles

Environmental justice implications of industrial hazardous waste generation in India: a national scale analysis

While rising air and water pollution have become issues of widespread public concern in India, the relationship between spatial distribution of environmental pollution and social disadvantage has received less attention. This lack of attention becomes particularly relevant in the context of industrial pollution, as India continues to pursue industrial development policies without sufficient regard to its adverse social impacts. This letter examines industrial pollution in India from an environmental justice (EJ) perspective by presenting a national scale study of social inequities in the distribution of industrial hazardous waste generation. Our analysis connects district-level data from the 2009 National Inventory of Hazardous Waste Generating Industries with variables representing urbanization, social disadvantage, and socioeconomic status from the 2011 Census of India. Our results indicate that more urbanized and densely populated districts with a higher proportion of socially and economically disadvantaged residents are significantly more likely to generate hazardous waste. The quantity of hazardous waste generated is significantly higher in more urbanized but sparsely populated districts with a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged households, after accounting for other relevant explanatory factors such as literacy and social disadvantage. These findings underscore the growing need to incorporate EJ considerations in future industrial development and waste management in India.

Membrane Processes

This review, for literature published in 2015, contains information related to membrane processes for municipal and industrial applications. This review is a subsection of the Treatment Systems section of the annual Water Environment Federation literature review and covers the following topics: pretreatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR) configuration, design, nutrient removal, operation, industrial treatment, anaerobic membrane systems, reuse, microconstituents removal, membrane technology advances, membrane fouling, and modeling. Other sub-sections of the Treatment Systems section that might relate to this literature review include: Biological Fixed-Film Systems, Activated Sludge and Other Aerobic Suspended Culture Processes, Anaerobic Processes, Water Reclamation and Reuse. The following sections might also have related information on membrane processes: Industrial Wastes, Hazardous Wastes, and Fate and Effects of Pollutants.

Red Mud as an Efficient, Stable, and Cost-Free Catalyst for COx-Free Hydrogen Production from Ammonia.

Red mud, one of the mostly produced industrial wastes, was converted into a catalyst with exceptionally high and stable performance for hydrogen production from ammonia. Results showed that iron species produced after reduction of the HCl digested red mud were converted into ε-Fe2N during the induction period of ammonia decomposition reaction at 700 °C. The catalytic performance measurements indicated that the modified red mud catalyst provides a record high hydrogen production rate for a non-noble metal catalyst at this temperature. For instance, stable hydrogen production rates were measured as 72 and 196 mmol H2 min−1 gcat−1 for the corresponding space velocities of 72 000 and 240 000 cm3 NH3 h−1 gcat−1, respectively, at 700 °C. These results offer opportunities to utilize one of the key hazardous industrial wastes as an eco-friendly, efficient, stable, and almost cost-free catalyst for COx-free hydrogen production from ammonia decomposition.

Structure formation processes of composites on the base of hazardous electric arc furnace dust for production of environmentally clean ceramics

The use of industrial wastes, especially of hazardous wastes, to substitute traditional natural raw materials is one of the most urgent problem to prevent environmental tragedies on our planet. This paper experimentally confirms that one of the most hazardous industrial waste from the steel-making process, i.e., electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), can be used as a valuable component in composite ceramic production, which uses other industrial wastes, such as foundry sands, galvanic glass microspheres and acid neutralization salt. The total percentage of industrial waste used as raw materials reached 85%. Only a small amount of a traditional brick factory's clay-sand mixture (15–25%) was used to produce the ecologically safe ceramics. All of the wastes that were used as raw material contained varying amounts of heavy metals in quantities that greatly exceeded the sanitarium norms. The ceramics were sintered at 900°, 950°, 1000°, 1050° and 1100 °C and exhibited flexural strengths that reached 13.97 MPa with extremely low leaching and solubility of metals. XRD, SEM, EDS and LAMMA methods determined the appearance of the vast areas of glassy structures with small inclusions of mullite, hematite, anorthite, thenardite and quartz. Almost complete (till 85%) replacement of natural raw materials with hazardous industrial wastes could significantly improve (32–46%) the flexural strength and others mechanical properties of the ceramics. Therefore, the use of hazardous industrial waste enhances the ceramics properties and improves the quality of environment because of high heavy metals (Sn, Pb, Zn) content with very low melting points.

Disposal of metal fragments released during polycrystalline slicing by multi-wire saw

The environmental and economic impacts linked with solar systems are largely based on discharges of slurry generated during the various stages of sawing and cutting ingots. These discharges into the environment are subject to the general regulations on hazardous and special industrial waste disposal. Therefore, they should not be abandoned or burned in open air. The cutting of Silicon ingots leads to the production of Silicon wafers additional costs, losing more than 30% of Silicon material. Abrasive grains (Silicon Carbide) trapped between the wire and the block of Silicon need to be removed by various mechanisms to be later evacuated by slurry fragments. In the interest of decreasing operational costs during polycrystalline ingot slicing at Semiconductors Research Center, and, avoid environmental problems; it is necessary to recover the solar grade Silicon from the Silicon sawing waste. For this reason, the removal of metal fragments has become a preliminary requirement to regenerate the slurry; in addition, the solid phase needs to be separated from the liquid phase after the dissolution PEG with the solvent. In the present study, magnetic separation and centrifugation methods were adopted for metals removal, followed by the analysis of some operating parameters such as: washing time, pH, and initial concentration of Silicon. Finally, analytical, morphological and basic methods were performed in order to evaluate the efficiency of the process undertaken.

Environmental Performance Test of Hazardous Waste Incinerator in Indonesia

One of the effective ways to reduce industrial hazardous and toxic wastes is to burn them in the incinerator. Advantages of hazardous and toxic waste incineration cause incinerator business in Indonesian to evolve. Besides, it is triggered by the availability of supporting regulations, such as the Regulation of the State Minister of Environment [1] that allows business people to have licenses to treat hazardous and toxic waste through incinerator. However, the operation of the hazardous and toxic waste incinerator must meet the performance test as regulated by the Government of Indonesia [2], such as destruction removal efficiency (DRE) of principal organic hazardous constituents (POHCs), combustion efficiency, gas residence time, concentration of emitted particulates and heavy metals, HCl and other gaseous pollutants. This paper presents the procedures and results of a case study of the trial burn test (TBT) conducted for the hazardous waste rotary kiln incinerator typically done in Indonesia.

Mass and number size distributions of emitted particulates at five important operation units in a hazardous industrial waste incineration plant

ABSTRACTPast studies indicated particulates generated by waste incineration contain various hazardous compounds. The aerosol characteristics are very important for particulate hazard control and workers' protection. This study explores the detailed characteristics of emitted particulates from each important operation unit in a rotary kiln-based hazardous industrial waste incineration plant. A dust size analyzer (Grimm 1.109) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) were used to measure the aerosol mass concentration, mass size distribution, and number size distribution at five operation units (S1–S5) during periods of normal operation, furnace shutdown, and annual maintenance. The place with the highest measured PM10 concentration was located at the area of fly ash discharge from air pollution control equipment (S5) during the period of normal operation. Fine particles (PM2.5) constituted the majority of the emitted particles from the incineration plant. The mass size distributions (elucidated) made it clear that the size of aerosols caused by the increased particulate mass, resulting from work activities, were mostly greater than 1.5 μm. Whereas the number size distributions showed that the major diameters of particulates that caused the increase of particulate number concentrations, from work activities, were distributed in the sub micrometer range. The process of discharging fly ash from air pollution control equipment can significantly increase the emission of nanoparticles. The mass concentrations and size distributions of emitted particulates were different at each operation unit. This information is valuable for managers to take appropriate strategy to reduce the particulate emission and associated worker exposure.

Novel synthesis and applications of Thiomer solidification for heavy metals immobilization in hazardous ASR/ISW thermal residue

The present paper reports the novel synthesis and application of Thiomer solidification for heavy metal immobilization in hazardous automobile shredder residues and industrial solid waste (ASR/ISW) thermal residues. The word Thiomer is a combination of the prefix of a sulfur-containing compound “Thio” and the suffix of “Polymer” meaning a large molecule compound of many repeated subunits. To immobilize heavy metals, either ASR/ISW thermal residues (including bottom and fly ash) was mixed well with Thiomer and heated at 140°C. After Thiomer solidification, approximately 91–100% heavy metal immobilization was achieved. The morphology and mineral phases of the Thiomer-solidified ASR/ISW thermal residue were characterized by field emission-scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which indicated that the amounts of heavy metals detectable on the ASR/ISW thermal residue surface decreased and the sulfur mass percent increased. XRD indicated that the main fraction of the enclosed/bound materials on the ASR/ISW residue contained sulfur associated crystalline complexes. The Thiomer solidified process could convert the heavy metal compounds into highly insoluble metal sulfides and simultaneously encapsulate the ASR/ISW thermal residue. These results show that the proposed method can be applied to the immobilization of ASR/ISW hazardous ash involving heavy metals.

Epigenetic Toxicity of Trichloroethylene: A Single-Molecule Perspective.

The volatile, water soluble trichloroethylene (TCE) is a hazardous industrial waste and could lead to various health problems, including cancer, neuropathy, cardiovascular defects, and immune diseases. Toxicological studies taking use of in vitro and in vivo models have been conducted to understand the biological impacts of TCE at the genetic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and signaling levels. The epigenetic aberrations induced by TCE have also been reported in a number of model organisms, while a detailed mechanistic elucidation is lacking. In this study we uncover an unreported mechanism accounting for the epigenetic toxicity due to TCE exposure by monitoring the single-molecule dynamics of DNA methyltransferase 3a (Dnmt3a) in living cells. TCE-induced global DNA hypomethylation could be partly attributed to the disrupted Dnmt3a-DNA association. By analyzing the components of detached Dnmt3a, we found that the Dnmt3a oligomers (e.g., dimer, trimer, and high-order oligomers) dissociated from heterochromatin in a dose-dependent manner upon exposure. Thereafter the diminished DNA-binding affinity of Dnmt3a resulted in a significant decrease in 5-methylcytosine (5mC) under both acute high-dosage and chronic low-dosage TCE exposure. The resulting DNA demethylation might also be contributed by the elevated expression of ten-eleven-translocation (Tet) enzymes and reformed cysteine cycle. Besides the global effect, we further identified that a group of heterochromatin-located, cancer-related microRNAs (miRNAs) experienced promoter demethylation upon TCE exposure.

Co-processing of Industrial Waste in Cement Kiln – A Robust System for Material and Energy Recovery

Waste management is a serious issue around the world. It is most prominent in the developing countries. Non–hazardous industrial waste is another aspect at 100 million tons/year with coal ash accounting for 70 million ton/year in India. It is the second highest waste stream ending up in landfill site. The quantity is projected to be increased at faster rate in coming years with increasing industrialization. This industrial waste has characteristics of municipal solid waste with percentage of non-biodegradable waste on the higher side. Co-processing of this waste for energy recovery and as an alternative raw material in cement kiln can be an effective management methodology for this waste stream. This is being practiced sustainably in number of countries but in India the process lacks proper implementation. The auxiliary technological requirement is less and the process is highly economical and effective. This study specifically shows the effectiveness of the co-processing in cement plants in India, as a way for an effective utilization of energy and recoverable raw materials locked in the industrial waste. The robustness of the co-processing of industrial waste has been analyzed based on three cases studies in India. The findings revealed that it can be one of the most effective industrial waste disposal techniques in India and in other developing countries considering other practices of waste disposal methodology in terms of zero ash generation, emission, less auxiliary technology requirements, less set up cost, etc. The robustness of the co-processing as a waste disposal technique was also revealed by the economic and environmental statistical analysis. The study shows the sustainability of co-processing as an energy and material recovery process and addresses the issues related to sustainable management of industrial wastes. Number of study is available in the literature but analysis based on multiple case studies specific to Indian scenario is scarce.

Influence of Alkali Treatment on the Surface Area of Aluminium Dross

Aluminium dross is an industrial waste from aluminium refining industry and classified as toxic substances. However, the disposal of dross as a waste is a burden to aluminium manufacturer industries due to its negative effects to the ecosystem, surface, and ground water. Therefore the purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on the surface area and pore size of aluminium dross. There were 3 stages in the treatment activities, which were leaching, precipitation, and calcination process. The optimum result from this study was the surface area of aluminium dross increases from 10.1 m2/g up to 80.0 m2/g at 40°C, 1% NaOH, and 15-minute reaction time. Thus, aluminium dross has a potential to be converted into other useful material such as catalyst and absorbent. The benefit of this research is that the hazardous industrial waste can be turned into wealth to be used in other applications such as in catalytic activities and absorber in waste water treatment. Further investigation on the physicochemical of aluminium dross with different acid or alkali should be conducted to get deeper understanding on the aluminium dross as a catalyst-type material.

Effect of Variation in the Chemical Constituents of Wastes on the Co-processing Performance of the Cement Kilns

Cement kiln co-processing is a globally practiced technology for management of different kinds of wastes in an environmentally sound and ecologically sustaining manner. Different types of wastes e.g. agro-wastes, hazardous & non-hazardous industrial wastes, combustible fractions from MSW etc are disposed off in large quantities in many cement kilns in different countries all over the world. During the treatment of wastes through co-processing, wastes get utilised as Alternative Fuels and Raw materials (AFRs) in the cement kilns. In India, cement plants have initiated co-processing of wastes and to prove the acceptability of cement kilns for their environmentally sound disposal, cement plants have implemented large number of demonstration trials on different kinds of waste streams as per the protocol prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board. Based on the critical evaluation of the results of these trials, Central Pollution Control Board endorses the acceptability for their co-processing in cement kilns. In this paper, results of such 22 demonstration co-processing trials – which were endorsed as successful by CPCB - are evaluated to understand the extent of variation present in the chemical constituents of these waste streams. It was also concluded through this evaluation that different waste streams having large variation in the chemical characteristics can be managed in an environmentally sound manner in the cement kilns.

Physico-Chemical Characterization of Electroplating Industrial Effluents of Chandigarh and Haryana Region

The present study deals with one of India’s major concerns is the increasing level of land pollution largely due to the uncontrolled disposal of industrial solid and hazardous waste. The present work carried out on monitoring of various physico-chemical parameters and to evaluate the impact of disposal of electroplating industrial effluent on water quality in Chandigarh and nine districts of Haryana. The various parameters like pH, temperature, Electrical Conductivity (Ec), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), sulphate, oil and grease, phosphate along with heavy metals viz. chromium, zinc, lead, nickel, cadmium, copper, were tested from effluent treatment plant (ETP) of plating industries. Further, the effects of these constituents on land, groundwater, and surface water bodies were correlated. The results observed from samples indicated that the heavy metal concentrations of chromium from 21.5 to 47 ppm, nickel from 72 to 243 ppm, lead from 5.3 to 9.7 ppm, zinc from 97 to 731 ppm and copper from 8.4 to 20.7 ppm in effluents in Haryana needs a proper preventive mechanism for sludge treatment, recovery and disposal.

Treatment of pyrite cinder sludge after usage in dye degradation: Feasibility study

Over the last couple of years greener concept in hazardous waste management is gaining increasing relevance. This term refers to the processes and activities that have little or negligible impact on the environment. The aim of this study is to systematically quantify the physical and chemical properties of the solidified/stabilized (S/S) sludge generated in dye effluent treatment, when pyrite cinder is used as catalytic iron source in the modified heterogeneous Fenton process. S/S treatment was performed by using two clay materials (kaolinite and bentonite) and lime in order to immobilize Cu, Pb and Zn present in the sludge. Microwave assisted sequential extraction procedure was employed to assess potential metal mobility and risk to the environment. In order to determine the long-term behaviour of the S/S mixtures, the semi-dynamic ANS 16.1 leaching test was performed. S/S effectiveness was evaluated by measuring the cumulative fractions of leached metals, effective diffusion coefficients - De and leachability indices - LX. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were implemented to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for immobilization of the Cu, Pb and Zn. This analysis confirmed the formation of compact matrices and pozzolanic products. Compressive strength measurement also proved the treatment efficacy. It can be concluded that the S/S technique has significant potential for solving the problem of hazardous industrial waste and its safe disposal.

Immobilization technologies for the management of hazardous industrial waste using granite waste (case study)

Full characterization of granite waste sludge (GWS) was accomplished by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Xray fluorescence (XRF) for identification of its phase and chemical composition. Different leaching tests were conducted to determine the efficiency of the GWS for metal stabilization in hazardous sludge. The leaching of the metals from stabilized contaminated sludge was decreased as the GWS amount increased. Only 15% of GWS was sufficient for stabilization of all metal ions under investigation. The main reason for metal immobilization was attributed to the aluminosilicates or silicates matrix within the GWS, which can transform the metals in the form of their insoluble hydroxides or absorbed in the stabilized matrix. Also, solidification/stabilization technique was used for remediation of contaminated sludge. Compressive strength test after curing for 28 days was used for measuring the effectiveness of remediation technique; it was found to be 1. 88MPa. This indicated that the remediated sludge was well solidified and safe to be used as a raw substance for roadway blocks. Therefore, this huge amount of by-product sludge derived from the granite cutting industry, which has a negative environmental impact due to its disposal, can be utilized as a binder material for solidification/stabilization of hazardous sludge.

Membrane Processes

This review, for literature published in 2014, contains information related to membrane processes for municipal and industrial applications. This review is a subsection of the Treatment Systems section of the annual Water Environment Federation literature review and covers the following topics: pretreatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR) configuration, design, nutrient removal, operation, industrial treatment, fixed film and anaerobic membrane systems, reuse, microconstituents removal, membrane technology advances, membrane fouling, and modeling. Other sub-sections of the Treatment Systems section that might relate to this literature review include: Biological Fixed-Film Systems, Activated Sludge and Other Aerobic Suspended Culture Processes, Anaerobic Processes, Water Reclamation and Reuse. The following sections might also have related information on membrane processes: Industrial Wastes, Hazardous Wastes, and Fate and Effects of Pollutants.

Removal of heavy metals from waste phosphogypsum materials using polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol polymers

Enormous stockpiles of phosphogypsum (PG) generated during the wet process production of phosphoric acid are stored at many sites around the world and pose problems for their safe storage, disposal, or utilization. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of two polymers polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in removing heavy metal from waste PG materials with a batch reaction approach. Batch experiments showed that the adsorption capacities of PEG and PVA polymers increased quietly as a result of molecular weight with increase in active surfaces of adsorbents. It is important to note that the adsorption capacities of the PEG and PVA polymers presented in this paper vary, depending on the characteristics of the individual adsorbent, the extent of molecular weight, and the concentration of adsorbate. The maximum percentage removal with PEG of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Mo followed the order: Cu (96%)>Cr (94%)=Mo (94%)>Zn (74%)>Cd (70%)>Pb (11%), while the removal of Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Zn with PVA adsorbents followed the order: Cu (95%)>Mo (93%)>Cr (91%)>Cd (84%)>Zn (78%)>Pb (10%). Obviously, PEG and PVA polymers are suitable for industrial hazardous solid waste containing Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Zn contaminations. The calculated singular indices including ecological risk factors (Eri) showed that Cd should be considered a moderate potential ecological risk, while Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn indicated a low ecological risk. The calculated integrated potential ecological risk indices (RI=∑Eri) considered that Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn indicated pollution in all studied samples is less. Among these results, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn content removal using PEG and PVA polymers would be of great importance in environmental applications, and they can be considered a very suitable and efficient option for PG utilization.

Application of a fuzzy service level constraint for solving a multi-objective location-routing problem for the industrial hazardous wastes

In this paper, a multi objective location-routing model is developed and solved for a real case related to Petrochemical Special Economic Zone (PETZONE) located in Khuzestan (Iran). Decision makers can decide on optimum locations of suitable treatment, recycling and disposal centers, and also the routes for transporting of different types of industrial wastes between these centers by the help of the model. There are considered three criteria in the mathematical model which minimizing total costs of transportation and establishment of the centers and total transportation and site risks related to the population exposure along transportation routes and around treatment and disposal centers. During the optimization process, waste collection system is improved by considering fuzzy customer satisfaction level. Finally, the model is computed and solved by Lingo software to find efficient solutions.

Bioremediation for hazardous liquid industrial waste at evaporation pit, Wafra south of Kuwait.

Bioremediation of oily sludge contamination was conducted at the Wafra/Mina Abdullah site (Kilo 14) in southern Kuwait. The waste contents originally showed high levels of trace metals and other toxic chemicals. High levels of organic parameters were indicated by analyses of COD, BOD, TOC, and TPH. Methods used in bioremediation included in-situ and ex-situ approaches such as: landfarming, bioventing, bioaugmentation, biosparging, and composting (biopiling). After one year of landfarming treatment, eight heavy metals showed overall reduction of 81%. Of the organic compounds monitored, COD, BOD, TPH, and TOC showed one-year reductions of 71.1%, 89.47%, 94.17%, and 95.36%, respectively. In summary, bioremediation was shown to be very cost effective method in this research, it is highly recommended to be implemented in heavy oily sludge area. KEYWORDS: Bioremediation; chemicals; heavy metals; landfarming; oily sludge.

Leachate Characteristics and Evaluating Leachate Contamination Potential of Landfill Sites Using Leachate Pollution Index

The developing and under developing countries hazardous industrial waste is also mixed with municipal solid waste (MSW). The dumping of MSW in uncontrolled landfills can cause major impact on human health and surrounding environment. Leachate is the main culprit, causing pollution of surface water bodies and ground water. Ground water once contaminated, is very difficult task to improve. The aim of research study is to determine the leachate characteristics of Alevoor landfill near Udupi, India. The pH of samples was 8.21 and 7.77 respectively. This paper also presents the leachate contamination potential of Alevoor landfill using Rand Corporation Delphi Technique. The leachate pollution index (LPI) represents the level of contamination potential of given landfill. LPI is a single number express the overall leachate contamination potential of landfill based on several leachate pollution parameters at a given time. The LPI is also used to compare the contamination potential of different leachate sampling stations of Alevoor landfill. The LPI values of the Alevoor landfill is significantly high and proper treatment is required before the discharge of the leachate.