Case Study - Waste Management

Prepared by: Richard Carr

Scope of Work

• Assist a waste management project with the resolution of a Critical Technical Risk regarding the need to reduce projected liquor discharges below sea discharge consent limits

• Arrive at a viable liquid effluent treatment process that meets the above requirement

Background to the project

The client was in the process of developing a waste encapsulation plant and had encountered difficulties managing the liquid effluents arising from the main process without exceeding sea discharge limits. The task was complicated by a lack of understanding about the chemical interactions between the solid waste and the associated liquor that contacted the solid waste at various stages of the encapsulation process.

The processes believed to be required were too complex, generated unacceptable volumes of secondary waste packages and occupied a large area of the available plant footprint.

DBD deliverables

DBD personnel took on key positions within the project, helping to drive a review of the entire encapsulation process to explore possible approaches for more effective application of the waste management hierarchy.

A number of changes were made to the overall process:

• Use of liners for the product boxes to eliminate box decontamination washes
• Reduced waste segregation to lower process complexity
• Revised waste encapsulation method that allowed for absorption of active liquid effluent within the primary waste product
• Use of evaporation with an acidified feed as the liquid effluent treatment process

The selection of acid evaporation avoided many of the problems concerning variable effluent volumes and the dissolved species due to its robustness to feed variation.

The Results

• The project now has a workable liquid effluent strategy.

• Buy-in from senior management has been received on the decision to utilise the revised encapsulation process and acidic evaporation.

• Representatives from the Environment Agency and Nuclear Installations Inspectorate were satisfied with the steps taken to arrive at the chosen solution at a site inspection.

• The resolution of the Critical Technical Risk was completed within the programmed timescale.

Client Benefits

• Improved stakeholder perception of the project

• Reduction in projected secondary waste volume, giving rise to substantial savings in waste disposal

• Increased confidence in viability of the process as a whole

 

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