Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/24819
Title: Laboratory investigation of organic contaminant immobilization by proprietary processing of Basin F liquid, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver Colorado
Authors: Myers, Tommy E.
Zappi, Mark E.
Keywords: Hazardous waste management industry--Colorado--Rocky Mountain Arsenal--Evaluation
Organic wastes--Colorado--Rocky Mountain Arsenal
Hazardous waste sites--Colorado--Rocky Mountain Arsenal
Publisher: Environmental Laboratory (U.S.)
U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station.
Series/Report no.: Technical Report;EL-87-11
Abstract: The applicability of a proprietary solidification/stabilization process to liquid from a hazardous waste lagoon at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, Colo., was investigated in laboratory studies. The proprietary process is cement based and is commercially available from Hazcon, Inc., Houston, Tex. The effectiveness of the Hazcon process for solidification of Basin F liquid was evaluated using an unconfined compressive strength test; its effectiveness for chemical stabilization of the organic content of the liquid was evaluated using batch leaching tests. The potential for ammonia release was also assessed by measuring ammonia gas concentrations in laboratory air during processing. The study was not designed to provide an evaluation of the capabilities of the Hazcon process for hazardous wastes in general. In a five-step sequential batch leach test, 86.7 percent of the total organic carbon in the solidified/stabilized material was leached. The concentrations of organic carbon in the leachate tended to stabilize at 50 mg/l toward the end of the sequential leach procedure, indicating that continued batch leaching would extract most of the remaining organic carbon in the solidified/stabilized material. Thus, the Hazcon process did not effectively stabilize the organic content of Basin F liquid against aqueous leaching. Unconfined compressive strength after a 28-day cure time averaged approximately 20,000 kPa for six replicates. Unconfined compressive strengths in this range indicate satisfactory solidification. Unconfined compressive strength was also measured after 7-, 14-, and 21-day cure times. The strength versus cure time curve indicated retarded set and the potential for further strength development after 28 days. Thus, the contaminants in Basin F liquid retarded the setting reactions responsible for development of a hardened mass, but they did not interfere with the setting reactions to the extent that Basin F liquid cannot be solidified by the Hazcon process. Ammonia gas concentrations were measured inside and outside the laboratory hood in which Hazcon solidification/stabilization agents were added to and mixed with Basin F liquid. Ammonia gas concentrations under the hood ranged from 72 to >500 mg/cu m, the lower concentration being measured after the hood was turned on. The ammonia gas concentrations measured in this study indicated that evaluation of potential air quality and occupational health impacts may be needed before full-scale application of the Hazcon process to Basin F liquid.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11681/24819
Appears in Collections:Technical Report

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