Production Related Waste Management for Selected Chemical
lchemid=N511
Waste Management Comparison - 2022
Pollution Prevention Activities for Selected Chemical
| Reporting Year | Section 8.10: Newly Implemented Source Reduction Activity | Section 8.10: Methods to Identify Activity | Section 8.11: Optional Pollution Prevention Information* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 |
Barriers: B7-Barriers to P2 B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies.
|
Barriers to P2: B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. - The nitrate ions come from our use of nitric acid to make metal nitrate impregnating solutions. After the strip impregnation and conversion processes, nitrate ions remain in the wastewater that is sent to our on-site wastewater treatment facility. |
|
| 2018 |
Barriers: B8-No Information B8 - A reduction does not appear to be technically feasible
Barriers: B7-Barriers to P2 B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. |
Barriers to P2: B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. - Nitrates are a necessary by-product of nitric acid use in our chemical plant processes. |
|
| 2014 |
Barriers: B7-Barriers to P2 B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies.
|
Barriers to P2: B7 - No known substitutes or alternative technologies. - Nitrate compounds are a by-product created when metal nitrates are converted to metal hydroxides by the addition of sodium hydroxide to metal nitrates impregnated in the pores of bulk strip. There is no available substitute or alternative technology that would reduce or eliminate nitrate compound generation. |
|
| 2013 |
Source Reduction:: W13: Improved maintenance scheduling, recordkeeping, or procedures
|
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T02: External pollution prevention opportunity audit(s)
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W13: The wastewater treatment system improvements should significantly reduce the quantity of nitrate compounds discharged to the Mud Creek POTW. Source Reduction - See above comments Source Reduction - Hired consultant to audit wastewater treatment system operation for improvement, and improved wastewater treatment system operating practices by reducing the flow rate to allow for continuous operation at a more constant flow rate, change filter press operation to produce a solids-free filtrate, change bag filtration to process water through a 25-micron bag filter followed by a 10-micron bag filter, added better controls for mixing polyelectrolyte and improved polyelectrolyte feed rate. Releases to the Mud Creek POTW were improved significantly. The use of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide for correcting system upsets (dissolution and re-precipitation) has been greatly reduced yielded significant cost savings. The initial ideas had been proposed by an employee, Brian Nash. A consultant, Blase Butts with Cedar with CedarChem, performed the audit and provided improvement specifications. The activity was implemented to improve wastewater treatment system performance, to reduce the amount of cadmium, nickel and cobalt being discharged, and to reduce the excessive use of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide for resetting the system when it was not performing well due to too much treated water being returned from the filter press to the E-tanks, the excessive use of polyelectrolyte, and running the system at too high a flow rate which resulted in a start/stop/start/stop type of operation. |
| 2011 |
Source Reduction:: W82: Modified design or composition of product
|
Methods to Identify SR Opportunities: T11: Other
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W82: See optional information field. Source Reduction - Beginning January 2011, we stopped producing our telecommunications "NCX" battery. We continue to manufacture a telecommunications "Tel.X" cell which is a modified version of our now obsolete NCX cell. The positive and negative electrodes for the Tel.X product is imported from France. This change has reduced the amount of nickel, cadmium, cobalt, nitrates, and ammonia we use. Tel.X battery production began in 2007. Tel.X and NCX batteries were produced during 2008, 2009, and 2010. NCX production stopped on December 31, 2010. The NCX positive plate manufacturing process used more cobalt than than other Ni-Cd battery products. Stopping NCX production resulted in a significant decrease in cobalt use during 2011. |
TRI Pollution Prevention Glossary
The Waste Management Hierarchy |
The waste management hierarchy established by the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) guides waste generators toward the best options for managing wastes.
The preferred option is to prevent pollution at its source, but for waste that is generated, the preferred management methods are recycling, followed
by burning for energy recovery, treatment and, as a last resort, disposing of the waste.
|
- A breakdown of production-related waste managed. This includes all amounts of the chemical released directly to the environment or otherwise managed as waste, other than waste generated by one-time events not associated with normal production processes (e.g., fires or remedial actions).
- A production ratio or activity index to provide context for reported toxic chemical quantities. For example, if a chemical is used in the manufacture of refrigerators, the production index would track the number of refrigerators produced and could be used to help gauge how much of the chemical is being released per unit of production.
- Any newly implemented source reduction activities, reported using "W-codes" (e.g., "W41: Increased purity of raw materials")