Chromium hydroxide sludge is the end product of the
aluminum phosphate coating process used by a truck manufacturer
in the Pacific Northwest. This sludge is listed as an (F019)
hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency, and
must be landfilled in a hazardous waste landfill site. The purpose
of this thesis is to evaluate the characteristics of this sludge,
and to then recommend suitable methods for handling and
disposal. The chemical analysis of the sludge found total
chromium to be 5.4% by weight. Industrial hygiene monitoring
found the highest concentrations of 0.002 mg/m3 total chromium
and 0.00006 mg/m3 hexavalent chromium at the waste treatment
plant. The eight hour permissible exposure limit for total
chromium is 0.5 mg/m3 and 0.05 mg/m3 for hexavalent chromium.
Given the chemical analysis and industrial hygiene monitoring, a
management plan is proposed for this truck manufacturer that
discusses possible options for handling the (F019) waste, and
provides a cost analysis for each of the options. The options that
were investigated were onsite treatment, recycling, no change,
and delisting. Onsite treatment was not required since the sludge
passed the TCLP extraction test. Recycling costs were
determined by contacting four recycling firms. Costs were found
to be $600/ton and above, which exceeded the current disposal
costs of $466/ton. Delisting the sludge from the hazardous
waste listing was determined to be the most feasible from a
management, cost, and environmental standpoint. Delisting would
reduce the costs of handling the waste, would allow a reduction
in landfilling costs, and reduce recycling costs.
A literature survey provides background information on
industrial uses of chromium, health problems associated with
chromium, and discusses the regulations that govern disposal of
these chromium sludges. / Graduation date: 1991
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/37990 |
| Date | 09 January 1991 |
| Creators | Like, David E. |
| Contributors | Rossignol, Annette |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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