Waste minimization methods for treating analytical instrumentation effluents at the source

摘要

Many analytical laboratories, like the Defense Waste Processing Technology-Analytical Laboratory (DWPT-AL), located at the Savannah River Site (SRS), are looking into treating their own wastes. The DWPT-AL operates four laboratory modules that produce hazardous liquid effluents from the analytical instrumentation: Spectroscopy, Chromatography I, Chromatography II, and Wet Chemistry. If the hazardous characteristics of and the hazardous components in the analytical instrument effluents or example preparation wastes can be altered and/or reduced in such a way as to render the stream non-hazardous, the large volume of non-hazardous waste can be disposed of via process drains. Therefore, the primary goal of this project was to reduce the amount of hazardous waste being generated by the DWPT-AL, thereby substantially reducing the costs associated with its disposal. A secondary goal was to develop in-line methods using primarily adsorption/ion exchange columns that can be used to treat the liquid effluent as it emerges from the analytical instrument as a slow, dripping flow. The second goal allows the treatment method to become part of the operating procedure associated with the instrument; thus, the effluent would not be considered a waste until it emerges from the in-line column.