EPA/540/A5-90/002
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
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CF Systems Organics Extraction
Process New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts
August 1990
The SITE Program Demonstration of the CF Systems organics
extraction technology was conducted to obtain specific operating and cost
information that could be used in evaluating the potential applicability
of the technology to Superfund sites. The demonstration was conducted
concurrently with dredging studies managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
at the New Bedford Harbor Super-fund site in Massachusetts. Contaminated
sediments were treated by CF Systems' Pit Cleanup Unit 0) that used a
liquefied propane and butane mixture as the extraction solvent. The PCU
was a trailer-mounted system with a design capacity of 1.5 gallons per
minute (gpm), or 20 barrels per day (bbl/day). The technology extracts
organics from contaminated soils based on solubility of organics in a
mixture of liquefied propane and butane.
The objectives included an evaluation of (1) the unit's performance, (2)
system operating conditions, (3) health and safety considerations, (4)
equipment and system materials handling problems, and (5) projected system
economics. The conclusions drawn from the test results and other available
data are:
- Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) extraction efficiencies of 90 percent were
achieved for New Bedford Harbor sediments containing PCBs ranging from
350 to 2,575 parts per million (ppm). Concentrations of PCBs in the clean
sediment were as low as 8 ppm.
- Extraction efficiencies of 95 percent are demonstrated in the laboratory
for volatile and semivolatile organics contained in aqueous and semisolid
waste matrices.
- Some operating problems occurred during the SITE tests, such as intermittant
retention of solids in system hardware and foaming in the treated sediment
collection tanks. Corrective measures were identified, and will be incorporated
in the full-scale commercial unit.
- Operation of the PCU at New Bedford did not present any threats to the
health and safety of operators or the local community.
- The projected cost of applying the technology to a full-scale cleanup
at New Bedford Harbor ranges from $148 to $447 per ton. These projections
include pre- and post-treatment costs, material handling costs, and costs
for a spccializcd process configuration designed to remediate sediments,
however the post-treatment cost did not include the final destruction
of the concentrated extract.
- Site specific pre- and post-treatment costs account for approximately
one-third of the estimated costs.
- The predicted onstream factor for the full-scale commercial unit is
the variable that introduces the greatest uncertainty to the cost
estimates.
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