vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental Researc
Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S2-81-044a June 1981
Project Summary
Offshore Platform Hazardous
Waste Incineration Facility:
Feasibility Study Summary
R. J. Johnson, F. E. Flynn, and P. J. Weller
This report summarizes the results
of a feasibility study of using an
existing offshore oil platform as a site
for incineration of hazardous wastes
and related research. Chevron U.S.A.,
Inc., has offered to transfer this
platform. Main Pass Block 254 "A"
Structure, to the Federal Government.
The platform, located in the Gulf of
Mexico approximately 100 km south
of Mobile, Alabama, has potential as
an environmentally safe site for
operational and research oriented
incineration activities. Results of the
study indicate that a rotary kiln
incinerator with a high temperature
afterburner, capable of destroying a
wide range of waste types at up to 3
metric tons/hour, can be installed on
the platform along with the necessary
support facilities. An environmental
assessment of worst case air and
water quality impacts from waste
incineration revealed insignificant air
quality effects at the nearest land
point and on the platform. Water
quality effects will not be significant
for most wastes. For highly toxic and
persistent substances, an activated
carbon scrubber water treatment
system will be provided. Estimated
capital costs were $6.6 million for
offshore and shore base facilities, and
waste transportation containers.
Labor, offshore personnel subsis-
tence, fuel, transportation,
maintenance, depreciation, and land
lease costs were estimated at $3.9
million/year, or approximately
$298/metric ton of waste incinerated
for 12 hour/day, 7 day/week
operation. Continuous and intermit-
tent operation of the incinerator were
also considered.
This report was submitted in partial
fulfillment of Contract No. 68-02-
3174, Work Assignment No. 19,
Technical Service Area 3-7, under the
sponsorship of the U.S. Environment-
al Protection Agency. This report
covers the period April 13, 1980 to
June 13, 1980.
This Project Summary was develop-
ed by EPA's Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Introduction
Chevron U.S.A., Inc., has offered to
transfer an offshore oil platform, Main
Pass Block 254 "A" Structure, to the
Federal Government. This platform,
constructed in 1975 at a cost of
$11,587,000, is located in the Gulf of
Mexico approximately 100 kilometers
(60 miles) south of Mobile Point,
Alabama, and 120 kilometers (75 miles)
east of North Pass, Louisiana. The U.S
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have
made a preliminary determination that
the platform has potential for use in the
disposal of hazardous material,
including wastes resulting from
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cleanup operations. The evaluation took
into account the necessity of destroying
highly toxic waste at a location with
minimum risk to public health and the
environment, the need for further
research on thermal destruction of
hazardous waste, and the cost
advantages of at-sea incineration.
This report summarizes the results of
an evaluation of the technical and
environmental feasibility of using the
proposed offshore platform as an
incineration facility for destruction of
hazardous wastes and for incineration
research.
Findings and Conclusions
Results of this study have
demonstrated the basic technical and
environmental feasibility of the
proposed offshore platform for use as a
hazardous waste incineration site.. In
addition, investigations undertaken as
part of this study indicated the critical
national need for an environmentally
safe location for operational destruction
of highly toxic substances and
incineration research. Bases for these
conclusions are as follows:
• Information obtained from EPA,
USCG, andthe literature revealed
requirements for incineration of
hazardous materials and waste
combustion research that are
more environmentally acceptable
at an offshore site than at land-
based facilities.
• Evaluation of both commercially
and EPA-developed incineration
systems indicates that a rotary
kiln coupled to a high-temperature
liquid-injection afterburner is the
most versatile system forthermal
destruction of a wide variety of
waste types.
• A conceptually designed rotary
kiln/afterburner incineration
system, based upon commer-
cially available, performance-
proven components, can be
installed and operated on the
proposed ocean platform.
Maximum design feed rates are
3.0 metric tons/hour of liquids
and pumpable slurries, or 1.5
metric tons/hour of solid
material.
• Although the platform deck area
is limited, conceptual design of
the offshore support facility has
shown that all required sub-
systems including life-supprt
systems and container handling,
can be accommodated.
• A preliminary evaluation of the
platform by the USCG in 1978
found the structure to be probably
structurally adequate and in good
condition. Structural analysis and
testing were recommended
before assumption of ownership
by the Federal Government.
• A shore base facility was
conceptually designed to meet all
requirements for waste handling
and storage,and standard
commercially available contain-
ers were identified for
transporting liquid and solid
waste materials.
Need for Offshore Incineration
Platform
During the past several years,
disposal of oil and hazardous
substances, resulting from' cleanup of
accidental or intentional spills and
abandoned waste sites, has become
increasingly difficult. Greater public
awareness of hazardous substance
disposal dangers has led to actions by
many state and local governments to
more closely control or eliminate
existing landfill disposal areas and
incineration facilities. Incineration of
wastes on an offshore platform would
provide an alternative to land disposal.
Because even remote land sites are
viewed as a long-term danger, con-
struction of new facilities on land
creates serious public opposition.
Although many other methods of
waste disposal may be employed, high-
temperature incineration is recognized
as an effective means of total
destruction of many highly toxic wastes.
Incineration of wastes eliminates long-
term risk to public health and/or the
environment It also eliminates costs
associated with future monitoring and,
thus, the risks incurred with liability.
About half of the annual output of
hazardous waste is organic and
amenable to incineration Incineration
of hazardous wastes can be conducted
at a land-based site, at sea on a specially
constructed or modified vessel, or on an
offshore structure.
Since 1969, at-sea incineration
aboard ships has been employed by
German and Dutch firms. Three
specially equipped German tankers, the
MATTHIAS I, II, and III, have been used
for high-temperature incineration inthe
North Sea; only the MATTHIAS II is still
in service. A Dutch vessel, the M/T
VULCANUS, has been incinerating
European wastes since 1972, and has
also been successfully used, under
permit from EPA, to incinerate organo-
chlorme wastes in the Gulf of Mexico
and Herbicide Orange in a remote area
of the Pacific Ocean. The VULCANUS
and MATTHIAS II can handle only
pumpable liquid wastes of sufficient
caloric value to ensure complete
thermal destruction.
Because scrubbers are not required to
control emissions, at-sea incineration is
less costly on a per-unit basis than land-
based incineration. However, the
limited availability of such vessels and
their restricted burn capabilities are
disadvantageous.
Serious consideration should be
given to locating incineration facilities
on an offshore platform. Remote from
populated areas, the facility's
environmental controls could be based
on proximity to land and meteorological
and oceanographic conditions. The
offshore siting h'as the further
advantage of a broadened burn '
capability to include solids and slurries
as well as liquids.
An offshore incineration platform
could be used for the thermal
destruction of industrial hazardous
wastes, pesticides, toxic material and oil
spills, as well as drums of contaminated
soil and debris. Nearly all pesticides are
decomposed by high temperature
incineration including the persistent or
multi-chlorinated hydrocarbons such as
DDT and 2,4,5,-T. Incineration could
dispose of the 1.2 million gallons of the
now-banned si I vex-conta i n i ng
herbicides. Other incinerable
candidates for disposal at the offshore
platform are organic solvents and
monomers such as acetone, benzene,
toluene, formaldehyde, acrylonitrile,
phenol, styrene monomer, xylene,
ethylene dichloride, and methyl alcohol,
all of which have been involved in spills
in recent years. The platform could be
utilized for incineration of large
quantities of waste or small batches to
suit EPA and USCG needs.
Data gathered by the USCG Pollution
Incident Reporting System (PIRS)
indicate that only a small fraction of the
substances spilled is recovered. Most of >
the spill becomes mixed with soil or \
water, increasing the volume to be
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disposed of. Contaminated soil, wood,
and debris would be candidates for
offshore incineratoin along with the
spilled material. No trends are evident in
the amount or type of material spilled
each year from the PIRS data. However,
the data indicate that 5.3 million gallons
or 69% of the 7.7 million gallons of
hazardous material spilled during 1975-
1978, were located in the Gulf of
Mexico and neighboring states. An
increasing portion of the total volume of
material spilled occurred in this area
each year: 18% in 1975, 27% in 1976,
67% in 1977, and 94% in 1978. A gulf
site would therefore be advantageous
for an operational incinerator facility to
minimize the transportation of the
hazardous wastes.
In addition to providing a facility for
operational destruction of hazardous
wastes in a location which minimizes
the risk to public health, the offshore
platform would also be a safe site to
continue EPA's research into hazardous
waste incineration. Trial burns of
hazardous materials not previously
incinerated could be conducted to
establish optimum incineration
parameters, determine destruction
efficiency, identify combustion
jroducts, and monitor emissions. Based
upon these test results, suitability for
incineration on land or at sea could be
determined.
Offshore Incineration System
In order to select an incinerator
design for the offshore platform, an
evaluation was made of existing
systems capable of incinerating
hazardous materials. Both commercial
and EPA developed systems were
investigated during this study. It was
concluded that a rotary kiln in
conjunction with a liquid injection
incinerator (used as an afterburner)
represents the most versatile
combination for thermal destruction of a
wide variety of waste types. The rotary
kiln utilizes mechanical mixing which
permits the solid or liquid wastes to be
exposed to hot oxidizing gas for as long
as needed for their destruction. This
incinerator is particularly well-suited
for the destruction of solids and highly
viscous sludges, including wastes
resulting from cleanup of spills. The
liquid injection incinerator also offers
excellent mixing so that vaporized
•aste can be effectively destroyed.
jnsequently, a rotary kiln with a liquid
injection afterburner was selected as
the offshore incinerator for this
feasibility study.
Conceputal Design
Design criteria' for the conceptual
incineration system were:
Feed rates-O.b to 1.5 metric
tons/hr of solid material or 1.5 to
3.0 metric tons/hr of liquids and
pumpable slurries.
SftrecWer-capable of processing
solid wastes, 55 gallon drums, soft
metals, fence posts, etc.; enclosed
to control fumes.
Rotary /f///?-operating temperature
of 1000 to 1300°C, up to 1 hour
solid residence time, negative
pressure to minimize fugitive
emissions.
XUfe/'/>t//77e/'-operating tempera-
ture of 1300 to 1500°C, above 2
seconds gas residence time, 3% Oa
or greater (exceeds Federal Regula-
tion requirements for incineration
of PCB's), negative pressure.
Quench section-seawater injected
to cool combustion gases to 300°C,
allowing use of standard materials
and bearings for induced draft fan.
Scrubber section~s\r\Q\e pass sea-
water scrubber used only when
adverse meteorological conditions
occur during incineration of highly
toxic wastes, or for selected
research burns.
Effluent water treatment system-
activated granular carbon is used to
treat quench/scrubber effluents
when required. The spent carbon is
regenerated in the rotary kiln
between incinerator operations.
Induced draft fans-used to provide
combustion gas flow through the
incineration system and maintain
negative pressure to minimize
fugitive emissions
Exhaust sfacA-combustion gases
from the incinerator will be
exhausted through a 15 meter (50
ft) high stack to preclude
"downwash" of the plume.
Control/data acquisition system-
both incinerator process control
functions and data acquisition will
be performed by a single digital
computer system. Process controls
will incorporate safety interlocks,
programmed start-up and
shutdown cycles, and warning
alarms. Combustion efficiency will
be continuously calculated and
displayed along with all process
parameters and air pollutant
monitoring data Data can be
transmitted directly to shore based
facilities
Monitoring Plan
Monitoring offshore incineration
activities will provide information
needed for predicting, maintaining and
documenting conditions for the safe
disposal of waste materials and for
protection of personnel and
environment.
Monitoring will begin with the
acquisition of a representative sample
of the waste material at the waste
generation or spill site. Analysis of this
sample of the shore based support
facility will determine handling and
combustion requirements. During
incineration, various indicators of
combustion efficiency will be monitored
by on-line gas analyzers, and samples
will be collected for laboratory analyses
to determine waste destruction
efficiency.
On-line gas analyzers and collected
samples will also be used to monitor
pollutants in the final air emissions,
liquid effluents, and solid residue from
the incineration system. The potential
introduction of contaminants into the
storage and work areas from fugitive
and other inadvertent sources will be
monitored. Because of the close
proximity of the crew's living quarters to
the waste storage and incineration
areas, monitoring for the introduction of
contaminants into the quarters will also
be needed. For personnel safety, as well
as for the the protection of the platform
structure itself, meteorological and
oceanographic conditions (such as wind
speed and direction) will be monitored
to prevent undesirable exposure to toxic
or corrosive emissions.
The foregoing monitoring activities
require specialized equipment and
facilities which will involve both the
shore based support facility and the
offshore platform. In general, the shore
based facility will be equipped to
perform the more sophisticated,
detailed analyses on collected samples,
while the offshore facility will perform
A US GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1961-757-012/7132
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on-line measurements and quick-
response analyses.
Most of the data resulting from the
monitoring activities will be handled by
the platform facility's computer. Direct
measurements by monitoring
instruments will be digitized for
interfacing directly with the computer.
Visual observations and data resulting
from laboratory analyses will be entered
manually. The computer will then store,
reduce, and analyze the raw data.
Outputs will include information
needed by the platform facility
operators, complete reports of raw or
reduced data, and transmissions to the
shore based support facility.
R, J. Johnson, F. E. Flynn, and P. J. Welter are with TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach,
CA 90278.
D. C. Sanchez is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Offshore Platform Hazardous Waste Incineration
Facility," is in two parts:
Feasibility Study Summary (Order No. PB 81-178 303; Cost. $6.50)
Feasibility Study (Order No. PB 81 -190 951; Cost: $20.00)
These reports will be available only from: {prices subject to change)
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Postage and
Fees Paid
Environmental
Protection
Agency
EPA 335
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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