United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S9-83-016 Dec. 1983
SEPA Project Summary
Proceedings: Symposium on Iron
and Steel Pollution Abatement
Technology for 1982
Franklin A. Ayer
This document summarizes presenta-
tions at the Symposium on Iron and
Steel Pollution Abatement Technology
for 1982, the fourth in this series, in
Pittsburgh on November 16-18,1982.
It provided a forum for the exchange of
information on technological problems
related to multimedia pollution control
in the iron and steel industry.
American and international repre-
sentatives from industry, academia, the
research community, public interest
organizations, and Federal and state
governments participated in the sym-
posium. The opening session dealt with
cost reduction, rational decision-making
in technological development, alterna-
tives to confrontation between the
industry and environmentalists, a
geographic approach to integrated
environmental management, and a
panel on environmental trade-offs.
Subsequent sessions dealt with other
aspects of solid waste, air and water
pollution abatement. In all, 186 people
participated in the symposium.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory, Research Triangle
Park, NC, to announce key findings of
the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
The Symposium on Iron and Steel
Pollution Abatement Technology for
1982, the fourth in this series, is the first
to be conducted with the cosponsorship
of the American Iron and Steel Institute
and with support from the Iron and Steel
Committee of the Air Pollution Control
Association.
The symposium was held in Pittsburgh,
PA, on November 16-18,1982. It provided
a forum for the exchange of information
on technological problems related to
multimedia, solid waste, air, and water
pollution control in the iron and steel
industry.
Summaries or abstracts of speakers
remarks follow:
Opening Session
Richard D. Stern, Chairman
Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory
U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park,
NC 27711
Stern called the symposium to order,
welcomed the participants, and introduced
Robert C. McCrillis, U.S. EPA, IERL-RTP,
and Earle F. Young, Jr., AISI, Washington,
DC, General Chairmen.
Statement of Symposium
Objectives
Robert C. McCrillis, Symposium
General Chairman
Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory
U.S. EPA, Research Triangle
Park, NC 27711
McCrillis informed the participants that
this fourth symposium on iron and steel
pollution abatement technology is the
first of this series to be cosponsored by
the American Iron and Steel Institute
with support from the Iron and Steel
Committee of the Air Pollution Control
Association. He emphasized that the
objective of the symposium is to focus on
-------
technological solutions to environmental
problems and that the speakers represent
a wide cross section of industry, govern-
ment, and contractor viewpoints. He
further stated that cost-effective mini-
mization of total environmental impact
should be the ultimate goal.
Reducing the Cost of Air
Pollution Control in the Iron
and Steel Industry
Peter N. Bibko (Regional
Administrator) and David L.
Arnold (Environmental Engineer)
(Presented by Stanley
Laskowski)
U.S. EPA, Region 3
Philadelphia, PA 19106
The goal of the EPA's regulatory reform
efforts is to facilitate the use of more
effective, less costly control measures
while ensuring a cleaner environment.
The reforms in the air programs are
known as Emissions Trading and include
the bubble policy, offset policy, and
emission reduction banking. Of these
reforms, the bubble policy has become
the most well known and publicized
program. At a time of rising control costs
and shrinking resources, the policy can
speed both economic growth and con-
tinued progress toward clean air. For the
iron and steel industry, the policy offers
increased flexibility, less government
intrusion in the corporate planning
process, and savings of millions of dollars
in annual control costs. For the environ-
mental community, it should result in
more air quality progress than additional
direct regulation. For the economic
development community, it can facilitate
the revitalization of existing plants. This
paper briefly discusses what the policy is
and how it can be used and describes
three bubble projects which were deve-
loped by iron and steel companies in
Region 3.
Rational Decisionmaking in
Technology Development
William L. West, Director
Environmental Control
Republic Steel Corporation
Cleveland, OH 44101
Environmental control programs in the
U.S. appear to be based on an ever-
increasing demand for more stringent
technology. This trend should be examined
for its necessity in relation to environ-
mental goals and benefits. The underlying
legislative and administrative policies
should be modified when such modifica-
tion can be accommodated without
jeopardizing environmental goals.
Environmentalists vs. The
Steel Producers; Are There
Alternatives to Confrontation?
W.I. Goldburg, President, GASP,
and Professor, Department of
Physics and Astronomy,
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Mutual distrust between environmen-
talists, steel company management, and
regulatory agencies may unnecessarily
impede the solution to the nation's
pollution problems. Experiences in
Allegheny County provide the basis for
some suggestions aimed at reducing this
distrust.
The Geographic Approach to
integrated Environmental
Management
Michael R. Alford, Chief
Geographic Unit
Integrated Environmental
Management Program
U.S. EPA, Washington, DC
20460
EPA and its counterparts at the state
and local levels have historically attacked
pollution problems by establishing separ-
ate programs for each of the three
environmental media — air, water, and
solid waste — and have required polluters
to reduce their impacts through specified
control technologies. This approach has
resulted in substantial progress toward
national environmental quality goals. It
now appears appropriate, however, to
supplement this traditional focus with
other integrative mechanisms, in order to
move toward the solution of the remaining
problems. The fact that our control
strategies do not simultaneously address
all media has led to control efforts that
may be less effective and more costly
than they might have been.
The Integrated Environmental Man-
agement Program (IEMP) in EPA's Office
of Policy Analysis is developing methods
to help solve emerging environmental
problems in a more cost-effective manner.
IEMP is now working on methodologies
for integrating controls on an industry
basis, by examining environmental
problems and controls as they relate to
specific industrial sectors. The other
mechanism under study in IEMP, the
geographic approach to program integra-
tion, is the subject of this paper.
Panel: Environmental Trade-
offs
Michael R. Alford, Chairman
U.S. EPA, Washington, DC 20460
Stanley L. Laskowski, William L.
West, and Walter I. Goldburg,
Panel Members
This panel discussion was not recorded.
Session 1. Multimedia
Pollution Abatement
Michael R. Alford, Chairman
U.S. EPA
Washington, DC 20460
Joseph G. Crist, Chairman
U.S. Steel Corporation
Monroeville, PA 15146
Mission and Research
Programs of the Industrial
Waste Elimination Research
Center
James W. Patterson
Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL 60616
The Industrial Waste Elimination
Research Center (IWERC) was established
in 1980 at Illinois Institute of Technology,
under the sponsorship of the U.S. EPA
Centers of Excellence program. The
Center, operated by IIT in consortium with
the University of Notre Dame, is concerned
with fundamental research directed
toward the avoidance, abatement, or
elimination of the generation of air,
water, and solid pollutants. The Center
now in its second full year of operation, is
supporting five major research projects
This paper discusses the mission anc
objectives of the Center and presents
research objectives and results.
Chromium Removal
Mechanisms for Waste
Management of a Specialty
Steel Mill
Virginia M. Cusano and Robert
H. Wills, Jr.
Crucible, Inc.
Syracuse, NY 13201
The Resource Conservation and Ri
covery Act along with recent rounds
State Pollution Discharge Eliminatic
-------
System permits reflecting the application
of Best Available Technology Economically
Achievable have significantly increased
costs for transportation, treatment, and
disposal of both solid and liquid wastes. In
addition, the New York State Superfund
places an assessment on certain wastes.
Crucible Specialty Metals Division in
Syracuse, NY, has been involved in
various resource recovery projects since
1975. These projects include: (1) inves-
tigation of the effectiveness of an aban-
doned alkaline wastebed to absorb and
retain chrome and other heavy metals
present in steel mill wastes; (2) a method
of detoxification of hazardous air pollution
baghouse dusts by transferring soluble
chrome from the solid phase to the liquid
phase for recycle or treatment; and (3)
reuse of waste acid, from pickling
operations, as the primary coagulant at
Crucible's industrial wastewater treat-
ment plant.
Landfilling Solid Wastes from
Specialty Steel Production on
a Solvay Process Wastebed
J.A. Hagarman, R.W. Klippel
Calocerinos & Spina
Liverpool, NY 13088
R.H. Wills, Jr.
Crucible, Inc.
Syracuse, NY 13201
For the past 8 years. Crucible, Inc.,
Specialty Metals Division, in Syracuse,
NY, has been landfilling solid wastes from
production of specialty steels on an
abandoned Solvay Process wastebed
adjacent to Onondaga Lake.
The hydrogeology and geochemistry of
the site, as well as the leaching chemistry
of landfilled solid wastes, have been
studied intensively over the past several
years in order to define potential problems
such as contamination of area! ground-
water and surface water and impacts on
the local biological community.
The results of these studies show that
the Crucible landfill does not pollute
either ground or surface waters and has
no harmful effects on biota. Studies of
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and Argon-
Oxygen Decarburization (AOD) dusts
indicate a high leaching potential for toxic
hexavalent chromium (Cr). Detailed
studies of the interaction of hexavalent Cr
leached from EAF and AOD dusts and the
Solvay Process waste underlying the
landfill show that two attenuation
mechanisms immobilize the hexavalent
Cr in the underlying Solvay Process
waste.
Paniculate and Particle Size
Data for Clean and
Contaminated Quench Water
Usage — Dofasco No. 1 Wet
Coke Quench Tower
John D. Jeffery
GCA Corporation/Technology
Division
Bedford, MA 01730
A measurement program was developed
in cooperation with EPA's Stationary
Source Compliance Division (OAQPS/
SSCD), EPA's Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory (ORD/IERL-RTP),
Dominion Foundries and Steel Company,
Ltd. (Dofasco), and the Munters Company
to sample emissions from the No. 1 wet
coke quench tower at Dofasco's facility in
Hamilton, Ontario. The tower, its location,
baffle design, and availability of both
clean and contaminated water for quench-
ing were selected to answer questions for
the cosponsors. Briefly, these questions
are: Can a tower, equipped with a
multiple directional baffle array located in
the upper two-thirds of the tower with
an exit velocity less than 20 fps, achieve
lower emission rates than towers pre-
viously tested? What removal efficiency
can be achieved? What will the particle
size distribution be?
The program sampling was devised to
measure paniculate matter and particle
size distribution above and below the
baffle array simultaneously. The tower
was sampled during normal operations
with quench water at 501 mg/l and later
with by-product flushing liquor at 8850
mg/l TDS. Composite water samples
were taken from the quench water
header line, the return trough, and the
varying makeup supply lines for each
particulate test conducted to determine
the effect of water quality on emissions.
Process observations were recorded
pertaining to battery operations, coal-coke
conditions, and the operation of the
quench tower itself.
Session 2. Solid Waste
Pollution Abatement
Penelope Hansen, Chairman
U.S. EPA
Washington, DC 20460
David G. Boltz, Chairman
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Bethlehem, PA 18016
Groundwater Monitoring
Strategies for Steel industry
Residue Disposal Operations
Andrew P. Pajak and David W.
Hupe
Michael Baker, Jr., Inc.
Beaver, PA 15009
Regulations issued by the U.S. EPA and
state regulatory agencies require that
owners or operators of existing and new
surface impoundment, landfill, or land
treatment hazardous waste management
facilities implement a groundwater
monitoring program. Moreover, evolving
nonhazardous waste regulations are
including groundwater monitoring and
protection requirements. RCRA hazardous
waste regulations published on July 26,
1982, are significantly different than
previously imposed regulations. This
paper highlights the new regulatory
approach and differences between the
existing and new federal RCRA regula-
tions, especially in the area of flexibility
and variances. Design of an acceptable
monitoring network and protocol are
discussed. Problems experienced in
monitoring network design and interpre-
tation of resulting data are illustrated.
Concise flowcharts of actions required by
the regulations and an outline for
designing a groundwater monitoring
program are provided.
Recovery of Metallic Values
from Electric Arc Furnace
Steelmaking Dusts
E. Radha Krishnan and William
F. Kemner
PEDCo Environmental, Inc.
Cincinnati, OH 45246
Dust generated from electric arc
furnaces (EAFs) used in steel plants is
currently listed as a hazardous waste.
Disposal of the waste at a controlled
landfill is becoming costly as disposal
sites become scarcer and more distant
from the point of origin. The dust,
however, represents a potential source of
metals such as iron, zinc, lead, chromium,
nickel and molybdenum; recovery or
recycling of these metals appears to be a
logical alternative to the disposal problem.
This paper presents a technical and
economic assessment of various tech-
nologies available for recovery of metallic
values from EAF steelmaking dust.
The type of recovery process which can
be employed depends on the chemical
composition of the EAF dust, which in
turn is dependent on the type of steel
-------
product being made. Carbon and lowalloy
steel EAF dusts are rich in zinc and lead,
while dusts from stainless and specialty
alloy steels contain significant quantities
of chromium, nickel, and molybdenum.
Five recovery processes are discussed in
this paper: 1) a causticJeach electrolytic
zinc recovery process studied in a pilot
plant by AMAX Base Metals Research
and Development, Inc., in Carteret, NJ; 2)
the Waelz kiln practice for processing
EAF dusts which is being commercially
employed by the New Jersey Zinc
Company, Inc., in Palmerton, PA; 3) an
electrothermic shaft furnace process
using plasma heat piloted by SKF Steel
Engineering in Sweden and currently
being commercialized; 4) a commercial
pyrometallurgical smelting technique
developed by Inmetco in Ellwood City, PA;
and 5) a recycling process perfected by
the U.S. Bureau of Mines in coordination
with Joslyn Stainless Steel Division in
Fort Wayne, IN.
The AMAX and New Jersey Zinc
processes are applicable to recovery of
heavy metals, such as zinc and lead, from
carbon steel EAF dusts. The SKF process
can be applied to both carbon steel and
specialty steel dusts to recover metals
such as iron, zinc, lead, chromium, and
nickel. The Inmetco and Bureau of Mines
processes are suited to recovery of iron
and alloying elements from stainless steel
EAF dusts.
Mill Scale De-oiling by Critical-
fluid Extraction
Thomas J. Cody, Jr., Richard P.
de Filippi, and Christopher P.
Eppig
Critical Fluid Systems, Inc.
Cambridge, MA 02140
A process for de-oiling mill scale with
critical-fluid solvents (liquefied gases or
supercritical fluids) has been successful
in bench-scale tests. A process design
and evaluation has been completed, and
preliminary economic estimates for both
capital and operating costs appear
promising. Additional testing for final
process definition is expected to be
concluded in several months.
Session 3. Air Pollution
Abatement
Murray Greenfield, Chairman
Dofasco, Inc.
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N
3J5
James R. Zwikl, Chairman
Shenango, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA 15255
Determination of the Decay in
Control Efficiency of Chemical
Dust Suppressants on
Unpaved Roads
Thomas Cuscino, Jr., Gregory E.
Muleski, and Chatten Cowherd,
Jr.
Midwest Research Institute
Kansas City, MO 64110
This paper presents the methodology
and results of two field studies directed
toward the quantification of control
efficiency of chemical dust suppressants
applied to unpaved roads. Three generic
categories of chemical controls were
studied: water, a water-based petroleum
resin, and a water-based asphalt emulsion.
For each dust suppressant studied, the
decay in control efficiency with time (or
more specifically, with vehicle passes) is
presented for a single application
intensity, dilution ratio, and vehicle
weight and speed distribution. Separate
control efficiency curves for total,
inhalable, and fine particulate emissions
are presented.
It was observed that there is a more
than linear increase in control efficiency
with an increase in chemical suppressant
concentration in the applied liquid. It was
also observed that the increased shear
stress on the treated road caused by stop-
and-go traffic results in a much more
rapid decay in control efficiency than
occurs with constant speed traffic.
Finally, it is concluded that a single
control efficiency value for a chemical
dust suppressant is a meaningless value
unless the associated vehicle, road, and
chemical application (and reapplication)
characteristics are specified.
The Effect of Dust Control
Measures in a Dutch Iron and
Steel Works
Cornelis A. Aronds
Hoovogens Umuiden
Umuiden, Netherlands
At the expense of large investments
and exploitation costs, Hoogovens has
achieved a considerable reduction of its
dust emission from process sources. A
measuring network was installed around
the works to assess the effect of this
reduction on the quality of the ambient
air. Instruments according to the U.S.
EPA high volume sampler (HVS) method
and the directives of the West German
"Landesanstalt fur Immissionsschutz
(LIB)" were used in parallel for
comparison of the results.
Notwithstanding the reduction in the
emission, no significant decrease in
paniculate concentrations could be
found. After correction for the large
influence of several weather factors and
the contribution of other sources, a better
agreement with expectations could be
obtained, especially with the German
method. One of the reasons is that the
German method is less sensitive to
coarse dust in the air, meaning it is
independent of the wind speed.
Moreover, this method has some other
advantages.
Fugitive Dust Emissions from
Roads in Iron and Steel Mills:
Compilation of Results and
Use Under EPA's Emission
Trading Policy
LL Simmons, C.. Norton, and
M.J. DeBiase
Energy & Environmental
Management, Inc.
Murrysville, PA 15668
An emissions trade of fugitive
particulate matter from open-dust
sources for process fugitives can be
accomplished through a structured
approach to quantification of the
emission reduction credit. Emission
factors for open-dust sources can be used
as a first approximation of the emissions.
However, field data have shown that the
average measured emission factors differ
by a multiple of 0.90 for paved roads and
4.44 for unpaved roads as compared to
predicted values. An exposure profiler
test is recommended to quantify the
emissions under current and proposed
controls as part of an emissions trading
application.
This information will be useful to
environmental control personnel at iron
and steel mills and the regulatory
agencies in providing a good first order
estimate of total uncontrolled anc
controlled fugitive emissions from roads
A Comparison of Alternative
Coke Pushing Emission
Control Systems
Daniel J. Metzger and Nona L.
Hancock
National Engineers and
Associates
St. Louis, MO 63105
-------
The need to control emissions evolved
during the pushing of coke from a coke
oven has given rise to a variety of control
systems. This paper compares three of
the most popular systems in use today:
Mobile Systems, Traveling Hood
Systems, and Coke-sided Shed
Systems.
The comparisons made in this analysis
are those associated with the kinds of
choices facing the end user. The content
of this paper is, therefore, directed toward
the engineering and physical aspects of
the systems.
The data presented is based on three of
the systems available from National
Engineers and Associates. Capital,
operating, maintenance, and other
related costs of the three systems may
vary from systems engineered and
erected by others.
All three of the coke pushing emission
control systems which are the subjects of
this comparison have been successfully
applied to meet the regulatory
requirements. As with many air pollution
control tactics, the regulatory re-
quirements have evolved and changed
over time. For this reason, an
understanding of the basic strengths and
limitations of each type of control system
is of importance to both the public and
private sectors involved in control of air
contaminants.
The Precision of Visual
Emission Observations Within
an Integrated Steel Works
D.E. Splitstone and J.Y. Lin
United States Steel Corporation
Monroeville, PA 15146
Visual observation of "smoke" is
probably one of the oldest measures of
source emissions. Attempts to quantify
this measure have proceeded from the
use of the "Ringelmann Chart" to the
certification of an observer's ability to
quantify source emissions in 5 percent
increments of opacity. Many regulatory
and source-emission standards today are
based on the ability of observers to
quantify visual emissions. However,
analysis of data for the simultaneous
observation, under actual field
conditions, of various source types by
several certified observers reveals that
there is significant variability among the
observers' perception of the opacity of
source emissions. This variability is a
significant portion of the precision of the
measurement method. This precision is
shown to vary with the diffusivity of the
smoke emission, ranging from 3.6
percent opacity for well-defined emissions
to 6.7 percent opacity for more diffuse
emissions.
The precision of this measurement
method should be taken into account
when determining possible violations of
applicable opacity standards. Better still,
these standards should be stated in such
a manner as to explicitly recognize the
precision of this measurement method as
part of a criterion for compliance
determination.
The Relationship Between
Visual-Emission Observations
and Continuous-Emission
Monitor Measurements of
Coke-Battery Stacks
D.E. Splitstone
United States Steel Corporation
Monroeville, PA 15146
B.C. Erickson
United States Steel Corporation
Provo, UT 84601
Under current regulations, the
accepted means for enforcement of
opacity-emission standards is the trained
certified observer. The procedure for
observer certification requires that a
candidate demonstrate the ability to
assign opacity readings in 5 percent
increments to 25 different black plumes
and 25 different white plumes
generated by a smoke generator. The
reference standard for this demonstration
is a smoke meter or continuous-emission
monitor (CEM) within the stack of the
smoke generator. Therefore, it might be
expected that a good and consistent
relationship would be found between
visual-emission observations (VEO) and
CEM readings in the field.
However, in the present study
extensive analysis of data collected on
coke-oven-battery stacks equipped with
CEMs revealed that: (1) although a
correlation exists between VEO and CEM
readings in the general sense, VEO
readings tend to increase or decrease
when CEM readings increase or
decrease; and (2) no consistent
relationship exists for predicting VEO
readings from CEM readings. This is
particularly, and most importantly, the
case for high CEM readings. Therefore,
the CEM readings cannot be used as a
surrogate measure of visual-emission
opacity for coke-oven-battery stacks.
Benzene Emissions Sources
and Emissions Control at Coke
By-product Plants
Leslie L. Beck
U.S. EPA
Research Triangle Park, NC
27711
C. Clark Allen and David W. Coy
Research Triangle Institute
Research Triangle Park, NC
27709
Benzene emissions are of concern at
coke oven by-product plants due to
benzene's carcinogenic potential. Major
emission sources in by-product recovery
plants are open or partially closed process
vessels. This paper describes the
emission factors, the relative significance
of specific process sources, and air
pollution control technology to reduce
these benzene emissions.
Blast Furnace Casthouse
Emission Control Without
Evacuation
S. Vajda
Jones & Laughlin Steel
Corporation
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
During the past 3 years, J&L has
developed an innovative proprietary
technique for the control of blast furnace
casthouse emissions. The technology,
known as the Passive Emission Control
(PEC) system, has been tested on three
different J&L blast furnaces and was
successful in complying with the opacity
requirements of three states. Compliance
was achieved without the use of fans and
air cleaners. For the typical U.S. furnace,
certain additional benefits are available:
(1) lower capital cost for installation, (2)
the casthouse working conditions are
better than those obtained with canopy-
hood or total evacuation, (3) increased
iron yield, and (4) increased iron
temperature. The system has been
accepted by the U.S. EPA and at least five
states.
Critical Review of Electric Arc
Furnace Paniculate Emissions
Control Technology
Jaffer Mohiuddin
Pacific Environmental Services,
Inc.
Vienna, VA 22180
There has been tremendous growth in
the use of electric arc furnaces (EAFs) for
-------
the production of steel in the last two
decades. In 1962,9,013,000 tons of steel
was produced using EAFs. In 1980 this
figure was 27,662,400 tons and in 1981,
EAFs accounted for 30,137,600 tons of
steel. The increase in EAF steel by 1987
is expected to be about 5 million tons. In
1976 shipments of iron castings and steel
castings totaled 15.3 million tons and 1.8
million tons, respectively. It is anticipated
that these numbers will increase
substantially in the near future. It appears
that the contribution of EAF will continue
to grow. This growth is due to the fact that
EAFs offer certain advantages that are
not offered by other types of furnaces.
These include the ability to produce all
known grades of steel, the ability to use
scrap steel, and flexibility of operation.
They ca n be targeted to local markets a nd
scrap supplies. Along with these
advantages, EAFs are known to be
significant producers of paniculate
matter emissions.
Currently, the systems that are used in
controlling EAF paniculate emissions
include roof hoods, direct shell evacuation
(DSE) systems, and side draft extraction
systems for primary emissions. The
secondary emissions are controlled by
several techniques including canopy
hoods and total building evacuation. In
the recent past, several facilities have
installed total furnace enclosure systems
for the control of charging and tapping
emissions. For the newer furnaces, there
is a discernible trend toward employing
total furnace enclosures due to several
advantages. Furnace enclosures require
air volumes 30-40 percent of that
required by an efficient canopy hood,
considerably reducing both capital and
operating costs for duct work, fans, and
gas cleaning systems.
Several specially designed "close
capture" systems are also in use in both
foundry and steelmaking operations.
These include the Hawley close capture
hood, Brusa closed charging system,
Armco tapping pit system, and steam
emission suppression systems. In addition,
there are other designs being tested,
including the Marchand design.
This paper reviews publicly available
data on existing as well as emerging
control technologies applicable to EAFs
and their efficiency. A comparison of
these control methodologies in terms of
their capture efficiency and their relative
cost-effectiveness will be made. Particular
emphasis will be placed on identifying
developing trends and their applicability
to relative cost-effective EAF paniculate
emissions control.
Session 4. Water Pollution
Abatement
John S. Ruppersberger, Chairman
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory, U.S. EPA,
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
S. Charles Caruso, Chairman
Mellon Institute
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Development of a Rotating
Biological Contactor for the
Removal of Ammonia from
Blast-furnace Recycle-water
Slowdown
K.C. Krupinski and P.H. Damon
United States Steel Corporation
Monroeville, PA 15146
Proposed Federal regulations have
established effluent contaminant limitations
on discharges from blast-furnace gas-
cleaning recycle-water systems. To meet
the proposed limits for ammonia, the
major contaminant, the blowdown from
these systems may require treatment. As
a part of the development of alternative
processes for the discharge-water treat-
ment, a supported-growth biological
method for the oxidation of ammonia was
investigated. An extensive program with
a pilot, rotating biological contactor was
conducted for about 1 year at the U.S.
Steel Loram-Cuyahoga Works in Lorain,
OH. The pilot unit contained commercial-
sized 12-ft diameter disks and was
operated over a wide range of influent
water conditions, with ammonia-nitrogen
concentrations averaging 329 mg/l.
Reductions in ammonia-nitrogen concen-
trations to 1 mg/l were achieved with the
process demonstrating excellent resistance
to simulated failure conditions along with
the potential for low maintenance and a
low level of operator attention.
Blast Furnace - Recycle System
Side Stream Softening
Summary of Full Scale Trial
Leonard D. Wisniewski and
Richard L. Nemeth
Republic Steel Corporation
Cleveland, OH 44101
Republic Steel's Cleveland District has
undertaken a program to reduce blast
furnace recycle system blowdown to
volume levels that can either achieve
regulatory requirements or be disposed of
via quenching and evaporation on blast
furnace slag. This is a potential alternate
to the treatment of blast furnace blowdown
using alkaline-chlorination treatment. It
will be necessary to remove scaleforming
constituents from the recirculating
waters to prevent harmful buildup
throughout the recycle system as the
cycling is increased. Republic isattempting
to accomplish this by investigating the
effectiveness of "side-stream" softening
a portion of the total recycle volume.
This paper details the results of the
work conducted to date on a trial
softening program at its 5 & 6 Blast
Furnace Recycle System at the Cleveland
District steelmaking facility. Included is a
description of the modified treatment
system and a summary of the water
chemistry softening results. A summary
which compares the system's discharge
loads to the recently promulgated Best
Available Technology (BAT) effluent
limitation guidelines is also included.
This paper is a follow-up to a presentation,
made by the same authors at last year's
symposium, which dealt with efforts to
minimize Cleveland's 5 & 6 Blast Furnace
recycle system blowndown rate to below
BAT levels.
Costs of Pre-treatment of
Coke-plant Effluents
J. Ganczarczyk
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S
1A4
M. Kelleher
MacLaren Engineers Inc.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5E 1E7
One of the most common strategies fo
pre-treatment of coke-plant effluent
consists of wastewater equalization
followed by ammonia stripping. Dissolve'
air flotation is a compact pre-treatmer
method which is worthy of consideratio
for some applications. The capital an
operating costs, and some technologic!
aspects of each of these three operatior
are examined in this paper.
Equalization, which is practiced i
many plants and is always strong
advised prior to biological treatment,
associated with capital cost which var'n
linearly with the chosen detention peric
The operating costs are minimal. It
expected that adequate equalizatii
periods permit some cyanide conversic
good oil and tar removal, and other agi
phenomena which could make t
-------
wastewater more amenable to biological
treatment. Where equalization precedes
ammonia stripping, oil removal improves
the effectiveness of the free leg of the
still.
Dissolved air flotation removes most of
the oil and tar and a portion of the COD
bearing material from coke plant waste-
water. Although it does not perform the
function of equalization, dissolved air
flotation can be considered for effective oil
and tar removal if the space required for
adequate equalization is not available. It
has relatively low capital costs and low
operating costs.
In comparison to the other pre-
treatment methods discussed, ammonia
stripping is associated with relatively
high capital and operating costs. Removal
of lime solids prior to the fixed leg of a
conventional still considerably reduces
operating costs and improves the efficiency
of the unit. Many new ammonia stripping
operations used caustic soda for alkaline
pH adjustment because of the numerous
operating problems associated with the
use of lime. However, the operating costs
of modified lime systems are less than
those of caustic systems for comparable
ammonia removal results.
Treatment of Coke Plant
Wastewater With or Without
Blast Furnace Slowdown Water
in a Two-stage Biological
Fluidized-Bed System
S.G. Nutt
Canviro Consultants Ltd.
Kitchener, Ont., Canada N2H 5M5
H. Melcer
Environment Canada
Burlington, Ont., Canada L7R4A6
I.J. Marvan
Dearborn Environmental
Consulting Services
Mississauga, Ont., Canada
L5A 3T5
P.M. Sutton
Dorr-Oliver Inc.
Stamford, CT 06904
Pilot-scale treatability studies conducted
at Environment Canada's Wastewater
Technology Centre have demonstrated
that the two-stage biological fluidized bed
is an effective high-rate system for
treatment of coke plant wastewater alone
and in combination with blast furnace
blowdown water. Greater than 90 percent
removal of total nitrogen from undiluted
coke plant wastewater was achieved at a
total system HRT of 16 hours. A similar
degree of treatment of a combined
wastewater containing coke plant waste-
water and blast furnace blowdown water
was achieved at a total system HRT of 4.5
hours. In both cases, removal of conven-
tional contaminants including FOC, phen-
olic compounds, and CNS approached or
exceeded 90 percent consistently.
Capital costs associated with treatment
of 4950 m3-d-1 (1.31 x 106 U.S. gpd) of
combined wastewater were essentially
identical to capital costs associated with
treatment of 1300 m3- d~1 (0.34 x 106 U.S.
gpd) of coke plant wastewater. Although
annual direct operating costs for treat-
ment of the combined wastewater ex-
ceeded those related to coke plant waste-
water treatment by approximately
$100,000, on a unit cost basis ($ per m3
treated) operating costs for treatment of
the combined wastewater were less than
half those estimated for treatment of coke
plant wastewater alone.
Physical/ Chemical Treatment
of Coke Plant Wastewaters
James R. Zwikl and
Nicholas S. Buchko
Shenango, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA 15225
David R. Junkins
Roy F. Weston, Inc.
West Chester, PA 19380
A physical/chemical wastewater treat-
ment facility consisting of activated
carbon followed by alkaline chlorination
was placed in operation at the coke plant
of Shenango, Inc., in September 1979.
This paper discusses the plant design
characteristics, the operating experiences
encountered with the activated carbon
and alkaline chlorination portions of the
plant, and the effects of inflation and
chemical availability on the operating
costs of the facility. In addition, the
current performance of the plant is
compared with the recently promulgated
Best Practicable Technology (BPT), Best
Available Technology (BAT), and Best
Conventional Technology (BCT) effluent
limitation guidelines for cokemaking
facilities. Finally, a brief discussion is
presented on the ability of the system to
remove priority pollutants.
Nitrification Kinetics as
Influenced by Coke Plant Waste-
waters
Ronald D. Neufeld and
Jeffrey H. Greenfield
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
The overall objective of this research is
to conduct basic studies into possible
causes of biological nitrification process
instability as often observed in steel
industry wastewaters and, in a longer
term, to propose rational and pragmatic
process and operational alternatives for
nitrification in two- and one-sludge
combined systems The experimental
approach taken to date is to evaluate the
influence of elevated free ammonia
levels, pH, elevated temperatures, cyanides,
and certain trace organics that tend to
pass through the carbonaceous reactor
zone on the kinetic parameters that
quantify nitrification. Theoretical calcula-
tions based on laboratory def i ned para me-
ters are made which yield suggestions as
to allowable concentrations of trace
inhibitors, and operational strategies for
stable nitrification of coke plant waste-
waters.
Effective Operation and
Maintenance Practices for
Wastewater Treatment Systems
in the Iron and Steel Industry
William F. Kemner and
Richard T. Price
PEDCo Environmental, Inc.
Cincinnati, OH 45246
This paper presents some of the results
of a current study of operating and
maintenance (O&M) practices for waste-
water treatment systems in the iron and
steel industry. The purpose of the study is
to document effective O&M practices a nd
how their application might affect permit
parameters and operational upsets. The
ultimate goal of the study, which is
funded by EPA's IERL-RTP, is to produce
an O&M report that will assist both
agency inspectors and plant personnel.
The wastewater generating processes
selected for study were by-product
cokemaking, ironmakmg (blast furnaces),
steelmaking (basic oxygen furnaces), hot
forming, and acid pickling. Selections were
based on pollutant loadings, system
complexity, control costs, and common-
ality among the majority of integrated
steel mills.
Information was gathered from several
sources: a literature search for wastewater-
related O&M practices in the iron and
steel industry, discussions with state and
regional agency personnel to identify
major areas of concern and effective
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1983/759-102/0801
-------
O&M practices, review of agency files,
discussions with wastewater treatment
equipment vendors, and discussions with
industry representatives.
Various steel mills were visited, and
treatment plant operators and environment-
al staff members were interviewed. The
information produced by these visits
includes typically encountered problems
and their solutions, troubleshooting
efforts, extent of operator training, efforts
to minimize the effect of operational
upsets, and preventive maintenance
practices.
The study will culminate in the prepara-
tion of a report intended to provide a
better understanding of wastewater
problems in the iron and steel industry, to
help Agency inspectors to be more
effective in evaluating the effect of O&M
practices on wastewater treatment
performance, and to provide information
that will assist plant personnel in
practical and cost-effective fine-tuning of
their systems.
Franklin A. Ayer is with Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park. NC
27709.
Robert C. McCrillis is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Proceedings: Symposium on Iron and Steel
Pollution Abatement Technology for 1982," (Order No. PB 83-258 665; Cost:
$29.50, subject to change) will be available only from:
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
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
------- |