I".
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S9:84-013 June 1984
&ERA Project Summary
EADS Solid Discharge
Data System
1982 Annual Report
J. Patrick Reider
This report is the first data summary
of solids media sampling and analysis
results compiled in EPA's Solid
Discharge Data System (SDDS). SDDS
is a component of a group of related
computerized data bases -- the
Environmental Assessment Data
Systems (EADS) -- that describe
multimedia discharges from energy
systems and industrial processes.
EADS was designed to aid researchers
in environmental assessment, source
characterization, and control
technology development. This report
summarizes data compiled from the
implementation of SDDS in 1980
through 1982. It lists the sources
reported in SDDS, feed materials used,
chemical analysis data on hazardous
and priority pollutants, and the number
of samples for each source.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC. to announce key
findings of the research project that is
fully documented in a separate report of
the same title (see Program Report
ordering information at back).
Introduction
The Solid Discharge Data System
(SDDS) is a computerized information
system that contains results of sampling
and analysis of solid media discharges
from energy systems and industrial
processes. SDDS is one of four waste
stream data bases that make up the
Environmental Assessment Data
Systems (EADS). SDDS became
operational in June 1980. This annual
report describes SDDS and its growth,
contents, and future within EADS.
EADS is a comprehensive system of
computerized data bases that describe
energy systems, industrial processes,
control technologies, and process
discharges. Moreover, EADS is a protocol
for data analysis and evaluation that
allows users to make consistent and
meaningful interpretations of the data
collected and reported. The EADS proto-
col may be applied to any type of sampling
and analysis activity in which discrete
samples are collected.
EADS consists of four operational data
bases for multimedia product, process, or
waste streams sampled and analyzed,
that are supported by a variety of
reference data bases and data evaluation
programs. The four sampling and
analysis data bases now in operation are
the Fine Particle Emissions Information
System (FPEIS), the Gaseous Emissions
Data System (GEDS), the Liquid Effluents
Data System (LEDS), and SDDS.
Each data base contains extensive
information on the source of the dis-
charges, on applied control technologies,
on fuels or feedstocks, and on the compo-
sition of each discharge. EADS applies to
most sources, including industrial
processes, energy systems, and waste-
water treatment plants. The structure of
EADS and the types of data contained in it
are discussed in the full report.
The vast and growing volume of
sampling and analysis data produced by
EPA, its contractors, and other agencies
required a mechanism to consolidate
such data. These organizations have
produced and still are producing a broad
range of data from a variety of industrial
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and energy sources, and sampling and
analysis methods and protocols are
constantly evolving. EADS was created to
provide a comprehensive and diverse
repository for multimedia environmental
sampling and analysis data and to
consolidate the data in a central location
where they can be readily available to the
user community. To meet this provision,
EADS was designed to accommodate a
variety of multimedia data from assorted
sampling and analysis programs.
One requirement of an environmental
data base was that a consistent format be
used to facilitate accurate reliable data
assessments. More specifically, it was
essential that data be reported in similar
units and be compiled with consistency in
engineering conditions, technical bases,
etc. To meet this need, EADS was
developed to provide a standardized and
uniform protocol for reporting sampling
and analysis data.
A critical need existed for current
information and standardized data
analysis procedures. Thus, EADS was
created fo supply current sampling and
analysis data for evaluation and to
provide standard methods for retrieving
and analyzing the data. LEDS, for
example, has been useful to EPA's Office
of Research and Development in
developing the Wastewater Treatability
Manual. EADS is updated and expanded
constantly, and a Program Library aids
users in evaluating data through the
utilization of standard reports and
analysis software.
^Finally, and possibly most important,
EADS was created to document the
quality of the data reported. EPA is
committed to producing environmental
data of high quality and to providing a
cost-effective way to document results of
sampling and analysis programs so that
data quality may be determined. EADS is
an integral component of lERL-RTP's
approved Quality Assurance (QA)
Program Plan and contains QA
parameters to help the user interpret the
data. The broad applicability and compre-
hensiveness of EADS make it particularly
suitable for a QA documentation role.
Data from EADS have been used to
model process engineering emissions, to
design and evaluate control technology,
and for many other applications. The
EADS Program Library contains an
extensive array of user programs,
including special reports and
computations. Data can be retrieved
according to source control technology,
sample methods, or other criteria. Data
can be requested for the entire EADS or
for any of the data bases within EADS.
Specially designed routines are available
to interface with statistical packages and
to present the data in a variety of report-
ing formats. For example, the FPEIS data
base has a program called PArticle Data
REduction (PADRE), which calculates
particle distributions from user-supplied
stage weights/concentrations and cut
diameters, and stores the results in
FPEIS. These programs assist the user in
obtaining useful and meaningful data in a
variety of forms.
EADS is user oriented. An SDDS User
Guide documents instructions for data
encoding and submittal, along with
methods for data retrieval. SDDS data
may be retrieved either by direct com-
puter access to the data base and its user
program library or by written or verbal
request to EADS technical support staff.
Use of the SDDS data system and
analysis software is described in the
SDDS User Guide. The documentation is
revised easily, and supplements are
issued as needed.
A key component of the design effort
for the EADS data bases is flexibility. User
needs will change, and EADS can adapt
to these changes to remain a useful
information resource. EADS has
undergone several improvements since it
became operational in 1980, and will
undergo additional changes as needed.
EADS is still the only sampling, analysis,
and engineering data system available
that is completely integrated across
media boundaries.
Description of the SDDS
Data Base
The SDDS data base contains
industrial or energy process source
emissions test data an related source and
control system design and operating data.
It describes solid discharges at the point
where the solid sample is collected from
the discharge stream. This is accom
plished through a flexible data base
structure and in the definitions of the
principal data types that are reported.
Such data types are defined as data
elements, each describing a particular
piece of information; (e.g., a source
characteristic, discharge stream charac-
teristic, control device or treatment pro-
cess, source operation, test information,
analyses of the fuels and feedstocks,
sampling activity information, chemical
analyses, radionuclide analysis, or bio-
assay result). The data elements collec-
tively describe the entire source test
activity. SDDS may contain more than
500 discrete data elements for each site
test activity reported. The extent (or
completeness) of the data contained in
the data base depends on the objectives
of the site test plan.
Major categories of data at each level of
the data base are given in Figure 1. The
data are grouped into four general
categories: general source description
and related information; design
conditions and parameters of the effluent
stream and of the control device or
treatment/storage/recovery process;
test operating information, including
analysis of any fuels and feedstock; and
sampling activities information, including
chemical, physical, radionuclide, and
biological analysis results.
SDDS Data Summary
The SDDS is the smallest of the four
EADS waste stream data bases,
principally because of the general lack of
solid waste data available to EADS.
However, there is evidence that sampling
and analysis of solid waste streams is
increasing. Increasing concerns about
hazardous waste and waste disposal, and
a shift from air pollution to toxic and
hazardous waste problems at the Federal
and State levels indicate that further
research and data generation concerning
solid waste streams will be forthcoming.
It is anticipated that SDDS will grow
significantly in 1983. Hazardous and
toxic sampling typically involves either
the liquid or solid media. Source
categories in SDDS are summarized in
Table 1.
All SDDS data in the data base were
collected from combustion sources and
were part of a multimedia environmental
assessment sampling program. Coal was
used asthefuel in all tests butfour, which
used wood. Fifteon utility boilers and six
industrial boilers were tested. None of the
test series reported have any specific
treatment, recovery, or disposal system
for the solid waste sampled. The source
categories, feed materials, chemical data,
and numbers of samples contained in
SDDS are summarized in the full report.
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Test Series
Level
Stream Design
Level
Source Categorization
Reference Information
Stream Design
Information
Test Operating
Level
_L
Fuels/Feedstocks
Characteristics
Sample
Level
Control System
Design Information
Source/Process
Operating Information
Control Systems
Operating Parameters
Sample Hun
Information/Data
Sample Component
Results/Analysis
-L
Inorganic
Analysis/
Non-Level!
Organic
Level I
Organic Analysis
Radionuclides
Analysis
Bioassay
Results
Figure 1. SODS structure.
Table 1. Environmental Assessment Data Systems Source Category Summary
Print-001
Data Base: SDDS
Where Clause Follows:
WHC355LT 01/01/83
Source Category
Combust-Energy
Combust-Energy
Combust-Energy
Combust-Energy
Combust-Energy
Combust-Energy
Source Type
Industrial
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Product
or
Device
Boiler
Boiler
Boiler
Boiler
Boiler
Boiler
Process Type
Stoker
Cyclone
Horiz. Opposed Wall
Single Wall
Stoker
Tangential
SIC
4960
4911
4911
4911
4911
4911
Page: 001
Date: 04/27/83
Number
of Test
Series
5
2
7
7
4
1
Number
of
Samples
13
4
6
17
7
4
J. P. Raider is with Midwest Research Institute. Kansas City, MO 64110.
Gary L. Johnson is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "EADS Solid Discharge Data System 1982 Annual
Report," (Order No. PB 84-194 109; Cost: $8.50, 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
•fr U.S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE; 1984 — 759-015/7730
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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