United States
 Environmental Protection
 Agency	
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
 Research and Development
 EPA/600/S8-89/080  Dec. 1989
Project  Summary

POHCs  and  PICs
Screening  Protocol

Ruby H. James, Michael M. Thomason, M. Lisa Manier, and Joe M. Finkel
  During the last  decade, the de-
struction  of hazardous waste by
Incineration has become an increas-
ingly desirable alternative to classical
hazardous waste disposal methods.
Properly designed  and operated in-
cinerators destroy almost all hazard-
ous waste organic compounds while
reducing total waste volume.  How-
ever, the improper design or  oper-
ation of a hazardous waste  inciner-
ator may pose a risk to public health
through hazardous emissions.  Cur-
rently,  trial  burn protocols for an
incinerator are designed to determine
preselected  Principal  Organic  Haz-
ardous Constituents (POHCs) and not
total organic emissions. Products of
incomplete combustion (PICs)  may
be formed during the incineration of
hazardous wastes. PICs may be
defined as compounds in the  stack
gas of  an incinerator that are not In
the waste feed.
  This  report presents a  proposed
analytical protocol for use in screen-
ing total emissions from hazardous
waste incinerators  and combustion
sources. A tiered approach to the
screening  protocol was developed,
based on simple prescreening tech-
niques. Driven  by the quantity of
pollutants found in the  prescreening
of the  samples,  more involved and
specific analytical techniques  were
utilized. GC/FID, GC/MS, HPLC/UV, and
HPLC/MS were evaluated  as  candid-
ate screening methods.  The  pro-
posed  protocol  was applied to the
analysis of Incinerator effluent sam-
ple extracts. Major pollutants  were
Identified and quantified.
  This Project Summary was devel-
oped by EPA's Air  and Energy Engi-
neering Research  Laboratory. Re-
search 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).

Introduction
  During the last decade, the  destruction
of hazardous waste by incineration has
become an increasingly desirable alterna-
tive to classical hazardous waste disposal
methods such as landfilling,  lagooning,
and deep  well  injection. Properly de-
signed and operated incinerators destroy
almost all of the hazardous organic com-
pounds of waste streams  while reducing
total  waste volume.  However, the im-
proper  design or operation of a hazard-
ous waste incinerator may pose a risk to
public health through the emission  of
potentially hazardous chemicals into the
atmosphere. The Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires that
the destruction  and removal efficiency
(ORE)  of  an incinerator for certain
predetermined Principal Organic Hazard-
ous Constituents (POHCs) be  equal to  or
greater than 99.99%.
  Normally, during a trial burn of an
incinerator  for certification,  one to  six
POHCs per waste stream  are chosen for
study.  The success of a  trial burn
depends on meeting the DRE  criteria and
other environmental regulations for these
designated POHCs. Designated POHCs
chosen to be measured in a trial burn  of
a waste are usually those that are the
most difficult to burn or those that have
the highest concentrations. Currently, trial
burn  results  for  specific designated
POHCs  are being interpreted to  be
applicable to other organics in the waste
stream  that are less  difficult to  burn.
Thus, total incinerator  emissions are not
routinely determined in trial burns.

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  Currently, trial  burn  protocols are  de-
signed to determine preselected POHCs
in  a hazardous waste  incineration trial
burn.  The development of  a screening
protocol would allow for the analysis of
preselected POHCs and for the analysis
of  all other  major constituents  of  the
combustion effluent. Generally, the total
composition  of a combustion effluent is
unknown at the time  of  a trial  burn.
Compounds  in the  combustion effluent
may be derived from auxiliary fuel,
compounds  originally  present  in  the
hazardous waste, and compounds formed
in  the combustion  process. A screening
protocol must  measure  all of  these
elements in a way to  identify the major
emissions (POHCs and  PICs) and certain
specific highly toxic compounds that may
be present at a lower concentration.
  Protocols that  are available for con-
ducting  a trial  burn plan  and for  the
sampling and  analysis  of  specific
designated POHCs can be extended and
incorporated into a screening  protocol.
The basic "building blocks" from which a
cost-effective screening protocol can  be
assembled have  been developed  for
hazardous waste incineration programs.
The  purpose  of this  research  is  to
develop an analytical protocol for use in
screening emissions  from  hazardous
waste  incinerators  and  combustion
sources.


Approach to Screening
Protocol
  In  recent years,  EPA  has moved
toward  a risk  assessment  and a risk
reduction framework for making  regula-
tory decisions concerning the disposal of
hazardous wastes. EPA's  Science Ad-
visory Board has commented on the lack
of  information  on total emissions from
incineration processes. A  general sam-
pling and analysis  screening protocol is
needed  to satisfy requirements for data
on total emissions from incineration pro-
cesses.  A screening protocol  must be
able to  identify and  quantify  the  major
organic  compounds  in  combustion
effluents.
  This report documents  the  develop-
ment of a generalized screening protocol
for  organic compounds in combustion
effluents.  The  sampling  and  analysis
methods  are  based  on  protocols
developed  and documented  in  EPA
guideline and test method documents.
The  basic premise is  to  use  existing
sampling and analysis techniques when-
ever possible and practical. The purpose
of the developed protocol  is to  give
maximum information while  minimizing
time and cost incurred in the collection of
adequate data.  The  tiered approach of
the proposed protocol  provides a foun-
dation for a protocol that can  be  risk-
driven.
  Flow diagrams of the organic screening
protocol include  the  extraction  and
analysis procedures  for volatiles,  semi-
volatiles, and nonvolatiles.  The  proposed
protocol assumes that specific sampling
methods and procedures such as VOST,
MM5, or SASS  trains have been defined
and implemented. Risk  assessment data
can be incorporated  into the protocol to
help determine if  sufficient  data have
been obtained.
  Also included in  the report are details
of the analytical procedures for different
analyses in the  screening protocol. Each
analytical procedure has been written as
a stand-alone document and is  based on
existing sampling  analysis  techniques
wherever possible. These analytical pro-
cedures may be  used for many com-
pounds. The  analytical procedures
include  GC/FID and  GC/MS  for volatile
organics, GC/MS for semivolatile organ-
ics, analysis for organics, HPLC/UV for
nonvolatile organics, Soxhlet  extraction
for solid sorbent modules,  and  a screen-
ing  procedure for total  chromato-
graphable organics.
Results and Discussion
  The need to characterize hazardous
waste incinerator emissions for multiple
organic  compounds has  been  steadily
increasing for several years. Similar inter-
est is being shown in  organic emissions
from municipal  waste incinerators  and
sewage  sludge  incinerators.  The strate-
gies described in this report should be
useful for building data bases related to
other waste combustion processes.
  Seven  protocols based on  methods
published  in  EPA documents were
developed and reviewed. The  protocols
included  GC-FID screening  for  volatile
compounds, GC-MS screening for volatile
compounds, Soxhlet extraction  sample
preparation,  TCO determination,  GC-MS
for semivolatile compounds, gravimetric
determination, and HPLC-UV screening.
  Currently,  experimental application of
the proposed  scheme is very  limited.
Three extracts of samples obtained from
Method  0010 testing  of  an incinerator
under different feed and  firing conditions
were analyzed by  the seven protocols.
Thirty-four compounds have been tenta-
tively identified but, more  importantly, the
protocol methods seem to perform well.

Conclusions
  A  tiered  approach  to  the  screening
protocol was developed based on simple
prescreening techniques. Driven by the
quantity of  pollutants  found  in  the
prescreening of the samples,  more in-
volved and  specific analytical technique;
were utilized. GC/FID,  GC/MS,  HPLC/UV
and  HPLC/MS were evaluated  as candi
date screening  methods. Evaluation o
combustion effluent samples by the  pro
posed tiered approach both supports th<
need for a screening protocol and repre
sents the initial phase in the developmen
of a risk-driven protocol for screening a
combustion effluents.
                                                                           T*rU. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1989/748-012/07'

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Ruby H. James, Michael M. Thomason, M. Lisa Manier, and Joe M. Finkel are with
  Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, AL 35255-5305.
Larry D. Johnson is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "POHCs and PICs Screening Protocol," (Order No.
  PS 90-776 930/AS; Cost: $23.00, 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:
        Air and Energy Engineering 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

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