bulletin
Solid   Wastes   Become   2  Useful   Products
       The conversion of solid wastes into
     fuel gas and salable  slag, with reduced
     air pollution and projected costs lower
     than incineration, is being demonstra-
     ted  on a pilot scale at Orchard Park,
     N.Y., near Buffalo.
       The  plant  employs  pyrolysis-
     heating without burning—to convert
     most of the combustible portion  of
     the  waste  into gas and to  melt  all
     metal, glass, and other inorganic por-
     tions.
       It has been operating for nearly a
     year as an EPA demonstration project,
     supported  by $1.4 million in  EPA
     grants and $500,000 from other par-
     ticipants:  Erie County, New  York
     State, the American Gas Association,
     the  A.  E.  Anderson Co., and Torrex
     Systems, Inc.
     75 Tons Per Day
        The plant was designed by the Tor-
     rex Systems,  a  North Tonawanda,
     N.Y.,  firm specializing in refractories
     —furnaces and reactors that operate at
     very high temperatures. It can handle
     75  tons of solid waste per day in a
     continuous, round-the-clock  process.
     The waste comes from Orchard Park
     and a  number of other communities in
     Erie County.
        Present  operations are not contin-
     uous but are interrupted from time to
     time to make adjustments and to mea-
     sure outputs and internal conditions in
     the gasifier, said Edward L. Higgins of
     EPA's  National  Environmental  Re-
     search  Center in  Cincinnati.  Higgins
     was project engineer  for the Orchard
     Park plant from its design and evalu-
     ation  stage three years ago until last
     October. John Bertke now is EPA pro-
     ject officer.
        Heart of the system is the gasifier, a
     vertical cylindrical  furnace about  30
 Orchard'Park gasifier turns even bulky
 items, stumps and stoves, into fuel gas
 and salable slag.
r
 feet high, with an inside diameter of
 four feet.
   Wastes of all kinds are dumped into
 a  funnel-like hopper  at the top. Even
 bulky  items like tree  stumps, tires,
 auto body  parts, and junked house-
 hold appliances are accepted, as  long
 as one  dimension is less than four  feet.

   Air  preheated  by  natural gas  bur-
 ners to about 2,000 degrees Fahren-
 heit enters  the gasifier  from  below.
 The intense heat volatilizes most of
                                   the organic material in the waste into a
                                   fuel gas of high heation value that is
                                   drawn off. The rest of the organic ma-
                                   terial burns, further raising the temper-
                                   ature at some parts of the gasifier to
                                   nearly 3,000  degrees, enough to melt
                                   metals and glass. These form  a puddle
                                   at the base of the retort and are drawn
                                   off periodically.
                                      Close control is kept over internal
                                   temperatures  and hot  air intake so the
                                   right combination of pyrolysis and
                                   combustion is maintained. The layers
                                   of refuse at the gasifier's top serve as a
                                   seal over the hot reactions taking place
                                   below, Higgins said.
                                      The  gas produced can be sold as
                                   fuel, burned to make steam for electric
                                   power generation, or used to help heat
                                   the gasifier.
                                      The slag,  when  quenched  with
                                   water, forms a granular inert material
                                   that can be used in highway  construc-
                                   tion, and in  the manufacture of con-
                                   crete or insulating fiber. Methods of
                                   separating ferrous metals from the slag
                                   are being investigated.
Costs Analyzed
  Present costs of operating the pilot
plant are from $12 to $14 per ton of
waste, Higgins said, but it is expected
that the cost could be cut in half for a
larger  municipal system. The sale of
byproduct energy (gas or steam)  and
slag could further reduce costs.
  Cost of controlling air pollutants
for the pyrolysis-combustion process is
expected to be about half that of in-
cineration, since only part of the waste
is burned;  the rest  is gasified. And
there are no solid residues to be buried
in landfills.
  Based on experience so far with the
pilot  plant, investigators believe  the

       (Continued on page 5)

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EPA   Warnings:  Go   Slow   on   Shale  Oil
   EPA has warned the Nation to go
slow on plans to develop a shale oil
industry in three Western states.
   The warning was issued recently in
Denver when Regional  Administrator
John A Green released the agency's
40-page comments on the Interior De-
partment's draft  statement on  the ex-
pected environmental  impact   of its
proposed plan to lease some Federal
oil shale lands to private industry.
   The Department's program  would
allow the mining and processing of oil
shale on  six sites in  Colorado, Wyo-
ming, and Utah  by  prototype plants
using various methods of extracting oil
from the shale

Gigantic Resource
   The potential  fuel  reserves in shale
arc many  times  the total known re-
serves of crude oil, but little is known
jbout the feasibility and costs of re-
covery and the environmental  side ef-
fects
   Most of the oil shale is on  public
kinds administered by Interior,  and be-
lorc the Department  can lease  the
tracts for prototype  development it
must file environmental impact state-
ments under the National Environmen-
tal Quality Act
   Interior's draft statement was "one
of  the most comprehensive we have
reviewed," the  EPA comment said, but
nevertheless  additional information is
needed
   Whether or not sufficient water will
be available for the oil extraction pro-
cess was high on the list of deficiencies
cited  EPA asked the  Department to
review in greater detail the amount of
water that would be needed and com-
pare its projections with the amount
of water available in the basin of the
upper Colorado River.  Department es-
timates of  water  needs do not agree
with those of Colorado State agencies,
EPA pointed out.

Shutdown Provision
   EPA also suggested  that  proposed
leases be reworded to provide for the
immediate  shutdown   of  prototype
plants  if they should  present  "insur-
mountable  environmental  hazards."
Current  provisions, EPA  said, appear
to assure operators that they can con-
tinue under any conditions.
   Other potential effects of oil shale
development  that  should  be  more
thoroughly  analyzed,   EPA   said,
include:
  • Air pollution from oil extraction
    plants, especially the control or
    dispersion of sulfur dioxide and
    participate matter.
  • Disposal  of spent  shale, the
    crushed rock and dust left after
    the kerogen, an oil-bearing, wax-
    like substance, is extracted.
  • Toxic chemicals from processing.
  • The potential increase in salinity
    in the Colorado River.
   EPA  also would like Interior  to re-
quire companies leasing public lands to
do environmental studies as part of
their development plans  for the leased
area. How  an oil shale industry's water
use would affect downstream  water
quality and quantity; whether oil shale
development would preclude other de-
velopment in the high Colorado  basin;
and whether it  would encourage  de-
pendence on fossil  fuels, reducing in-
terest in alternative energy sources, are
other questions EPA would like dis-
cussed in  the final impact statement.

'Almost  Certain'
   Regional Administrator Green said,
"Some pollution is almost certain to
come from an oil shale  industry, and
we would  like Interior to further dis-
cuss the effects of that pollution  on air
and  water quality, vegetation, and
wildlife in  the area."
   "We  are also asking for  evaluation
of comparative  impacts of alterna-
tives . for oil shale, such as reducing
energy  demand,  increasing  domestic
oil and gas production, gasifying coal,
and generating electricity by coal or
'nuclear power or  both," Green said
   "We've  asked  Interior  to investigate
the economic feasibility of developing
oil shale on private lands alone, versus
feasibility  of  present   plans  which
would see development on public and
private lands."
   Green said EPA also seeks a defini-
tion  of  the role of the public and the
Field Oil Shale Task Force (an  inter-
agency body)  in  reviewing develop-
ment plans and overseeing lease opera-
tions.
  Green said EPA's comments do not
"represent a position"  on the  basic
question of whether or not to develop
the oil shale resource.
  "We feel  our comments, and the
Department  of Interior's  continued
study.. .should  help  Interior  make
that ultimate decision concerning the
issuance of leases for development,"
he concluded.
    ACID   WASTES

    The  Georgia  Water  Quality
  Board has  approved a  chemical
  company's plan to neutralize and
  reuse its sulfuric acid wastes, rather
  than dump them far out at sea.
    The wastes from  the American
  Cyanamid  Co.'s titanium  dioxide
  plant  at Savannah contain highly
  toxic iron sulfate, and are produced
  at the rate of 7.5 million gallons a
  month.
    Cyanamid  has been under State
  orders not to dump  the wastes in
  the Savannah River, but it has been
  unable to get permission from  the
  Army Corps  of Engineers to barge
  them  83 miles out to sea. South
  Carolina officials  protested  that
  costal currents  might  carry  the
  wastes into fertile fishing areas.
    Under the new  plan,  a building
  materials manufacturer, Universal
  Chemicals   and  Minerals  Corp,
  would use the neutralized wastes to
  make  gypsum wall board  and ce-
  ment  The gypsum plant would be
  built   and operating  in  two years
  and  would  create about 70 new
  jobs for Savannah area residents.
    Cyanamid  has  withdrawn   its
  ocean dumping application
                                                     -2-

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This "Cape Code house" in Freehold, N.J. hides an advanced,  Inside is a maze  of machinery to remove and incinerate
automated sewage treatment plant for a housing development,  solids and treat 50,000 gallons of waste per day.
Self-Gontained  Waste   Plant
Concealed   in   Small   Cottage
   A  self-contained,  pollution-free
sewage treatment  plant that  can be
built and operated close to the homes
it serves is now undergoing its trial run
in a suburban area at Freehold, N.J.
   The plant was designed and built by
AWT  Systems, Inc., of  Wilmington,
Del.,  for a Levitt and Sons housing
development that  now has only  20
homes, though it is expected to grow
to 145.
   EPA  is supporting the  project with
a  demonstration  grant to  Levitt of
$250,000 a year and a half ago.
   The system is highly automated, re-
quiring only the part-time services of
one operator. Advanced physical and
chemical processes are used to remove
sewage  solids  and purify the waste
water so it is "considerably higher" in
quality than the stream into which it
discharged,  a  tributary of the Mana-
squan River. Solids and sludge are not
treated  by  bacterial action, but  are
burned  completely in  an incinerator
equipped with advanced air pollution
control devices.
   The waste water treatment includes
adding  powdered  iron oxide to  the
water after conventional  flocculation
and  clarifying. When the water then
passes through a magnetic  filter,  the
iron oxide  is  attracted to the magne-
tized  surfaces, entraining suspended
solids that managed to get by  the clar-
ifer.
  Finally the water passes through a
column of activated carbon which ab-
sorbs the remaining dissolved organic
materials, and  is chlorinated  before
discharge.
  Screened solids and sludge from all
stages of the waste water processing
are  fed through a sand filter for de-
watering. The  sand then carries the
solids into a fluidized bed incinerator,
fired by oil.  All combustion gases go
through a cyclone dust collector and a
wet scrubber before being discharged.
Everything Recycled
   The system provides for the recycl-
ing of all water, sand, and carbon used
in processing. For the carbon used in
the final water treatment, recycling in-
volved  a different type of burning in
the incinerator. Normal incineration is
halted  about once a month for  two
days.  Spent  carbon drawn from the
bottom of the absorber column is fed
into  the incinerator  and heated to
drive off the  absorbed organic materi-
als. The  regenerated carbon is  then
fed back into the top of the column.
   Holding tanks for  incoming waste
water  and  for screened  solids  and
sludge  permit shutting  down the  pro-
cess for carbon regeneration, for main-
tenance work, or simply for adjusting
the flow of  sewage through the sys-
tem.
  The builders say the Freehold plant
demonstrates one solution to the prob-
lem of overburdened city sewage treat-
ment systems.  Freehold has a mora-
torium on new connections to the lo-
cal  sewer tines, and Levitt could not
otherwise have started its housing de-
velopment. Similar plants could serve
such remote areas as camp grounds,
national  parks, or rest stops on inter-
state highways, the company said.
   Irwin  J. Kugelman,  EPA  project
officer  from  NERC-Cincinnati, said
the Freehold  plant has been under-
going "de-bugging" tests and operating
intermittently  since  it was formally
dedicated  in  November. The  liquid
treatment  portion of  the  system is
now in  continuous operation  and  al-
most fully automatic.
   The de-bugging is now concentrated
on  the solids handling section, after
repair of cracked wall in the fluidized-
bed incinerator.
   The  plant  has been  using some
waste from  the  Freehold  municipal
system,  Dr. Kugelman  said, since the
number  of occupied homes in the de-
velopment did not  produce  enough
sewage for the shakedown tests.
   The  plant  is  designed to  treat
50,000 gallons of waste water per day,
enough to serve a community of 800
people. More  than $500,000 has been
spent most of which involved one-time
costs for  research and development.
An AWT  spokesman said a plant of
similar capacity could now be built for
"about $200,000."

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Sulfur   Reclaimed   From   Utility  Staff
   Construction is nearly complete on
a  full-scale  demonstration plant to
reclaim sulfur dioxide from flue gases
at an  Illinois Power Co. generating
station at Kast Alton, 111.
   liPA supporting funds of $3.5 mil-
lion  arc  paying  about half  of the
plant's  cost, according   to  Gilbert
llasclberger,  project  officer,  who  is
with EPA's Control  Systems  Labora-
tory at Research Triangle Park, N.C.
   The power company is paying the
rest.
Shakedown Tests
   The plant  builders  and  designers,
Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems, Inc.,
arc conducting shakedown tests of the
equipment and will turn it over to the
power company when it is operating at
its guaranteed levels of performance:
hotter  than  W  percent particle re-
moval and 85 percent removal of sul-
fur oxides. This stage is expected to be
reached this summer, Haselberger said.
   The complex  structure is 137 feet
long, 126 feet wide, and 110 feet high,
nearly equal  to  an  I 1-story building
occupying half of a football field. It is
designed  to  take all the combustion
gases from boiler no. 4 of the Illinois
Power Company's  Wood River Plant.
This  coal-fired boiler supplies steam
for 1  10-megawatt generator.
   The sulfur extracted from the stack
gases is recovered  as  sulfuric acid,  a
widely  used  industrial chemical that
can be sold to help offset the cost of
the treatment process.
   Haselberger said the plant is attract-
ing much attention from the electric
utility industry as a demonstration of
one method of curbing sulfur oxide air
pollution  from existing  power plants.
   Other  methods are also  being in-
vestigated, as EPA and the electric
power industry strive  to develop con-
trol  technology. These  include both
precombustion methods    switching
to low-sulfur  fuels, desulfurizing coal
and oil, or gasifying such fuels - and
post-combustion methods - scrubbing
flue  gases with slurries or solutions of
calcium,  sodium, or magnesium com-
pounds.
 Equipment  for removing  particles and  sulfur  from  the stack gas of  a
 110-megawatt power plant fits beside stack, right, and in from of boiler unit, the
 tall building in the  background. Rectangular unit in mid-background is the
 electrostatic  precipitator. Peaked-roof structure houses converter and heaters;
 cylinder contains equipment to make sulfuric acid from sulfur trioxide.
   Relative  costs can  only  be esti-
mated by laboratory experiments, he
said.  Full-scale  demonstrations  are
needed before costs and practical feasi-
bility can be established.

A Chemical Factory
   The Wood River demonstration in
effect adds a specialized chemical fac-
tory at  the  downstream end of the
coal-fired boiler.  Flue gases f om the
boiler first  pass  through a high-effi-
ciency electrostatic precipitator to col-
lect and  remove particulates-smoke
and dust  particles.
   The flue gas leaving the  boiler at
325 degrees Fahrenheit contains sulfur
in the form of sulfur dioxide. It must
be raised in temperature to 850 de-
grees before conversion to sulfur tri-
oxide  can  take  place, in  a process
called catalytic oxidation.
   The heating  is  accomplished  in
three stages, using reheat burners and
heat exchanger. To increase efficiency,
       (Continued on  page 5)

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New   Booklet  Series    Outlines   Successful
Control  Methods
   First of a series of reports on suc-
cessful techniques of pollution control
has been issued by EPA's Technology
Transfer program
   Called  "Capsule Reports," the at-
tractively  printed  booklets are  de-
signed  to  show industrial  managers
how a new process works, its esti-
mated  costs,  its  effects on produc-
tivity, and its possible applications to a
variety of industries different from the
one for which it was developed.
   Each Capsule Report will be backed
by detailed  technical reports for engi-
neering personnel, said Robert Crowe,
head of the Technology Transfer pro-
gram
   The reports will be issued as fast as
the pollution control  processes  arc
proven effective,  Crowe said.  Publi-
cation of seven more are expected this
year, and "about  ten" next year  All
will deal with industrial techniques for
reducing pollution, saving and reusing
resources, improving efficiency, or var-
ious combinations of these goals
   The first report describes a  saving
zinc method of recycling zinc  in  the
manufacture of rayon  yarns.  It was
developed   under  a  5283,000 EPA
demonstration grant by the American
Enka Co. at Enka, N.C.
   More than 50 million  pounds of
zinc sulfate arc used annually  in  the
United States as a retardant in the acid
bath in which cellulose is "spun" into
viscose rayon fibers  Since none of the
zinc enters  into the fiber formation.
the zinc consumed  represents losses
zinc sulfate which clings to the emerg-
ing fibers and  is later washed away.
backwash from  filters, splashes, and
leaks.
   No practical method of recovering
this zinc existed until the new process
of two-stage precipitation was devel-
oped   In the first  stage, the rayon
waste  waters are treated to precipitate
iron   and  calcium  compounds  and
other   impurities A  second  precip-
itation produces a dense sludge  con-
taining 4 to 7 percent zinc which is
converted back to zinc sulfate and re-
turned to the spinning bulh
          Costs Reduced
   The process offers production cost
savings as well  as pollution reduction,
the report says, and it could help pre-
serve  the world's limited resources of
metallic zinc Known reserves arc suf-
ficient to   last  about  23  years  at
present rates of usage
   Although only 10 US firms manu-
facture viscose  rayon, zinc-rich wastes
arc produced  by many others indus-
tries,  e.g , ground-wood pulp making,
metal  palling, zinc refining, and rear-
culatmg water systems EPA specialists
believe the new process may be adapt-
ed to  them
Sulfur  Reclaimed  From Stack
       (Continued from page 4)
waste heat from  the hotter stages is
passed down to the cooler ones.
   After the third stage the hot gas
passes  through a catalytic-bed  con-
verter where almost all  the sulfur is
oxidized  to  sulfur tnoxide.  It  then
goes to an  absorbing tower where
water is added to convert the sulfur
tnoxide to sulfunc acid.
   A mist eliminator section filters out
any remaining particles of acid before
the cleaned gas goes to the stack.
   The sulfuric acid product is rated
"weak"-about 77 percent acid—but it
can be used "as is" in  many industrial
processes, or further concentrated in a
separate operation.
   The Wood River project has been
almost three years in the making A
contract  for preliminary design  and
evaluation was let in June, 1970, by
EPA's  predecessor  agency,  the  Na-
tional Air Pollution Control Adminis-
tration. The construction contract was
awarded in October of that year.
   After  the plant is completed  and
accepted, EPA will conduct a year-
long program of testing and evalua-
tion The plant will be operated under
a  wide  range  of conditions,  Hascl-
berger said, to  provide  data useful to
the industry and helpful to EPA in
establishing  emission   standards  for
coal-fired utility boilers.
  The Technology  Transfci proguni
was initiated two ycjrs ago by EPA's
Office  of  Research  and  Monitoring
after  Agency officials noticed  that
many  applications for waste treatment
construction  grants were not up-to-
date technically  The piogram seeks to
promote new technology aggicssivcly,
and acrosscatcgonc.il b.imcis

       Technology Seminars
  The program's early emphasis  was
on  municipal sewage treatment prob-
lems,  but  it has been broadened to
include industrial waste treatment, :nr
pollution   control,  and solid  waste
management  More  than 20 Technol-
ogy Transfer seminars have been held
for  some  2,500  engineers and man-
agers  from States, cities, and private
industry  The seminars arc organized
and  conducted  by  the  Technology
Transfer  staff  of seven  professional
engineers,  supported  by  specialists
from  EPA's National  Environmental
Research   Centers,  Regional  Offices,
and private consultants
   Copies of the Capsule Reports and
other  more technical publications arc
available  from  Technology Transfer,
EPA,  Washington,  D.C 20460   The
program's  offices arc in Russlyn,  Va.,
telephone (703) 552-0851.


Pyrolysis   Plant
       (Continued from page I)
system could be operated al 25 to 50
percent less than the cost of operating
a conventional, municipal incinerator,
depending on byproduct revenues. In-
cinerators  now  cost from $10 to  $12
per ton lo operate
   Capital  costs, they estimate, would
also be lower, about 30 percent, since
the pyrolysis-combustion  system is
much  smaller than  an incinerator of
similar capacity.
   EPA's  participation in the Orchard
Park demonstration will end June 30,
when  the plant will be Erie County's
responsibility.
   The Agency is sponsoring two other
demonstrations of  pyrolysis systems
for  solid waste disposal, one  in Balti-
more,  Md.,  and  one  in  San  Diego
County, Calif
                                                   -5-

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New-Plant  Standards  To   Be
Set  For  27  Industries This Yr.
   Effluent regulations for new plants
 in 27 high-pollution industries will be
 established by EPA  before Jan  16,
 1974.
   This deadline  was set last month
 when  the  Agency  published in  the
 Federal Register the  industry list sug-
 gested in  the Federal Water Pollution
 Control Act  Amendments  of  1972,
 which became law last October.
   Under  the  law, EPA must issue
 standards of performance requiring the
 "best  available demonstrated control
 technology. . . including, where prac-
 ticable, a  standard permitting no  dis-
 charge of pollutants" within one year
 of announcing the list.
   The standards will apply only to
 new plants and production facilities in
 those industries.
   The list covers a wide range of raw
 material  and primary project indus-
 tries,  all  known to have  major  pol-
 lution problems It includes
    Steam-electric power plants.
    Four   metal industries  iron  and
steel  manufacturing, ferroalloys, non-
ferrous metals, and electroplation.
  Six  chemical  industries:  organic
chemicals, inorganic chemicals, plastics
and synthetics, soaps and detergents,
fertilizers, and phosphates.
  Eight agricultural and  food indus-
tries  meat  products  and rendering,
live stock fccdlots, leather tanning and
finishing, dairy  product  processing,
grain mills, canned and preserved fruits
and vegetables, canned and preserved
seafood, and sugar processing
  Three wood-related industries  tim-
ber products,  pulp and  paper mills,
and  pa per board  and builders  paper
mills.
   Five other raw material industries.
petroleum refining, cement manufac-
turing,  glass  and asbestos  manufac-
turing,  rubber processing, and textile
mills.
   Additional categories are expected
to be  published later  by EPA, and
standards for them must be established
within a year of publication.
 EPA Checks Radiation  Effects
 Of   Nuclear  Testing   In   China
    Small  temporary increases in air-
 borne  radioactivity in the western
 States from a nuclear test in China last
 year are reported by EPA's Office of
 Radiation  Programs in the February
 issue of Radiation Data and Reports.
    Detonation of a nuclear device hav-
 ing an estimated yield of less than 20
 kilotons  (TNT  equivalent)  was an-
 nounced by the Atomic Energy  Com-
 mission shortly after its occurrence on
 Jan  7,1972
    During the  following three weeks
 the progress and intensity of the radio-
 activity were monitored by EPA's Air-
 borne Surveillance Network, based at
 the  National Environmental Research
 Center at Las Vegas, Nev.
    From data obtained at 103 routine
 ASN sampling stations in 21 western
 States, plus 10 standby stations, EPA
 scientists calculated the increase in dif-
  ferent kinds of  radiation  dose to
  people in the area.
   The highest "hypothetical  infant
 thyroid  dose  equivalent"  resulting
 from  inhalation was about 1.2 milli-
 rems  at  Pueblo, Colo  This dose is
 about two-tenths of one percent of the
 Federal Radiation  Council standard.
 Highest hypothetical  infant thyroid
 "mgcstion dose,"  from increased ra-.
 dioactivity m milk, was about 10 mil-
 lircms at  Laramie. Wvo., 2 percent of
 the standard.

   The eastward movement of  the  ra-
 dioactivity is illustrated with maps like
 those used by weather forecasters.
   R  B. Evans, R. N. Snellmg,  and F
 N. Buck are authors of the article

   The same three men, all associated
 with  NERC-Las Vegas, had an article
 in last month's issue of Radiation Data
 and Reports giving a  similar dose as-
 sessment from a Chinese nuclear test
 on Nov. 18, 1971.
4  COMPANIES

IN  RANKLINE

ENGINE  RACE

   Four companies are now in the race
to demonstrate a Rankme-cycle engine
that  might  provide  low-pollution
power for future automobiles.
   EPA  announced  last month that
Lear Motors Corp., Leareno, Nev., has
been awarded a $900,000, fixed-fee
contract to demonstrate a  100- horse-
power steam-and-turbme engine.
   The Lear engine is to be completed
within  nine months. It will then be
compared with three  other Rankine
engines,  being developed under other
EPA  contracts,  to  see which  type
could be picked for further develop-
ment and construction  of a prototype.
   A vehicle powered by a prototype
of the winning design is expected to be
operating by the end of 1975.
   On Rankine engines, fuel is burned
outside the engine itself, and the fluid
which does the work  (by expanding
and contracting and  causing some me-
chanical parts to move) flows contin-
ually in a  closed  loop. Some early
steam-powered automobiles used Ran-
kine-cycle engines.
   The  four competitor's  designs em-
 ploy  two  different  working fluids
(water and a synthetic organic fluid
 like that used in refrigeration systems)
 and two ways of convertion fluid pres-
 sure to mechanical energy (the recipro-
 cation  piston  and  the rotating tur-
 bine)
    The Lear engine will use a water and
 a turbine. Steam Engine Systems Co.,
 Watertown,  Mass.,  is working on  a
 water-and-piston engine, Thermo Elec-
 tron Corp., Waltham, Mass , on an or-
 gamc-fluid-reciprocating  engine, and
 AeroJct Liquid Rocket  Co., Sacra-
 mento,  Calif, on an orgamc-fluid-tur-
 bme engine.

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Outfalls,   Deep   Wells   Ok'd          NJ.   Drivers
For  Florida   Waste   Projects    jjJnaFursetcTests
   Clearing  the way  for  release  or
about $20 million in Federal funds Tor
sewage  plant  construction in  three
Florida  counties,  EPA  recently ap-
proved of ocean outfalls and deep well
injection of treated wastes as "environ-
mentally compatible."
   Region IV  Administrator Jack E
Ravan  issued the decision in the form
of environmental  impact  statements
for sewage plant construction and im-
provement projects  in Dade, Broward,
and Palm Beach Counties in southern
Florida.
   Public hearings  scheduled  late in
January in West Palm Beach, Fort Lau-
derdale, and Miami were the last hur-
dles required by the National Environ-
mental Quality Act  before the funds-
appropriated for the fiscal year ending
last June—can be released to the State
and local governments involved
   "Ocean  outfalls  are considered as
an interim solution," Ravan said, until
better  methods of reuse and reclama-
tion are developed
   Outfalls  are long underwater pipes
extending far enough into the ocean so
that discharges are carried into deeper
water  Injection wells are deep holes
reaching to porous  strata geologically
isolated from water-bearing sands and
gravels.
   Both  methods  were approved as
"environmentally sound" according to
the "best thinking of EPA on the sta-
tus of disposal methods" at the pre-
sent time.

   The EPA Bulletin is published
   monthly by the Office of Public
   Affairs  to  inform  State and
   local environmental officials of
   EPA's research,  standard-set-
   ting,  and enforcement activi-
   ties.
   The Bulletin will  welcome let-
   ters, contributed  articles, and
   photos suitable  to its  purpose
   and audience.
     Van V. Trumbull, Editor
     Room W239, Waterside
        Mall
     Washington, D.C. 20460
      Tel. (202) 755-0883
   Specifically ruled out for southern
Florida were a number of other dis-
posal methods
   • On-land  disposal  and  septic
tanks
   • Shallow injection wells.
   • Discharge into canals or the In-
tercoastal Waterway
   • Discharge  into  Great  Cypress
Swamp or the Everglades
   The impact statements issued by
Ravan did not  deal with specific pro-
jects in the three counties except for a
proposed sewage plant in West Palm
Beach This proposal calls for substan-
tially  complete  removal  of  grit and
solids, 90  percent  removal of organic
materials,  99  percent disinfection  of
bacteria, 90 percent destruction of vi-
ruses,  and  provision  for future  ad-
dition of facilities for more advanced
waste water treatment.
   New Jersey car owners can get their
car's exhaust  tested free at one oil
company's service stations as well js at
the official state inspection stations
   Other major gasoline dealers are ex-
pected  to  follow the example of the
Atlantic Richfield Company, which re-
cently installed the  inspection devices
in  60 of its stations  which arc located
near  the official  stale  inspection
points
   Richard J.  Sullivan, State Commis-
sioner  of  Environmental Protect ion,
commended the  firm for  its free test
service, designed  to help car owners
pass  the State test  for carbon mon-
oxide and hydrocarbons.
   Until next July, owners of cars
which fail  the test arc not required to
return  for rcinspcction, although  they
arc encouraged  to  do  so Beginning
July  I, rcinspcclion  will be mandatory
for all curs that fail the test
Recent   EPA  Publications
   Control Strategies for In-Use Vehic-
les, 203  p, December,  1972  Sum-
marizes available information on re-
ducing pollutant  emissions by engine
inspection and maintenance, conver-
sion to low-polluting fuels, and retrofit
of control devices Mobile Source Pol-
lution Control  Office, EPA, Washing-
ton, D.C.20460
   Transportation  Controls  - Urban
Strategies for Clean Air, 16 p , Decem-
ber,  1972. This  "briefing document
for citizens" discusses various propo-
sals for  reducing automotive air pol-
lution in cities  by limiting vehicle use.
Benefits and drawbacks of each pro-
posal are  outlined. Mobile Source Pol-
lution Control  Office, EPA, Washing-
ton, D C.  20460.
   Inventory  of Interstate Carrier
Water Supply  Systems,  84 p , July,
1972. List all  water systems fully or
provisionally approved  for use by in-
terstate public  carriers  buses, trains,
airlines,   and  ships Provisional  ap-
provals are classified by  type of de-
ficiency found  Limited  copies avail-
able  from Water  Supply  Division, Of-
fice of Air and Water Programs, EPA,
Washington, D C 20460
   Aircraft Emissions  Impact on Air
Quality and Feasibility of Control. 99
+  vin  p,  n d  Summarises recent
studies of air pollution levels at several
major U.S.  airports and  assesses the
technical  feasibility of  various  pro-
posed methods of reducing aircraft
emissions  Office  of  Air Programs,
EPA, Research Triangle  Park,  NC
27711
   Concept  Evaluation  Recovery of
Floating Oil Using Polyurethanc Foam
Sorbent, 97 + vm p , September, 1972.
A  study  under an  EPA  contract by
Battelle Memorial Institute, Richland,
Wash , of an oil spill clean-up system
using shredded plastic foam  that is
spread  on  the slick, collected and
squeezed to remove the  oil, and re-
broadcast to use again  Office of Re-
search and Monitoring, EPA, Washing-
ton, DC 20460.
   Toxicology  of Atmospheric Sulfur
Dioxide Decay Products,  42 + vi p ,
July, 1972  Summarizes current re-
search  on health effects on animals

      (Continued on back  page)
                                                    -7-

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EPA  Publications
       (Continued from page 7)

  Fuel Economy and Emission  Con-
trol,  24  p., November,  1972.  Fuel
economy  tests on  2,087 uutos,  of
model years 1957 through  1973  in 11
different weight classes, were analyzed
to determine cause  of reduced  miles-
pcr-gallon. Conclusions  vehicle weight
increases  (common  in American cars
of same model from one year to the
next) cut most heavily into fuel econ-
omy,  up to 30 percent  Air condi-
tioning is next, 9 to 20 percent,  emis-
sion  controls, about 7  percent, and
automatic transmissions, about 6 per-
cent  Mobile Source Pollution Control
Office, EPA, Washington, D C  20460.
  Full Scale Parallel Activated Sludge
Process Evaluation, 203 + XH p., Nov-
ember, 1972  Compares performance
of sewage sludge  treatment systems
operating in parallel under completely
-mixed and plug-flow modes at  Free-
port, III The former mode performed
belter  under  shock  load  conditions
Office  of Research  and Monitoring,
b-PA, Washington, D.C 20460
   The Kale  of Sludge  Worms  in
EutropniLalton, 67 + vm p., August,
1972. A study under an EPA contract
by  zoologists  at  the  University  of
Toronto showed that sludge worms in
a grossly  polluted harbor  feed selec-
tively on bacteria and other organic
pollutants,  efficient  assimilation  of
pollutants depends less on their carbon
content than on having a mix of worm
species to feed  on them  Office of Re-
search  and Monitoring, EPA, Wash-
ington, D C. 20460
   Summaries of Foreign Government
Environmental  Reports, No  3, 27 p ,
November,  1972r One of a new series
listing documents of foreign govern-
ments and international  organizations
received at  EPA's  Headquarters  Li-
brary under exchange agreements The
scries concentrates on legislative, econ-
omic, and  social  aspects,  supple-
menting the scientific and  technical
abstracts available from other EPA in-
formation  services   Library Systems
Branch,   EPA, Washington,  D.C.
20460.
EPA  Publishes

Grants   Register
  A register listing all EPA grants for
fiscal 1972 was published recently  by
the  Grants  Administration  Division,
Office of Planning and Management.
  The  327-page  looseleaf document
lists, alphabetically  by  State, every
grant issued by the Agency during the
year ending June  30, 1972,  for  re-
search,  training, construction, and
demonstration.  Each  entry  includes
the  project's title, grantee's name, lo-
cation,  date of award, dollar amount,
and whether the grant is for a new or
continuing project
  A limited number of copies are
available from the Government Print-
ion  Office, Washington, D.C.  20460.
  Starting this month quarterly com-
pilations of fiscal 1973 grants will be
issued.  The first quarterly EPA grants
register, for July through September,
1972, can be  obtained from the Na-
tional Technical Information Service,
Springfield, Va., 22151.
      Use  of funds for  printing this publication approved  by  the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Dec 6. 1971).
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