® epa United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Office of Research and Development Washington, DC 20460 Program Fact Sheet July 1992 Demonstration of the perox-pure™ Chemical Oxidation Technology Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Site 300 Altamont Hills, California THIS FACT SHEET TELLS YOU ABOUT. . . ~ EPA's Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program ~ A proposed technology demonstration to be performed at Site 300 of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, owned by the Department of Energy ~ How you can comment on the proposed demonstration and receive more information INTRODUCTION The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies new methods for hazardous waste cleanup through its SITE Program. Under this program, created in 1986, innovative treatment technologies that may significantly reduce the toxicity, mobility, or volume of hazardous waste are demonstrated and evaluated. The SITE Program also generates reliable performance and cost information on the technologies for use in evaluating cleanup alternatives for similarly contaminated sites. The technology proposed for demonstration is the perox-pure™ chemical oxidation technology developed by Peroxidation Systems, Inc. The purpose of this demonstration is to measure how well the perox-pure ™ technology removes volatile organic compounds (VOC) from contaminated ground water at the site. EPA'S SITE PROGRAM Each year, EPA solicits proposals from private technology developers to demonstrate innovative technologies under the SITE Program. Also, technology developers can submit demonstration proposals any time throughout the year. For each technology selected, EPA, often with input from state and regional agencies, does the following: ~ Identifies a site with wastes suitable for treatment ~ Prepares a technology demonstration plan ~ Notifies appropriate agencies for intergovernmental and community reviews ~ Prepares a fact sheet for the public, proposing the site and technology match o Prepares the demonstration site ~ Conducts and audits field sampling and laboratory analyses t> Organizes a visitors' day to view the technology demonstration ~ Evaluates technology performance ~ Prepares an Applications Analysis Report and a Technology Evaluation Report summarizing the demonstration results, as well as several other informational items such as bulletins, summaries, and a video ------- Figure 1. perox-pure™ Chemical Oxidation Technology TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION The perox-puren technology is designed to destroy dissolved organic contaminants in water through an advanced chemical oxidation process using ultraviolet (UV) radiation and hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is added to the contaminated water and fed into the treatment system (see Figure 1). The treatment system planned for demonstration at Site 300 is Model SSB-30, which contains a six-chamber oxidation reactor. Each chamber has one 5,000-watt mercury-vapor UV lamp mounted in a quartz tube. Contaminated water flows in the space between the chamber wall and the quartz tube and follows a path parallel to each UV lamp. Model SSB-30 is also equipped with wipers that clean the quartz tubes to maintain treatment efficiency. Samples can be taken at several locations to evaluate the treatment system's efficiency. Hydrogen peroxide can be incrementally added to each chamber throughout the process for optimizing the system's performance. UV light increases the rate of destruction of organic contaminants in water by enhancing the chemical oxidation of organics with hydrogen peroxide. Many organic contaminants absorb UV light, which may change their chemical structure or may make them more reactive with chemical oxidants. Second, and more important, the reaction that takes place between UV light and hydrogen peroxide produces hydroxyl radicals. These hydroxyl radicals then react with the organic contaminants, destroying them and producing harmless by-products, such as salts, carbon dioxide, and water. The perox-puren process does not produce hazardous waste residuals or air emissions. It is also equipped with safety alarms and an automatic shutdown device in case of emergency. The technology can treat ground water and wastewater with contaminant concentrations ranging from a few thousand milligrams per liter to a few micrograms per liter. If the total concentration of contaminants is greater than the technology alone can handle, the perox-puren process can be combined with other processes such as air stripping, steam stripping, or biological treatment for better treatment results. Depending on the type and concentration of contaminants in the water to be treated, the SSB-30 can process up to 100 gallons per minute. ------- Figure 2. Location of Si SITE DESCRIPTION Site 300 is a high-explosive test area, established by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1955. It is comprised of 11 square miles and is about 60 miles east of San Francisco, 15 miles east of Livermore, and 8.5 miles southwest of Tracy, California (see Figure 2). Operations at Site 300 include hydrodynamic testing; charged particle beam research; physical, environmental, and dynamic testing; and high-explosive formulation and fabrication. The perox-pure™ demonstration will take place in a section of Site 300 called the General Services 300 and the GSA Area Area (GSA). The GSA provides administration and support for all of Site 300, including security, medical, cafeteria, storage, electrial and mechanical engineering, and motor pool services. VOCs, including trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachlorethene (PCE), and other chemicals were inadvertently released to subsurface soils at the GSA area over the years, during past operations. In 1982, TCE was detected in a GSA water- supply well. Subsequent investigations revealed that part of the GSA ground water is contaminated with VOCs, mainly TCE. ------- TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRA TION The perox-pure1" demonstration at Site 300 is scheduled for late August or September 1992. The treatment system will be run under several different operating conditions. Three reproducibility runs will be performed at the optimum operating conditions, selected from the initial test runs. During the reproducibility runs, more extensive sampling will be performed. The primary objectives of this demonstration are (1) to determine how efficiently the treatment system removes VOCs (2) to determine whether the treated ground water meets applicable discharge limits, and (3) to obtain the information required to estimate treatment costs, including process chemical dosages and utility requirements. EPA has prepared a detailed demonstration plan outlining the methods and procedures for testing and evaluating the technology. When the demonstration is complete, EPA will compile and analyze the findings in an Applications Analysis Report and a Technology Evaluation Report. These reports will be useful to evaluate alternatives for cleaning up similar sites across the country. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Questions or comments about the SITE Program or the proposed demonstration should be made by August 10, 1992 to: Norma Lewis U.S. EPA SITE Project Manager 26 West Martin Luther King Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45268 (513) 569-7665 Specific questions regarding the demonstration site or technology should be directed to: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Site 300 Albert Lamarre Site 300 Section Leader Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 7000 East Avenue P.O. Box 808, L-619 Livermore, California 94550 (510) 422-0757 perox-pure™ Technology Chris Giggy Peroxidation Systems, Inc. 5151 East Broadway Suite 600 Tucson, Arizona 85711 (602) 790-8383 ^ Printed on Recycled Paper ------- |