OSWER Innovations
Pilot
Industrial Phosphate Sludge Waste
as a Raw Material for Iron
Phosphate Glass
The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) initiated a series of innovative pilots to test new ideas
and strategies for environmental and public health protection to make OSWER programs more efficient, effective,
and user-friendly. A small amount of money is set aside to fund creative proposals. The creative projects test
approaches to waste minimization, energy recovery, recycling, land revitalization, and homeland security that may
be replicated across various sectors, industries, communities, and regions. We hope these pilots will pave the way
for programmatic and policy recommendations by demonstrating the environmental and economic benefits of
creative, innovative approaches to the difficult environmental challenges we face today.
BACKGROUND
Every year, the fabricated metal products industry
generates phosphate sludge waste on the order of tens of
millions of pounds. Automobile, heavy equipment,
appliance, fastener, and other fabricated metal
manufacturers generate waste sludge as a by-product of
the phosphate chemical conversion coating process that
is used to improve paint adhesion and corrosion
resistance of finished products. The majority of these
operations are related to the treatment of ferrous
substrates, and the resulting waste is non-hazardous
under U.S. EPA regulations.
No beneficial reuse market for phosphate waste sludge
currently exists. However, recent collaborations between
the Illinois Waste Management and Research Center
(WMRC), the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), and
Mo-Sci Corporation have yielded a potential
commercial application for this waste. Preliminary work
indicates that phosphating wastes are an ideal raw
material for producing iron phosphate glass. Research
also shows that iron phosphate glass offers great
potential as low energy alternatives to commercial
silica-based glass fibers.
PI LOT APPROACH
U.S. EPA Region 5, in partnership with WMRC, Mo-
Sci, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
will investigate the feasability of using non-hazardous
industrial phosphate sludge waste as a raw material for
iron phosphate glass. WMRC will work with EPA, the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), and
the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR)
to identify regulations that affect the handling and
transportation of non-hazardous industrial phosphate
sludge wastes and explore qualitative and quantitative
issues relating to waste handling at each facility on a
case-by-case basis.
WMRC plans to obtain small-volume sludge samples
from at least ten industrial sites within Illinois and
analyze them for critical iron phosphate glass
components, RCRA metals, and other elements that may
affect air emissions. WMRC will perform an extended
study with at least one facility to explore the variability
of sludge wastes. Mo-Sci Corporation will process
approximately five sludge samples into glass. This step
will be important from both regulatory and technical
perspectives because it will reinforce the preliminary
findings that the sludge is an ideal raw material in the
production of iron phosphate glass. Finally, WMRC will
estimate the quantity of sludge waste that is readily
available for recycling and gauge the potential
environmental and economic benefits of recycling these
wastes. Promising applications for iron phosphate
glasses include glass fibers for polymer reinforced
composites, glass fiber reinforced concrete, and nuclear
waste vitrification materials.
INNOVATION
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This project will be the first study of its kind to evaluate
the regulatory and commercial feasibility of capturing
the value of millions of pounds of industrial phosphate
sludge waste. Without this proj ect, it is unlikely that the
beneficial reuse of industrial phosphate sludge would
ever occur. A number of barriers and uncertainties
prevent this material from being commercially utilized.
These barriers and uncertainties are either directly or
indirectly related to environmental regulations.
BENEFITS
The benefits of reusing industrial phosphating sludge
extend from energy savings and reduced waste disposal
to providing a reduced cost, high quality raw material
for an important glass technology. Iron phosphate glass
fibers can be produced at a savings of over 6,500,000
Btu per ton, compared with commercial silica-based
glass fibers. Increased usage of iron phosphate glass
would also result in reduced worker exposure to
hazardous silica dust. Each year, millions of pounds of
solid waste could be diverted for a beneficial reuse. A
potentially low-cost raw material could be made
available for nuclear waste vitrification materials,
alkaline resistant glass fibers in structural cement, and
reinforced polymer composites (i.e., fiberglass).
Additionally, companies that generate the sludge waste
could realize significant cost savings due to reduced
waste disposal.
CONTACTS
Jason Swift, EPA Region 5, 312-886-0754
For additional information, visit the EPA OSWER
Innovations web site at: www.epa.gov/oswer/IWG.htm.
Solid Waste EPA 500-F-03-008
and Emergency April 2003
Response (5101T) vwwv.epa.gov/oswer/
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