In situ vitrification: Process and products
In situ vitrification (ISV) is an electrically powered thermal treatment process that converts soil into a chemically inert and stable glass and crystalline product. It is similar in concept to bringing a simplified glass manufacturing process to a site and operating it in the ground, using the soil as a glass feed stock. Gaseous emissions are contained, scrubbed, and filtered. When the process is completed, the molten volume cools producing a block of glass and crystalline material that resembles natural obsidian commingled with crystalline phases. The product passes US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leach resistance tests, and it can be classified as nonhazardous from a chemical hazard perspective. ISV was developed by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy (DOE) for application to contaminated soils. It is also being adapted for applications to buried waste, underground tanks, and liquid seepage sites. ISV's then-year development period has included tests on many different site conditions. As of January 1991 there have been 74 tests using PNL's ISV equipment; these tests have ranged from technology development tests using nonhazardous conditions to hazardous and radioactive tests. 2 refs., 6 figs., 7 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 5564488
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-18820; CONF-910659-24; ON: DE91013791
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 84. annual meeting and exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA), Vancouver (Canada), 16-21 Jun 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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In-situ vitrification: pilot-scale development
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Related Subjects
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
VITRIFICATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SOILS
CONTAMINATION
ELECTRODES
EMISSION
GASEOUS WASTES
GLASS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
LEACHING
METALS
PYROLYSIS
TANKS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAINERS
DECOMPOSITION
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
MATERIALS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing