Treatment of Mercury Contaminated Oil from Sandia National Laboratory
First Article Tests of a stabilization method for greater than 260 mg mercury/kg oil were performed under a treatability study. This alternative treatment technology will address treatment of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) organics (mainly used pump oil) contaminated with mercury and other heavy metals. Some of the oil is also co-contaminated with tritium, other radionuclides, and hazardous materials. The technology is based on contacting the oil with a sorbent powder (Self-Assembled Mercaptan on Mesoporous Support, SAMMS), proven to adsorb heavy metals, followed by stabilization of the oil/powder mixture using a stabilization agent (Nochar N990). Two variations of the treatment technology were included in the treatability study. The SAMMS (Self-Assembled Mercaptan on Mesoporous Silica) technology was developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for removal and stabilization of RCRA metals (i.e., lead, mercury, cadmium, silver, etc.) and for removal of mercury from organic solvents [1]. The SAMMS material is based on self-assembly of functionalized monolayers on mesoporous oxide surfaces. The unique mesoporous oxide supports provide a high surface area, thereby enhancing the metal-loading capacity. SAMMS material has high flexibility in that it binds with different forms of mercury, including metallic, inorganic, organic, charged, and neutral compounds [1] The material removes mercury from both organic wastes, such as pump oils, and from aqueous wastes. Mercury-loaded SAMMS not only passes TCLP tests, but also has good long-term durability as a waste form because: (1) the covalent binding between mercury and SAMMS has good resistance in ion-exchange, oxidation, and hydrolysis over a wide pH range and (2) the uniform and small pore size of the mesoporous silica prevents bacteria from solubilizing the bound mercury. Nochar's N990 Petrobond (Nochar, Inc., Indianapolis, IN) is an oil stabilization agent, specifically formulated for stabilizing vacuum pump oil, which has fewer volatile organics than many other oils. This material is a non-uniform granular powder that resembles ground Styrofoam plastics. This material has previously been used by itself and in combination with SAMMS to stabilize oil containing low levels of mercury {approx}50 mg/kg in surrogate waste studies [2].
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 814646
- Report Number(s):
- R02-114125; TRN: US0304278
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 28 May 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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