Retech , Inc . , Plasma Centrifugal Furnace Applications

ii Notice The information in this document has been funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Contract No. 68-C0-0048 and the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. It has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review, and it has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use. iii Foreword The Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) program was authorized by the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). The program is a joint effort between EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). The purpose of the program is to assist the development of hazardous waste treatment technologies necessary to implement new cleanup standards that require greater reliance on permanent remedies. This is accomplished through technology demonstrations that are designed to provide engineering and cost data on selected technologies. This project was a field demonstration under the SITE program and was designed to analyze the Silicate Technology Corporation solidification/stabilization technology. The technology demonstration took place at a lumber treating facility in Selma, California. The demonstration effort was directed to obtain information on the performance and cost of the technology and to assess its use at this and other uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Documentation consists of two reports: (1) a Technology Evaluation Report that describes the field activities and laboratory results; and (2) this Applications Analysis Report that provides an interpretation of the data and discusses the potential applicability of the technology. Abstract This document is an evaluation of the performance of the Retech, Inc. Plasma Centrifugal Furnace (PCF) and its applicability as a treatment for soils contaminated with organic and/or inorganic compounds. Both the technical and economic aspects of the technology were examined. A demonstration of the Retech furnace was conducted under the SITE Program at the Department of Energy's Component Development and Integration Facility in Butte, MT. Operational data, along with sampling and analysis information, were carefully compiled to establish a data b ase against which other available data, as well as the vendor's claims for the technology, have been compared and evaluated. Conclusions concerning the technology's suitability for use in immobilizing contaminants in the feed soil were reached, and extrapo-lations regarding applications at other sites with different contaminants and soil types were made. The following were derived mainly from the results of …