Three former employees of the Westinghouse Savannah River Company have set up their own business, CeraChem, to commercialize a technology that they and the Office of Science and Technology had a hand in developing-mixed acid oxidation. CeraChem will also provide waste treatment, technology development, and consulting services to the U.S. Department of Energy and commercial markets.

The partners believed the time was right for their entrepreneurial debut for three reasons: mixed acid oxidation showed promise, the potential commercial and DOE markets looked robust, and DOE was pushing the deployment of DOE-developed environmental technologies to clean up DOE sites. Another positive sign for the partners-Gene Ramsey, Bob Pierce, and Samuel Budenstein-was that CeraChem has an exclusive license from WSRC to use mixed acid oxidation to treat DOE radioactive organics. As Gene Ramsey, director of CeraChem, puts it, "This wasn't a hip shot; we looked at this in advance."

Another dynamic in CeraChem's favor is the involvement of ToxGon, a commercial waste vitrification firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Not only will ToxGon contribute its expertise in building vitrification furnaces, but it will also invest in the new business. ToxGon's equity in CeraChem will give it majority control; the CeraChem partners will receive a minority portion of ToxGon in return.

Putting waste to the mixed acid oxidation test

CeraChem plans to begin scaling up its mixed acid oxidation technology in early 1998. CeraChem will design, construct, and test a 400- to 500-liter oxidation vessel and associated ancillary equipment. Ramsey estimates that pilot-scale testing will take from 18 to 24 months before the new company begins its construction of a large-scale facility.

Mixed acid oxidation is a chemical process for destroying most organic compounds, including plastics, ion exchange resins, and contaminated filters. Low-level or transuranic solid wastes are placed into a solution containing oxidant and carrier acids. The carrier acid acts as a holding medium to allow appreciable amounts of the oxidant to be retained in solution at the temperatures and pressures needed for rapid, controlled oxidation reactions. When organic materials contaminated with metals are introduced into the solution, the hazardous metals remain in solution. The process works at moderate temperatures and pressures.

During oxidation testing, the developers introduced into the solution different organic compounds representing a wide range of chemical bonds. Neoprene, nitromethane, cellulose, and EDTA were 100 percent oxidized at atmospheric pressure and below 180ºC. Tributyl phosphate and polystyrene ion exchange resins were destroyed at 175ºC and at 5 to 10 pounds per square inch (gauge). Polyethylene, PVC, and both paraffinic and naphthenic oils were decomposed below 200ºC and at 15 psig.

The process can be used with a demonstrated acid recovery system to recycle the oxidant. The complete oxidation of the organic components leaves as residue only inorganic anions and cations in solution. CeraChem will provide stabilization of the residual solution in one of two ways. As Ramsey says, "We can go directly to a magnesium phosphate ceramic, which is done at essentially room temperature, or we can go to glass."

Vitrifying waste solvents

While CeraChem is busy scaling up its mixed acid oxidation technology, it will also be preparing for its first revenue-producing project. CeraChem, in partnership with ToxGon, will design and install an innovative vitrification process at a Memphis nuclear services facility to stabilize solvents that were used to decontaminate a steam generator. The CeraChem partners are betting that their simple, two-step process will meet the need of the nuclear power industry to find a way to safely and efficiently treat spent solvents, such as EDT, that the industry uses for cleaning nuclear reactors and steam generators. The waste solvent contains large amounts of metals. Ramsey says CeraChem's process will destroy the solvent and incorporate the metal contaminants into a stable glass form.

Ramsey says, "ToxGon will build the furnace, and we'll buy the rest of the equipment. CeraChem developed the recipes (for glass formulations). It's just a matter of mixing CeraChem chemistry with ToxGon hardware and commercially available hardware into a process. We plan to be in operation by the spring of 1998."

The simple, two-step process consists of pretreatment and vitrification. Ramsey describes pretreatment as "mixing several liquids together and then evaporating the mixture to a lower water content than normal." The reduced water content permits the use of a smaller furnace. Evaporation and organic destruction are completed in the furnace, and the residue is vitrified.

This treatment is less expensive than alternatives, such as putting the solvent on a peat-moss-type material and running it through an incinerator, then stabilizing the incinerator ash by mixing it with cement. Another more expensive alternative is sending this waste to the Envirocare facility in Utah.

This one-two punch of pretreatment and vitrification also reduces the volume of waste. Ramsey estimates that the pretreatment reduces waste by a factor of 4 to 5, while vitrification further reduces waste volume by a factor of 20 for a total volume reduction approaching 80 times less than the original waste volume.

Questions about CeraChem's services should be directed to Gene Ramsey at (206) 762-5583.