DISINTEGRATORS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF CLASSIFIED MATERIALS

Revision Date: 8/01
Process Code: Navy/Marines: SR-07-99; Air Force: SV03; Army: N/A
Usage: Navy: Low; Marines: Low; Army: Low; Air Force: Low
Alternative for: Incineration for the destruction of classified materials
Applicable EPCRA Targeted Constituents: N/A
Overview: Joint Service facilities have classified material that must be destroyed. Disintegrators provide an alternative to incineration for the destruction of classified materials. Disintegrators are able to handle the destruction of paper, thick documents, video cassettes, microfilm or reels, CD-ROMs, microfiche, and diskettes. Disintegrators are available with a capacity of 50 to over 7500 lbs. per hour.

According to Security Engineered Machinery, a manufacturer of disintegrators for the destruction of classified materials, disintegrators work in the following way:

Waste material is fed into the machine through a safety feed hopper. The cutting mechanism consists of 2 to 5 knives mounted on a steel rotor that pass 2 stationary bed knives (0.005 inch gap) at 500-600 RPM for up to 6,000 cuts per minute.

Waste is cut until small enough to fall through a perforated steel screen beneath the cutting rotor. The screens are interchangeable so that the degree of destruction can be varied from 3/32 to 3 inches. Thick, tough materials such as diskettes and CD-ROMs can be destroyed with less power and less chance of jams due to the high mass of the rotor and thickness of the knives.

A vacuum or fan unit creates a constant cooling air flow, dissipates heat, and draws the waste out of the cutting chamber eliminating the melting of plastic materials. The same air flow automatically bags the waste or discharges it to a collection bin or waste compactor.
Compliance Benefit: Using a disintegrator for the destruction of classified materials instead of an incinerator will decrease the amount of air emissions from a facility. The decrease in air emissions will decrease a facility’s likelihood to require an air permit under Title V (40 CFR 70 and 71). Additionally, the facility may no longer need to meet incinerator performance standards (i.e., particulate matter and stack monitoring) such as those required under 40 CFR 60, subpart E. Since an incinerator uses natural gas but a disintegrator does not, switching to a disintegrator will decrease natural gas consumption therefore helping a facility meet the requirements under Executive Order 12902, Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation at Federal Facilities.

The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.
Materials Compatibility:
No materials compatibility issues were identified.


Safety and Health: Cutting knives are sharp. Equipment should only be used and serviced by trained staff. Consult your local industrial health specialist, your local health and safety personnel, and the appropriate MSDS prior to implementing this technology.


Benefits:
  • Stack emissions from incinerators are eliminated.
  • The need for air permits for the incinerators are eliminated.
  • Operating costs are reduced.
  • Toxic and complex environmental contaminants are not created during the destruction of the materials.
  • On-site operation may reduce transportation and labor costs.

 
Disadvantages:
  • Some disintegrators may be too noisy and dusty for office use unless installed in a noise and dust-proof enclosure.

 
Economic Analysis: Peterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Colorado Springs, CO, analyzed the costs associated with replacing incinerators with disintegrators for destroying classified materials.

Assumptions:

  • Startup costs: Startup costs include the cost to buy 2 disintegrators, any electrical modifications required for installation. 
  • Labor costs: Disintegrators will be in operation 416 hours per year (1 day per week for 8 hours, 52 weeks a year.) The incinerators were in operation 20 hours per week (52 weeks per year) for a total of 1040. Labor cost is $20/hour 
  • Maintenance costs: Annual maintenance costs are assumed to be $1,600 per disintegrator. Maintenance and repair of the incinerators would no longer be necessary. A review of work orders for the incinerators in 1996 revealed that the amount was $1,469.
  • Electricity costs: Annual electric costs are assumed to be similar to the incinerators. 
  • Natural gas consumption: Natural gas would no longer be needed for the incinerators. Annual natural gas consumption of the incinerators (3,740 mcf) is based on the rated capacities of the incinerators and the actual 1996 hours of operation. The cost of natural gas represents the 1996 average of $2.80 per cubic foot (cf). 
  • Classified materials costs: Certain levels of classified materials require 2 people to transport the classified material to the burn facility and to remain there until the material is destroyed. The analysis assumes that the time required for transportation to and from the burn facility and that the weighing and burning the classified material is 1 1/2 hour per person. Labor rate is $20/hour. 
  • Administrative costs: It is estimated that the facility will save $3,000/year in administrative costs by replacing the incinerators with disintegrators. This reduction in administrative costs can be attributed to reduced paperwork, record keeping, report preparation, and compliance certification costs. 
  • Compliance monitoring and stack testing: Stack testing (required when noncompliance with the opacity standard occurs on 2 separate days of any calendar month) is estimated to be $19,123 (estimate provided by Armstrong Laboratories from Brooks AFB). Replacing the incinerators with disintegrators will eliminate this cost.
  • Air emissions fee: Air emissions fee, estimated to be $14.98 per ton of criteria pollutants (carbon monoxide and particulate matter were not billed at this time), would be eliminated by replacing the incinerators with disintegrators. The billable 1996 emissions fee for both incinerators at Peterson AFB was $1.16. 

Cost Comparison for Incinerators vs. Disintegrators for the Destruction of Classified Materials

 

Incinerator

Disintegrator
Capital and Installation Costs: Not available $46,000
Operational Costs:    

Labor Costs:

 $20,800 $8,320

Maintenance Costs:

 $1,469 $3,200

Natural Gas Costs:

 $10,472 $0

Classified Materials Costs:

 $3,100 $0
Administrative Costs: $3,000 $0
Monitoring and Testing Costs: $19,123 $0
Fees: $1 $0
Total Costs (not including capital and installation costs): $57,965 $11,520
Total Income: $0 $0
Annual Benefit: -$57,965 -$11,520

Economic Analysis Summary

  • Annual Savings for Disintegrator System: $46,445
  • Capital Cost for Equipment/Process: $46,000
  • Payback Period for Investment in Equipment/Process: 1 year

Click here to View an Active Spreadsheet for this Economic Analysis and Enter Your Own Values. To return from the Active Spreadsheet, click the reverse arrow in the Tool Bar.


Approving Authority: Approval is controlled locally and should be implemented only after engineering approval has been granted. Major claimant approval is not required.

 
NSN/MSDS:
Product NSN Unit Size Cost MSDS*
Disintegrator, SEM Model 22HDS 7490-01-395-3146 Each $27,542.97  
Disintegrator, SEM Model 15 7490-01-395-3141 Each $18,594.20  


*There are multiple MSDSs for most NSNs.
The MSDS (if shown above) is only meant to serve as an example.
Points of Contact: Air Force:
Mr. Daniel Rodriguez, REM
Air Force Space Command Pollution Prevention Program
HQ AFSPC/CEVV
150 Vandenberg St. Suite 1105
Peterson AFB, CO 80914-4150
Phone: (719) 554-3846 
DSN: 692-3846
FAX: (719) 554-3849
Email: daniel.rodriguez@peterson.af.mil

Mr. Joe Partoll
Pollution Prevention Program Manager
21 Space Wing
21 CES/CEVQ
580 Goodfellow St.
Peterson AFB, CO 80914-2370
Phone: (719) 556-1458 
DSN: 834-1458 
FAX: (719) 556-8078 
Email: joseph.partoll@peterson.af.mil

 
Vendors: Security Engineered Machinery
5 Walkup Drive
Westboro, MA 01581
Phone: (800) 225-9293
FAX: (508) 836-4154
URL: http://www.semshred.com
Email:  info@semshred.com

Whitaker Brothers Business Machines
12410 Washington Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852-1822
Phone: (301) 230-2800 
FAX: (301) 770-9217
URL: http://www.whitakerbrothers.com

This is not meant to be a complete list, as there may be other suppliers of this type of equipment.
Sources: Mr. Daniel Rodriguez, Peterson Air Force Base, December 1999.
Vendor information from Security Engineered Machinery.
Case study information on the replacement of incinerators with disintegrators from Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO.

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