The PO*WW*ER™ technology is used to treat and reduce complex industrial and hazardous wastewaters containing mixtures of inorganic salts, metals, volatile and nonvolatile organics, volatile inorganics, and radionuclides. The proprietary technology combines evaporation with catalytic oxidation to concentrate and destroy contaminants, producing a high-quality product condensate.
Wastewater is first pumped into an evaporator, where most of the water and contaminants are vaporized and removed, concentrating the contaminants into a small volume for further treatment or disposal. The contaminant vapors then pass over a bed of proprietary robust catalyst, where the pollutants are oxidized and destroyed. Depending on the contaminant vapor composition, effluent vapors from the oxidizer may be treated in a scrubber. The vapors are then condensed to produce water (condensate) that can be used as either boiler or cooling tower makeup water, if appropriate. Hazardous wastewater can thus be separated into a small contaminant stream (brine) and a large clean water stream without using expensive reagents or increasing the volume of the total stream. The photograph below illustrates a PO*WW*ER™ -based wastewater treatment plant.
PO*WW*ER™ Based Wastewater Treatment Plant
The PO*WW*ER™ technology can treat wastewaters containing a mixture
of the following contaminants:
Organic |
Inorganic |
Radioactive |
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Suitable wastewaters for treatment by the PO*WW*ER™ technology include landfill leachates, contaminated groundwaters, process wastewaters, and low-level radioactive mixed wastes.
The technology was accepted into the SITE Demonstration Program in 1991. The demonstration took place in September 1992 at the Chemical Waste Management, Inc., Lake Charles, Louisiana facility. Landfill leachate, an F039 hazardous waste, was treated in a pilot-scale unit. The Applications Analysis Report (EPA/540/AR-93/506) and Technology Evaluation Report (EPA/540/R93/506) are available from EPA.
A commercial system with a capacity of 50 gallons per minute is in operation at Ysing Yi Island, Hong Kong. A pilot-scale unit, with a capacity of 1 to 1.5 gallons per minute, is available and can treat radioactive, hazardous, and mixed waste streams.
The ability of the PO*WW*ER™ system to concentrate aqueous wastes was evaluated by measuring the volume reduction and concentration ratio achieved. The volume of brine produced during each 9-hour test period was about 5 percent of the feed waste volume processed in the same period. The concentration ratio, defined as the ratio of total solids (TS) concentration in the brine to the TS concentration in the feed waste, was about 32 to 1.
The feed waste contained concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOC) ranging from 320 to 110,000 micrograms per liter ( g/L); semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC) ranging from 5,300 to 24,000 g/L; ammonia ranging from 140 to 160 milligrams per liter (mg/L); and cyanide ranging from 24 to 36 mg/L. No VOCs, SVOCs, ammonia, or cyanide were detected in the product condensate.
The PO*WW*ER™ system removed sources of feed waste toxicity. The feed waste was acutely toxic with median lethal concentrations (LC50) consistently below 10 percent. The product condensate was nontoxic with LC50 values consistently greater than 100 percent, but only after the product condensate was cooled and its pH, dissolved oxygen level, and hardness or salinity were increased.
EPA PROJECT MANAGER:
Randy Parker
U.S. EPA
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
26 West Martin Luther King Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45268
513-569-7271
Fax: 513-569-7571
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPER CONTACT:
Myron Reicher
Wheelabrator Clean Air Systems, Inc.
1501 East Woodfield Road,
Suite 200 West
Schaumberg, IL 60173
847-706-6900
Fax: 847-706-6996