High Energy Electron Beam Irradiation For The Destruction Of Toxic Organic Chemicals

INTRODUCTION

High energy electron beam irradiation as a treatment unit process has potential application in
many areas of water, wastewater and industrial waste treatment and in the area of
toxic/hazardous waste disposal and site remediation (Kurucz et al., 1991a, 1991b; Nickelsen et
a!., 1992; Cooper et al., 1992a). The research program undertaken at the Electron Beam
Research Facility located at the Miami-Dade Central District (Virginia Key) Wastewater
Treatment Facility, Miami, Florida, has begun to develop solutions to many of the problems that
face the world in these areas. Through an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers,
studies have been conducted in several areas of interest. Although the majority of this report
discusses the studies conducted on the removal of toxic and hazardous chemicals from aqueous
solutions, studies have also been conducted in the areas of disinfection (bacterial and viral),
biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand removal, and solids conditioning.

The ultimate disposal of toxic and hazardous organic chemicals is emerging as a priority in the
search for new and innovative treatment technologies. By ultimate disposal we refer to the
mineralization of the solutes of concern.

The factors regarded as important for developing a treatment process for the disposal of toxic
and hazardous organic chemicals and for site remediation are:
1. The process should be flow-through and be relatively rapid in the treatment.
2. The process should result in the formation of non-toxic reaction by-products, and
with mineralization of the solutes as a goal.
3. The process should be able to treat water of differing quality; including the
presence of suspended particles up to 10%.
4. The process should be able to treat soil contaminated with toxic organic
chemicals.
5. The process equipment should be transportable so that it can be taken to the
problem or used for on-site treatability studies.
6. The equipment should be rugged and relatively easy to operate (automation is the
goal) in the field.
7. The process should be capable of treating mixtures of organic chemicals and be
relatively insensitive to solute concentration effects.
8. The process should be configured to facilitate quality assurance checks to insure
that the process is working properly and according to the design specifications.