State of the art on stabilization of hazardous organic liquid wastes and sludges

Abstract

The principal motivation for undertaking this study was to examine stabilization techniques to determine the technical feasilibity of stabilizing/solidifying organic liquid wastes and sludges. The performance of the processes must often be judged on the basis of the manufacturer's claims rather than the evaluation of an impartial referee. The study was largely concerned with documenting the state‐of‐the‐art and identifying promising directions for additional research. The most recent available literature, supplemented by telephone contacts with vendors and companies, were the primary information sources. Based on an exhaustive search of the research literature dealing with the solidification and stabilization of hazardous organic wastes, the following observations can be made: (1) Few adequately documented studies have been reported on the performance (physical and chemical stability) of solidified and/or stabilized mixtures containing hazardous organic wastes. (2) Almost no published information exists on the nature, strength, and permanence of the bonds formed in the solidification and/or stabilization process. Based on these observations, it was concluded that a fundamental understanding of the influence of the properties of solidification/stabilization materials and various organic wastes on the bonding process does not exist. It is further concluded that without such information the practice of designing stabilization schemes for organic wastes will continue to be primarily empirical in nature. In addition, such empirical design practices will likely be based on the short‐term performance of the stabilized product.