Steam Stripping and Batch Distillation for the Removal and/or Recovery of Volatile Organic Compounds from Industrial Wastes

Abstract

One of the primary objectives of the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is to encourage waste minimization through source reduction as well as recycle and recovery of valuable materials from hazardous wastes. The U.S. EPA has conducted pilot-scale investigations on different physical/chemical treatment and recovery technologies. Two of the technologies are steam stripping and batch distillation for removal and recovery of volatile organics. Pilot-scale steam stripping tests of 2-nitropropane indicated that the concentration in the wastewater can be lowered from 1000 mg/L to 0.93 mg/L, a 99.9 percent reduction, while a concentrated overhead stream (5300 mg/L) can be obtained for recycling (after additional purification). Different models for organic compound property estimation were reviewed and various computer programs were written and/or modified for process design on personal computers.