This page will be used for general information on differrent topics / subjects that the Division of Solid & Hazardous Waste is involved with.
What is a Hazardous Waste?
A hazardous waste is specifically listed by the Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste Rules or exhibits a characteristic such as ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity (as defined by the rules). Common hazardous waste may include paint, solvents used in painting and dry cleaning residues and pesticides.
Permits
Individuals who treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste must comply with a permit. However, the rules allow generators of small quantities of hazardous waste to store in accordance with certain requirements in lieu of a permit.
Custom permit conditions are developed to reflect a facility’s specific waste type, waste management equipment, and operating conditions such as:
Modification of Permits
The permit must be modified when facilities desire to change operating plans, equipment, or personnel. Prior to the Division making a final determination on any substantial changes, the public will have an opportunity to provide comments and assist the Division in reaching a final decision.
Compliance Monitoring
Division technical experts are continually overseeing hazardous waste management activities by conducting on site inspections; sampling; auditing lab procedures; evaluating technical data such as incineration operating data, soil sampling data, or groundwater monitoring data.
Permit Violations
Warning Letters or Notices of Violation and Compliance Orders can be issued for violations. Facilities must immediately correct any deficiencies and may provide additional information concerning the alleged violations.
Violations are resolved by entering into consent agreements or by civil litigation. Consent agreements are not finalized until the public has an opportunity to comment.
Notice of Public Involvement
The Division maintains mailing lists of individuals interested in specific facilities within a county. Mailing list participants receive notices of facility sponsored informational meetings, minor permit changes, public comment periods for substantial permit changes, and final permit decisions. To be added to the mailing list, contact the Division.
Notices of all public comment periods are published in a local newspaper and the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News. Notices of public hearings are also broadcast on KSL radio prior to the hearing.
The Division strives to work closely with facilities and the community to address technical issues that allow a facility to maximize operating efficiency and minimize any impact on human health and the environment.
Incineration destroys organic compounds contained in hazardous wastes and reduces the volume of the wastes by removing liquids.
The specific equipment used for each step depends on the incinerator type and the physical and chemical characteristics of the wastes the incinerator is designed to burn.
Waste Feed
Wastes are fed into the incinerator in batches or in a continuous stream. Liquid wastes are often pumped and atomized into fine droplets that burn more easily. Solid wastes may be fed into the incinerator in bulk or in containers using a conveyer, a gravity system, or a ram feeder.
Combustion
As the wastes are heated, they are converted from solids or liquids into gases. The gases are mixed with air and pass through a hot flame. As the temperature of the gases rise, the organic compounds in the gases begin to break down and recombine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water. Depending on the waste composition, other organic and inorganic compounds may form.
In most hazardous waste incinerators, combustion occurs in two combustion chambers. Combustion is completed in the secondary combustion chamber after the compounds have been converted to gases and partially combusted in the first chamber.
Combustion Gas
Incineration produces gases and solids, in the form of ash and slag. Combustion gases are composed primarily of carbon dioxide and water, plus small quantities of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and small concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds.
Air Pollution Control
Following combustion, the combustion gases move through various devices that cool and cleanse the gases. A fan is typically used to pull the gases through the incinerator and air pollution control equipment.
Gases are quenched with a water mixture to reform any particulate matter. Acids can be removed with wet or dry scrubbers. Particulate matter can be removed with either dry (baghouse) or wet systems.
Operating Parameters
The three critical factors that determine the completeness of combustion in an incinerator are:
Residual Solids
Incineration ash is an inert material made up of carbon, salts, and metals. The exact composition depends on the waste burned. Ash must be managed as a hazardous waste.
Currently it is neither economically nor technically feasibly to continuously monitor an incineration stack for emissions. Thus, hazardous waste incinerators must demonstrate the ability to meet all applicable performance standards when burning a waste under a specific set of operating conditions. This demonstration is called a "trial burn" or test burn.
Trial Burn
A trial burn involves the measurement of incinerator performance under different operating conditions.
Trial burns are designed to safely demonstrate the incinerator's capabilities to operate. During the trial burn, the owner or operator measures the waste feed rate, levels of carbon monoxide in the stack emissions, combustion temperature, combustion gas velocity, specific metals emissions, and other parameters. In order to make judgments concerning the incinerator's destruction and removal efficiency (DRE), the owner or operator must measure the amount of principal organic hazardous constituents (POHCs) emitted from the incinerator.
Emissions
Emissions of particulate matter and hydrogen chloride are also measured during the trial burn, to determine the effectiveness of the pollution abatement systems. Emissions of the metals antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver, and thallium will also be measured.
Trial Burn Data
First, trial burn data will be evaluated to determine if the incinerator met applicable performance standards. Second, trial burn data may be used in a health risk assessment to ensure the operation of the incinerator will not impose an unacceptable risk.
Finally, if the incinerator meets the performance standards and the risk is acceptable, the trial burn data will be used to develop the incinerator’s operating conditions. Some of the operating conditions that are continuously monitored are indicators of combustion efficiency and operating performance.
Failure of Trial Burn
If the incinerator failed to meet any one of the performance standards, the incinerator design or operation must be modified, and the trial burn must be repeated before the permitting process can proceed to the next step.
For more information, please contact Don Verbica at (801)-538-6170 or email him at dverbica@utah.gov.
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