Mass Balance, Beneficial Use Products, and Cost Comparisons of Four Sediment Treatment Technologies Near Commercialization

Abstract

The concept of contaminated sediment treatment producing a useful product has emerged in recent years, motivated by the cost of sediment disposal and by recognition of sediment as a resource rather than a waste. Contaminated sediment presents unique challenges for treatment, however, due to the character and complexity of the matrix, and the logistics and economics involved in coupling the process with a dredging operation. The objectives of this document are to capture the technical status of several promising treatment technologies of this type, to describe the process efficiency in terms of mass balance, to understand pre-treatment and posttreatment processing requirements, and to estimate full scale implementation costs at a scale compatible with a dredging operation. Overall, the document overlays a consistent and transparent structure on the comparative evaluation with the objective of providing an equivalent basis for comparison between these and other candidate treatment processes, such that it has utility of remediation to project managers and others engaged in technology selection efforts. Relying on publicly available demonstration reports, the following technologies were evaluated in depth: JCI/Upcycle rotary kiln thermal treatment/light-weight aggregate (LWA); Cement-Lock ® technology/cement; Minergy ® glass furnace technology/glass aggregate; and BioGenesis SM sediment washing process/manufactured soil. DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report are not to be used for advertising, publication, or promotional purposes. Citation of trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use of such commercial products. All product names and trademarks cited are the property of their respective owners. The findings of this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position unless so designated by other authorized documents.

Testing decontaminated sediments as a substrate for ornamentals in field nursery plantations

“…Decontaminated sediments are generally not fully promoted or commercialized (Kokyo et al, 2014) and so far, the most common ex-situ decontamination treatments seem to favour the production of inert materials rather than manufactured soils (Estes et al, 2011;Cappuyns et al, 2015). Nevertheless, there are productive sectors that constantly need of growing substrates (Wightman, 1999) and may take advantage of treated sediments.…”

“…Significant correlations are expressed as R coefficient at significant levels P < 0.05 (*) and P < 0.01 (**). (Estes et al, 2011;Mattei et al, 2017), may open new perspectives on the use of dredged sediments. The sediments used in this study were formerly treated with integrated low cost technologies which produced after all a satisfying substrate for agricultural use (Doni et al, 2013Masciandaro et al, 2014).…”

Economical Treatment of Dredged Material to Facilitate Beneficial Use

“…Other programs under which treatment technology development took place included the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) program, the Contaminated Sediment Treatment Technology Program (CoSTTEP), the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) Sediment Decontamination Demonstrations, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Office of Maritime Resources Sediment Technology Decontamination Demonstration Program. These programs spanned a period of almost two decades, from approximately 1986 through 2007 (Estes et al 2011).…”

“…While not a technology development program per se, sediment treatment has been the focus of multiple work units executed under the DOER program, with the objective of identifying potentially applicable or adaptable technologies, assessing their developmental status, and identifying remaining obstacles to implementation as well as research needs. To that end, of the technologies demonstrated on sediments, four deemed closest to commercialization were evaluated in a report produced by the USACE and EPA (Estes et al 2011). The data from the NJ DOT demonstrations of the rotary kiln (JC Upcycle and Cement Lock) and soil washing (Biogenesis) were evaluated, along with data from subsequent demonstrations of the Biogenesis technology and a glass furnace technology (Minergy).…”

“…While some progress has been made toward commercialization of effective sediment treatment technologies for highly contaminated sediments (Estes et al 2011), these are generally too costly for management of navigation sediments. Further, less aggressive treatment technologies may provide a sufficient level of risk reduction to facilitate use of moderately contaminated sediments in beneficial use applications.…”