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Technical Advisory #6

BIOMIN’S-TIP OF THE MONTH: PCB Removal with an OilSorb™/Carbon System

Polychlorinated Biphenyls, or PCBs, are man-made mixtures of individual chemicals that can cause cancer.

PCBs are either oily liquids or solids that are colorless to bright yellow. The trade name for many PCBs is ALOCHLOR.

PCBs have been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, electrical capacitors, fluorescent lighting fixtures, and other electrical equipment.

PCBs are usually found partitioned into hydraulic or transformer oil. They are seldom found alone in water.

PCBs have a very low solubility in water, and thus are easily and efficiently removed by OilSorb™ Organoclay by means of partition, in the same manner, as are oils, at 7 times the rate of activated carbon.  Activated carbon is an excellent media to remove the traces that may slip through OilSorb™.

Case History 1: Facet Superfund Site, Elmira, NY

Flow rate: 50 gpm.

pH of groundwater: 6.5.

Treatment train: Secondary containment tanks; oil skimmers; inclined plate clarifiers; equalization tank; bag filters; adsorbed vessel with 3,000 lb OilSorb™; two carbon tanks with 1700 lb carbon each (coal based).

Inflow: Oil and Grease; 40 ppm; Effluent after treatment: 1 ppm.

Inflow: PCB; 1.5 ppm; Effluent after treatment: N/D

Case History 2: Remove PCB, hydraulic and other oils, and other hydrocarbons from sediments from a creek bed near Massena, NY

Sediments were dredged from a creek bed, stabilized with lime, and passed through an 80-ft³ plate frame filter press. The water was then passed through a 7,000 gallon multi-media vessel that included from bottom to top (up flow) 1 foot of pea gravel on a retaining screen; 4 feet of grade 68 sand; and 1 foot of OilSorb™ organoclay. The OilSorb™ was separated from the sand by a retaining screen; the filter was equipped with flinches that allowed change-out of the OilSorb™ only when needed. Another adsorber filled with activated carbon followed this adsorber. The OilSorb™ removed the oils and other hydrocarbons, and nearly all of the PCBs. The activated carbon assured PCB removal down to non-detect.

In either case history, when we talk about N/D, we talk about 17 ppt, which is mandatory in a number of states for PCBs. This requires “post-media filtration." This is achieved by following the activated carbon with a 1-micron bag filter (Lapointe Industries), which is then followed by a 0.35-micron cartridge filter (pleated paper, Hurricane from Harmsco). The EPA approved both projects.

Graphs showing the performance of OilSorb™ with PCB and oil removal are available by clicking on the following link to a pdf file:  OilSorb™ Graphs

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Biomin, Inc.

P.O. Box 20028

Ferndale, MI  48220

Phone:  248-544-2552

Fax:  248-544-3733

E-Mail:  biomin@aol.com

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