Land Contamination: Technical Guidance on Special Sites: Acid Tar ...
Land Contamination: Technical Guidance on Special Sites: Acid Tar ... Land Contamination: Technical Guidance on Special Sites: Acid Tar ...
2.2 Distribution and Extent of Acid Tar Lagoon Sites in the UK2.2.1 Key pointsThe potential occurrence of acid tar lagoons is widespread because of the geographic extent ofthe industries that they are often found associated with. Large volumes of acid tar have beenproduced in the past, most of which would have been deposited in lagoons on-site at the pointof manufacture, or in voids or on waste land close to the point of production.2.2.2 Production process characteristicsInformation on the location characteristics and production estimates for each productionprocess are set out below.Benzole Refining• Historically, most benzole refining plants were located near coking works and largercoal gas manufacturing works (‘gasworks’);• in the 1930s there were about 140 benzole refining plants;• the total annual quantity of benzole refined peaked in the late 1950s (estimated 90,000tonnes of acid tar produced annually) but at only around 50-60 plants;• the number of plants then dropped sharply to less than ten in the 1970s (estimated15,000 tonnes of acid tar produced annually);• in 1982, only three benzole refining plants remained operational.Box 2.2 Scenario: What quantity of acid tars might be found at a benzolerefining site?If we adopt the estimate of 2.5 million tonnes of acid tars produced in total,then this, divided by 140 sites, averages about 18,000 tonnes per site. In fact,this is distorted somewhat by a small number of large sites. For example, PortClarence in Middlesbrough appears to have generated some 48,000 tonnes ofacid tars between 1935 and 1955. Nevertheless, it gives an indication of thequantities.As a ‘rule of thumb’, the quantity of acid tars produced is 10 per cent of thecorresponding crude benzole production on a weight-for-weight basis.R&D
White Oil• Acid tar lagoons from white oil production generally follow the distribution of oilrefineries in the UK which have typically been sited at coastal locations;• figures for acid tar production from white oil refineries are often not available as thefigures were generally incorporated into the overall figures for desulphurisation;• estimates suggest that between 8,000 and 12,000 tonnes of acid tar were producedannually per refinery at the height of production in the 1950s at an estimated ten totwelve sites in the UK (annual total of around 100,000 tonnes of acid tar);• over the period 1930 –1980, there could have been as much as 2 million tonnes of acidtar produced in total;• in 1980 there were six refineries producing acid tars but by 1986 there was only one.Box 2.3 Scenario: What quantity of acid tars might be found at a white oilrefinery?If we assume, based on the above, an average of 10,000 tonnes of acid tarsproduced per refinery per year, then a refinery operating over 40 years wouldhave produced some 400,000 tonnes of acid tars.A plant at Lviv in the Ukraine reportedly has 300,000 tonnes of acid tars thatwere disposed of over several decades (International Conference on Analysis &Utilisation of Oily Wastes, AUZO ’96, 1996).The former Sand Springs refinery in Texas, which operated from 1870-1940and was classed as a Superfund site, was found to have 100,000 cubic yards(around 90,000 tonnes) of acid tar out of a total of 135,000 cubic yards ofpetroleum wastes in several earthen pits. Sulphuric acid had been used to treatraw crude oil to polymerise unstable compounds. (Grajczak, PE. Remediationof acid tar sludge at a Superfund site, Texas, 1995.)Re-refining• Information relating to historical re-refining sites in the UK is very limited;• during the Second World War there were an estimated 30-40, mainly small, rerefiningplants set up to supply lubricating oils to the military. As governmentsubsidies were withdrawn and pollution control legislation was tightened, many rerefiningworks closed. By the mid-1980s only one re-refining plant remained inoperation, producing 500 tonnes of acid tar per year;R&D
- Page 1 and 2: Land Conta
- Page 3 and 4: CONTENTSFOREWORDiGLOSSARYii1. Intro
- Page 5 and 6: FOREWORDPart IIA of the Environment
- Page 7 and 8: CresolsCreosoteDCRDesorptionDesulph
- Page 9 and 10: PVCRCRASelosafeSodium saltsSodium h
- Page 11 and 12: 1. INTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundThis r
- Page 13 and 14: SECTION 2: INDUSTRIAL PROCESS/FACIL
- Page 15 and 16: 1.5 Linkages Between the Gu
- Page 17 and 18: 2.1.2 Overview of acid tar lagoon s
- Page 19: Overall CommentsAcid tars can be of
- Page 23 and 24: Box 2.5 Scenario: Acid tar disposal
- Page 25 and 26: 3. CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERI
- Page 27 and 28: Table 3.1 - General Physical Charac
- Page 29 and 30: The chemicals listed in Table B.1,
- Page 31 and 32: 4.2.3 Common mistakesIt is possible
- Page 33 and 34: Geophysical methods, such as resist
- Page 35 and 36: Investigation locations will need t
- Page 37 and 38: • gas chromatography by simulatin
- Page 39 and 40: 5.2.2 Water environmentThere is lit
- Page 41 and 42: 5.3 Assessment of Investigation Dat
- Page 43 and 44: 6. REMEDIATION ASPECTSKEY QUESTIONS
- Page 45 and 46: 6.2.5 Solidification and stabilisat
- Page 47 and 48: Box 6.1 Example of Remediation of A
- Page 49 and 50: 6.3 Natural AttenuationNatural atte
- Page 51 and 52: Table 6.1 - Remedial Options/Techni
- Page 53 and 54: Table 6.2 - Remedial Options/Techni
- Page 55 and 56: 6.4 ValidationThe principles of val
- Page 57 and 58: • all personnel should follow a d
- Page 59 and 60: Verschueren (1983) Handbook of Envi
- Page 61 and 62: USEPA. Innovative Site Remediation
2.2 Distributi<strong>on</strong> and Extent of <strong>Acid</strong> <strong>Tar</strong> Lago<strong>on</strong> <strong>Sites</strong> in the UK2.2.1 Key pointsThe potential occurrence of acid tar lago<strong>on</strong>s is widespread because of the geographic extent ofthe industries that they are often found associated with. Large volumes of acid tar have beenproduced in the past, most of which would have been deposited in lago<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong>-site at the pointof manufacture, or in voids or <strong>on</strong> waste land close to the point of producti<strong>on</strong>.2.2.2 Producti<strong>on</strong> process characteristicsInformati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the locati<strong>on</strong> characteristics and producti<strong>on</strong> estimates for each producti<strong>on</strong>process are set out below.Benzole Refining• Historically, most benzole refining plants were located near coking works and largercoal gas manufacturing works (‘gasworks’);• in the 1930s there were about 140 benzole refining plants;• the total annual quantity of benzole refined peaked in the late 1950s (estimated 90,000t<strong>on</strong>nes of acid tar produced annually) but at <strong>on</strong>ly around 50-60 plants;• the number of plants then dropped sharply to less than ten in the 1970s (estimated15,000 t<strong>on</strong>nes of acid tar produced annually);• in 1982, <strong>on</strong>ly three benzole refining plants remained operati<strong>on</strong>al.Box 2.2 Scenario: What quantity of acid tars might be found at a benzolerefining site?If we adopt the estimate of 2.5 milli<strong>on</strong> t<strong>on</strong>nes of acid tars produced in total,then this, divided by 140 sites, averages about 18,000 t<strong>on</strong>nes per site. In fact,this is distorted somewhat by a small number of large sites. For example, PortClarence in Middlesbrough appears to have generated some 48,000 t<strong>on</strong>nes ofacid tars between 1935 and 1955. Nevertheless, it gives an indicati<strong>on</strong> of thequantities.As a ‘rule of thumb’, the quantity of acid tars produced is 10 per cent of thecorresp<strong>on</strong>ding crude benzole producti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> a weight-for-weight basis.R&D <str<strong>on</strong>g>Technical</str<strong>on</strong>g> Report P5-042/TR/04 10
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