Sonication treatment of polychlorinated biphenyl contaminated media
AssigneeSonic Environmental Solutions Inc.
InventorsLorrie Hunt, Jim McKinley, Rod McElroy
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Abstract
The invention consists of a method for treating polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated media by: a) combining the media with a fluid containing one or more liquid hydrocarbons to form a media/fluid mixture; b) sonicating the mixture at audio frequency to extract PCB from the media into the fluid; and c) treating the fluid with sodium-containing alkali metal. The method may include additional steps to reduce the size of the media. Alternatively, the fluid can be decanted from the media after sonication and treated separately with sodium-containing alkali metal.
Claims33
A method for treating polychiorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated media comprising the steps of:
- a) combining said media with a fluid containing one or more liquid hydrocarbons to form a media/fluid mixture;
- b) sonicating said mixture at audio frequency to extract PCB from the media into the fluid;
- and
- c) treating said fluid with molten sodium-containing alkali metal.
An apparatus for treating polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated media, comprising:
- a) a reaction vessel for holding a mixture of said media, a liquid hydrocarbon-containing fluid, and a molten sodium-containing alkali metal, said reaction vessel having vents to release gas during sonication;
- b) an audio frequency sonicator without grinding media for sonicating said mixture at an audio frequency;
- and
- c) a heater for controlling the temperature of said mixture and maintaining said molten sodium-containing alkali metal in a molten state, said heater having an operating range with an upper limit at least equal to a temperature of molten sodium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.