Analytical characterization of an industrial waste treated by gasification

Previous studies by us have shown that an effective general treatment for h azardous wastes is sorption of the waste onto a specially prepared, macropo rous coal char followed by gasification of the mixture in reverse mode. In the present study, an industrial waste comprised of styrene manufacturing a nd petroleum byproducts was gasified, and the waste, coal, virgin char, and char/waste mixture (before and after gasification) were examined by variou s instrumental methods, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, gas chromatog raphy, gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and ultimate and proximate analyses, to determine which methods give useful information. The composition of the waste was found to be 38% water, 27% i norganic, and 35% organic. NMR showed that the organic components are a mix ture of aliphatic and olefinic/aromatics. About 8% of the sludge is chromat ographable and GC/MS revealed the presence of aromatics and polyaromatic hy drocarbons. Solid-state NMR showed that the sludge components are strongly immobilized on the char up to a 1:1 (wt:wt) ratio. SEM results showed chang es in the char macroporous surface as waste is incorporated by the char and as the mixture is subsequently gasified. In addition, a portion of the ele mental content of the char surface was revealed by energy dispersive (EDAX) measurements. IR photoaccoustic spectroscopy showed that peaks attributabl e to aqueous and organic fractions of the waste disappear upon gasification .