Treatment and Disposal of Liquid Lab Chemicals

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Can activated charcoal or carbon effectively neutralize xylene and other hazardous organic chemicals? 

Is there a treatment method before disposal which will help preserve the waterways and the environment?

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11 Answers

  1. The best cleaning method the spent organic solvents (xylene and others)- this is using compact distillers. They allow you to recover up to 95% of the volume of spent organic solvents.

  2. Thank very much for your unmatched assistance. Keep it up family.

  3. Imbiber Beads are the world's only oil-sensitive, super-absorbent polymer (SAP) and are "engineered" to capture and contain a broad range of the organic chemical spectrum including BTEX-type solvents, gasoline, diesel fuel, crude oil, MEK, MIBK, chlorinated solvents; the list is almost endless. Use of Imbiber Beads eliminates the liquid phase in a manner similar to water-sensitive SAPs used in disposable baby diapers/nappies except they do not know water exists and will selectively remove organics from water. Elimination of the liquid phase also eliminates re-release or secondary contamination of personnel or the environment as the chemical is no longer available as a liquid; a problem inherent with surface-coating type sorbent products such as activated carbon and polypropylene spill pads. Also, independent third-party testing has demonstrated the ability of  Imbiber Beads to drastically reduce the "rate" of hazardous material off-gassing to the point where the concentration-in-air is below LEL in many instances. Immobilization of organic solvents with Imbiber Beads promotes safer handling, storage and transport of the Hazmats for disposal. Imbiber Beads have tremendous energy value and will generate in excess of 15K BTUs without the solvent; making them an excellent "Energy from Waste" alternative for Co-gen plants and cement kilns. ASTM International has written performance standards and definitions as to what constitutes an absorbent (ASTM F-716 & ASTM F-726). More information can be obtained at the Imbiber Beads website or you are more than welcome to contact me. Regards - John Brinkman.

    1 Comment

    1. Thank you very much John

  5. I doubt if activated carbon can neutralise organic chemicals as mentioned. Since you are already in a laboratory, why not experiment with your own effluent and activated carbon. You may be able to draw the adsorption isotherms and assess feasibility. For degrading you may have to look at bio-degradation processes depending on volume of effluent. 

  8. Guy is right.  xylene is easily broken by archae and certain bacteria.   a cheap and reliable way of breaking up xylene in rivers and creeks is to use a floating bioreactor.  

     

    1 Comment

    1. Good point Eros. We used a similar system for a 20 million gallon pig slur holding tank.  Oxygen and Archaea pumped down to bottom of tank , cleaned from the bottom up so as not to break the odor sealing film. Agreed that some bacterium and fungi are capable of reducing organic compounds into less complex compounds. Unfortunately they do not have the genetic code to reduce anything into its elemental form.  That biological process is reserved for RNA microbes only.  With the mess this world is in all groups and their promoters are more than welcome to join the fight. Keep up the good work.

  9. Xylene is a hydrocarbon, degree of difficulty level 1. All organic compounds are capable of being reduced into their elemental/nutritional forms by using the RNA microbial group called Archaea. The process is known as bioremediation.  This information is available at the UN Environmental Services Dept.  Here is a list of this and other organic compounds cleaned insitu using the inexpensive Archaea.

  10. Activated charcoal does not neutralize xylene but adsorb many organic products contained in the water by filtration in a bed of activated charcoal through a fixed bed filter. Many other adsorbents such as expanded hydrophobic vermiculite, bentonite and other materials are used for treatment of water contaminated by organic products.