System and method for treating asbestos

摘要

A method, apparatus, and system to apply a mineralizing agent to an asbestos containing material (ACM) after the ACM is reduced in size, particularly by spraying or injecting the mineralizing agent to a shredded ACM, is provided. The mineralizing agent may include a solution of alkali metal hydroxide, alkali metal silicate, alkali metal borate, alkaline earth borate, or mixtures thereof, which may be heated and mixed and is then delivered to the reduced size or shredded ACM using a piping system that injects the mineralizing agent downstream of an ACM shredding unit. The ACM treated with the mineralizing agent may be heated in a mineralizing furnace to convert the ACM to an essentially asbestos-free mineral. After removal from the mineralizing furnace, the mineralized material is moved to an atmosphere controlled environment where it is cooled gradually for further mineralization.

主权项

1. An apparatus for treating asbestos containing material (ACM) with a mineralizing agent, the apparatus comprising:
a shredding system structured to receive and shred the ACM into shredded ACM in the shredding apparatus to increase the surface area and to discharge the shredded ACM; and a delivery system adapted to first heat the mineralizing agent and then spray the heated mineralizing agent on to the shredded ACM after it is discharged and while the shredded ACM is falling through the air from the shredding apparatus for the purpose of converting the asbestos into an essentially asbestos-free mineral that contains non-detectable concentrations of asbestos when analyzed using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy techniques.