CONVERTING SENSITIVE WASTE AND OFFICE TRASH
INTO CLEAN ENERGY
Robert Skinner
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO)
(208) 526-3516
ABSTRACT
In 1997, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) installed equipment that enabled Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO) to convert waste material that is combustible into process engineered fuel. This fuel is made from unclassified sensitive documents, routine office trash, and wood chips. The installed equipment had been designed to be utilized in the agricultural industry to process hay into compact cubes to reduce storage volume and transportation costs. The same equipment is now utilized at the INEEL to convert material previously buried at the INEEL landfill into cubes that displace a portion of the coal used to generate steam. The cubes and coal are mixed and fed into the Coal Fired Steam Generating Facility (CFSGF) which burns the mixture to produce process and heating steam for the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant at the INEEL.
This paper describes (with the use of overhead transparencies) the processes that take place to get the waste from the point of generation, process it, and convert the combustible portion into cubes for incineration in a waste to energy system.
INTRODUCTION
Disposal of industrial waste at the INEEL has always been accomplished by utilizing shallow land burial. New and innovative methods for recovering this resource have been identified in the past few years and the INEEL has capitalized on one of these methods. Additionally, the destruction of sensitive unclassified information (SUI) has always been expensive due to the need for special controls to ensure its protection from disclosure to unauthorized personnel. These sensitive documents were shredded, buried at the landfill, or sent to a recycling company. The Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, operated by Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company has created an innovative method to dispose of its sensitive unclassified paper waste which has security, economic, and environmental benefits.
A new cubing facility at the INEEL converts office and industrial waste into compact cubes which are then combined with coal and burned as a source of heat to produce steam used for processing and heat at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) facility. The waste material is sorted, then cubed, resulting in the production of process engineered fuel (PEF). The PEF is mixed with coal and utilized as feed in the Coal Fired Steam Generating Facility. This feed nominally consists of 25% cubes and 75% coal and burns cleaner than coal with lower emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. The alternative fuel also reduces fuel costs, eliminates paying a recycling company, reduces the expense of landfill disposal, increases the life of the landfill, and provides energy to operate a large facility.
The Operations Security (OPSEC) team capitalized on this waste to energy technology by recommending that the large quantities of sensitive information (documents) generated at the INEEL be disposed of in this manner. In addition to the economic and environmental benefits, this disposal method minimizes the vulnerabilities of SUI from disclosure to unauthorized personnel. The "cuber" technology has potential application in government and industry for protection of SUI.
WASTE-TO-CUBES PROCESS
In September 1996, the INEEL installed equipment which enabled LMITCO to convert material, which was previously sent to the landfill, into process engineered fuel. This fuel was made from paper and routine trash generated at the 890-square-mile site facility, offices, and research facilities as well as waste generated at in-town office facilities. A grant from the DOE Pollution Program funded this effort which made procurement and setup of the equipment possible.
The equipment has been used extensively in the agricultural industry to process hay into compact cubes to reduce shipping and storage costs. This same equipment is now used to cube trash, which is ultimately used to displace a portion of the coal feed in the Coal Fired Steam Generating Facility (CFSGF). This facility generates process and heating steam for use at the ICPP.
Waste from offices and buildings at the INEEL and from in-town facilities is collected by dumpmaster trucks and taken to the Cold Waste Handling Facility at the ICPP for segregation and processing. The trucks are emptied at a staging/processing facility, where the hands-on portion of the work begins. The waste is moved onto moving conveyor belts and spread out for segregation. Many items can be cubed, including paper, wood, cardboard, food items, styrofoam, plastics, paper towels, and just about any other item that is routinely placed in trash that can be burned. Any item that can be used as fuel remains on the conveyor belt for transfer into the shredder. Non-burnable items, such as cans, metals, metal ringed binders, and medical wastes, are placed on another conveyor belt for shredding and transfer to the INEEL landfill for burial. The INEEL landfill is considered an industrial landfill and the types of material that can be buried are very limited.
The waste that goes to the shredder for cubing is shredded and sent to one of two metering boxes (utilized for storage of shredded materials). When enough material is contained within the two metering boxes, the cubing system is started and the shredded waste is converted into cubes. The cubes are placed into a trailer for transfer to the CFSGF.
The CFA landfill also has a wood chipper which converts waste wood into wood chips. The wood chipper is fed old wood and bailed cardboard which results in a product that is ideally suited as a feedstock for the waste cubing system. The woodchips, cardboard and trash are mixed and then fed into the waste cubing system. The addition of wood and cardboard to the collected waste increases the BTU content of the final cubed product.
Process engineered fuel (cubes) can displace up to 30% of the coal fed into the CFSGF without any impact to the facility’s operating permit.
Many commercial waste facility operators and waste generators have inquired about the INEEL cubing/incineration process. The INEEL has hosted demonstrations for interested visitors from several countries and from many facilities within the United States. Since the cuber can process over 140 tons of waste a day, it has many applications throughout the waste management industry.
ENHANCEMENT OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION PROTECTION
SUI is information in which disclosure, loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction could adversely affect national security, governmental or company interests, and competitiveness. Unclassified national security interests are those matters which relate to the national defense or foreign relations of the U.S. Government. Government interests are those related, but not limited, to the wide range of government or government-derived economic, human, financial, industrial, agricultural, technological, and law-enforcement information, as well as the privacy or confidentiality of personal or commercial proprietary information provided the U.S. Government by its citizens.1 Company interests and competitiveness issues include information pertaining to a company’s business plans and finances.
The LMITCO OPSEC Program maintains an aggressive OPSEC assessment schedule. The purpose of an OPSEC assessment is to identify and mitigate potential losses of SUI. It was discovered during the course of these assessments that a satisfactory method did not exist for disposal of large quantities of SUI. The solution was unique to the problem. The LMITCO OPSEC Office learned that the Cold Waste Handling Facility at the ICPP was installing a new cubing machine that could shred, mix, and extrude large amounts of combustible material into hard cubes.
OPSEC assessments are conducted using a five-step process to ensure LMITCO properly protects their sensitive assets. This process is as follows:
A continuing problem discovered during the OPSEC assessments was the amount of SUI being disposed of in trash cans and recycle bins. It was also being left out on desks, file cabinets, and bookcases because no one wanted to take time to dispose of it properly. Improper disposal of SUI, such as discarding proprietary information into a trash can or recycle bin, could result in the loss of new innovative technology, company profits, and possibly jobs. The benefits of implementation of the Cuber system are:
The "Waste-to-Energy Cubing System" at the INEEL minimizes the possibility of inadvertent disclosure of SUI. Examples of the different categories of SUI include applied technology information, export controlled information, privacy act information, proprietary information, protected Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) information, naval nuclear propulsion information (NNPI), and safeguards information.
The destruction of sensitive unclassified documents has always been expensive because of the need for special controls to ensure its protection from disclosure to unauthorized persons. The reduction in paper trash being sent to the landfill reduces the costs for operating the landfill. Sensitive information which is not disposed of properly could compromise the competitive position of the INEEL. The SUI is now being turned into energy which heats a facility, and at the same time, contributes to a cleaner environment through the reduction of emissions at the plant and reduction in the amount of material being placed in the landfill.
The LMITCO OPSEC Office developed procedures for the gathering of sensitive information and subsequent transportation to the Cuber. Security collection methods were implemented at all INEEL facilities, including the DOE Operations Office. Discarded paper was transported to the Cuber system with the same protection as that used by the U.S. Mail. Special handling procedures were implemented for Cuber personnel to receive sensitive information. This further reduces the potential of compromise by ensuring that all paper trash from sensitive areas is disposed of without a need for separation. Individuals no longer have to separate paper trash from other trash because it can all go to the Cuber.
CONCLUSION
The waste-to-cubes system at the INEEL has shown that a material previously considered waste can be utilized as an important source of energy. Add to that a method of destroying sensitive information and you have an idea whose time has come. This system has not only solved the problem of disposing of sensitive paper trash, but also contributes to environmental awareness and cost reduction. The use of up to 30% of the paper cubes in the CFSGF results in a cleaner burn with less polluting emissions and reduces the amount of money spent for coal. The reduction in the amount of paper trash being sent to the landfill also reduces the costs of operating the landfill.
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