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VIROTEC 21 February 2009 VIROTEC GLOBAL SOLUTIONS
Mercury Treatment
Virotec Global Solutions is pleased to announce that it has entered into a contract valued in excess of $700,000 to treat mercury-contaminated filter cake using its patented ViroFlow™ Technology for one of Australia’s largest smelting companies. The contract will last for three months, during which time approximately 700 tonnes of drummed filter cake sludge will be shipped to Queensland for treatment at Virotec’s treatment facility.
The filter cake, a thickened but wet industrial solid generated as a result of dewatering waste liquid from the smelting process, contains up to 5% mercury, and must be treated in a way that no more than 0.1 mg/L of mercury (0.1 part per million) is leachable using standard TCLP measures as a result of treatment. As Virotec has repeatedly treated solid industrial waste with similar levels of total metals, and has routinely treated such hazardous waste to levels as low as 0.01 mg/L. the company is confident that this application of ViroFlow™ Technology will be extremely successful.
Once the filter cake has been treated and analysed for results, the solid material will be in a dry and inert form from which less than 0.1 mg/L of mercury can be removed from the solid, even under extreme leaching procedures designed to mimic reducing conditions in a landfill over the 20 year period. This dry material will be disposed of in one of Queensland’s state-of-the-art landfills.
Dr Lee Fergusson, Virotec’s Chief Executive Officer, noted that “we are extremely satisfied with our work in treating contaminated industrial filter cake, and this project will build upon past experience and results. While the project is challenging in terms of logistics, given that 700 tonnes of waste needs to be packaged, safely transported, stored, received and treated, and properly disposed of, our technology has proven particularly robust yet flexible to meet the needs of customers with this type of waste. In addition to that, the process is cost-effective, and we expect many more projects of this scale and type in the coming months and years.”
For further information please contact: Daniel Blair +61 7 5573 3373
VIROTEC GLOBAL SOLUTIONS www.virotec.com |
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