CEtech was formed to develop and commercialize an improved radioactive and hazardous waste thermal treatment process that overcomes many of the limitations of previous thermal treatment processes. The ScrollTherm process is well suited for safe and cost-effective thermal treatment of many wastes and industrial materials.

 

Significant improvements in waste treatment processing have been achieved in the following areas compared to current radioactive and hazardous waste treatment processes such as vitrification, fluidized bed steam reforming, and incineration.

• Process robustness

• Simplicity of operation

• Variety of wastes that can be treated with a single system

• Elimination of fossil and organic-based fuels as process operations are all-electric

• Lower energy usage

• Fewer support systems

• Greatly reduced process and offgas flows.

 

​​The CEtech ScrollTherm process is an integrated, turnkey process that can safely and efficiently thermally treat a wide variety of materials using a cost-effective, versatile, robust, easy-to-operate, electrically heated ScrollTherm thermal treatment vessel (STV) process unit and commercially available process gas treatment subsystems.

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 The ScrollTherm process can be implemented as mobile (transportable), modular systems to cost effectively treat wastes at several different sites with a single transportable process system, or the process can be scaled-up to treat large volumes of waste at a central, fixed-base facility.

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The ScrollTherm process can safely, reliably, and efficiently thermally treat radioactive and hazardous liquids, slurries, pastes, wet cakes, and solids that contain the following radioactive and/or hazardous constituents. 

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• Nitrates and Nitrites: ammonium nitrate, sodium and potassium nitrate, sodium and potassium nitrite, calcium nitrate, nitric acid, etc.

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• Ion Exchange Resins (IER): organic-based polystyrene and polyacrylate cationic and anionic resins in water slurry, decanted, or fully dewatered condition. IERs can be efficiently treated, volume-reduced, and stabilized from Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs), Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), and CANDU nuclear facilities that have long-life Carbon-14, Chlorine-36, and Iodine-129 contaminants.

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• Organic compounds: essentially all organic compounds including IER, oils, solvents, tetraphenyl borates, biological materials, decontamination solutions, pesticides, bitumen, tar, rubber, plastics, paper, wood, etc.

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• Inorganic compounds: essentially all inorganic materials including evaporator bottoms, and wastes containing phosphates, sulfates, chlorides, fluorides, alkali metals, etc.

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• Acids and Bases: hydroxides, mineral acids, organic acids, etc.

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• Radionuclides: essentially all radionuclides including Carbon-14, Cobalt-60, Strontium-90, Technetium-99, Iodine-129, Cesium-137, Tritium, etc.

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• US EPA Priority Pollutant Metals (RCRA+): Antimony, Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, Thallium, and Zinc.  

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The ScrollTherm process can process input wastes containing essentially any combination of the above radioactive and hazardous constituents in liquid, slurry, or solid forms. The ScrollTherm thermal treatment vessel (STV) can perform the following process functions thereby producing concentrated solutions; dry, organic-free solids; nitrate and nitrite-free solids; water-insoluble, alkali metal compounds; and fluid, melted salts.

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• Efficiently and safely evaporate water and volatile organic liquids

• Thermally desorb (pyrolyze) non-volatile organics

• Concentrate solutions

• Dry wet solids and slurries

• Convert inorganics into stable, non-hazardous, water insoluble minerals

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Water and volatile organics are evaporated from the input wastes. Non-volatile organics can be thermal decomposed (pyrolyzed) making a resultant organic-free outlet stream. Nitrates, nitrites, and nitric acid may be destroyed with very low resultant NOx in the evolved process gas from the STV by the co-addition of renewable sugar reductant with the waste stream. Nitrate and nitrite containing wastes can be mineralized to produce dry, organic-free, nitrate and nitrite-free, reduced volume solids that can be efficiently solidified or packaged for permanent disposal or storage. Inorganic constituents can be dried, organics removed, and optionally converted into inert, water insoluble minerals for disposal.

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The ScrollTherm process systems can be deployed as fully integrated, modular, transportable process systems including radiological shielding or the systems can be installed as part of a central, fixed-base treatment facility. 

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The ScrollTherm process can be operated in three operational modes, depending upon the waste stream that is to be thermally treated and the desired final treated product properties.

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• Evaporator / Concentrator (Operates at boiling point of the fluids in the waste)

  • Input: Liquids or slurries

  • Additives – Optional: Add oxidizer (e.g. H2O2 or KMnO4) to destroy non-volatile organics.

  • Output: Concentrated liquid or slurry, essentially all organics fully removed and destroyed

• Dryer / Pyrolyzer (Operates at up to 650°C)

  • Input: Liquids, slurries, pastes, wet solids, sludges, and particulate or size-reduced solids

  • Additives – Optional: Clay to mineralize alkali metals or adsorbents to adsorb volatile waste constituents and/or acid gases (e.g. Cl, F, SOx).

  • Output: Dry solids or melted solids, all organics are fully removed and destroyed

• Denitration and Mineralization (Operates at up to 650°C)

  • Input: Nitrate and nitrite containing liquids or slurries mixed with additives: clay and sugar (soluble reductant) 

  • Output: Dry, denitrated, organic-free, water-insoluble mineralized solids (NaAlSiO4) - all organics destroyed.​​

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The CEtech thermal treatment process (ScrollTherm®) was developed to provide an integrated, turnkey process and equipment that can safely, reliably and efficiently thermally treat a wide variety of materials using a cost-effective, versatile, robust, easy-to-operate, electrically heated process unit.

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Click on the “ScrollTherm Process” menu button for more

detailed technical and programmatic information.

 

ScrollTherm® is a registered US trademark of CEtech LLC,

US and International Patents Pending