This paper reports advanced technology for stabilization/solidification of pollutants for their final disposal in the earth. Pollutants are secured in modules fabricated with organic resins. The modules exhibit high-performance pollutant stability versus stresses of handling, transportation, and final disposal. They are set forth for managing pollutants because present stabilization/solidification products do not satisfactorily address such stresses.

Organic resins are materials of choice for module fabrication because of their excellent chemical stability. But cost-effective, high-performance pollutant stabilization/solidification by resin modules requires judicious resin selection and module design. Polybutadiene resin was identified as an excellent material for binding pollutant particles and forming aggomerates. Agglomerates holding more than 90% by weight pollutants were readily prepared. They were reinforced by fusing polyethylene resin pellets onto their surfaces, thereby encapsulating aggomerates by seamless resin jackets.

Testing of laboratory-scale modules holding toxic wastes demonstrated their outstanding stability under harsh physical, chemical, and mechanical stresses. Based on successful stabilization/solidification of many types of pollutants on a laboratory-scale, the process was scaled up under Department of Energy sponsorship. The work included design and construction of a prototype apparatus for fabricating commercial-size modules. A moldule is cylindrical in shape, has a capacity of 182 L, and is 61 cm high and 61 cm in diameter. In securing sodium sulfate, a pollutant formed in nuclear plants, the module weighs 325 kg, holds 87% by weight salt in a thermoset polybutadiene matrix, and is reinforced by seamless, 0.95-cm-thick, high-density polyethylene jackets.