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Analysis of IN-SITU Converted Chrysotile Asbestos Fibers in Sprayed on Fireproofing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

R. L. Sabatini ,
Toshi Sugama  and
Leonidas Petrakis
R. L. Sabatini
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., 11973
Toshi Sugama
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., 11973
Leonidas Petrakis
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., 11973
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Extract

A BNL-Grace process has been developed to chemically convert in-situ, the chrysotile fibers of sprayed-on fireproofing products to an unregulated glassy material. The effectiveness of this process has been convincingly demonstrated using Analytical Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction techniques.

Asbestos minerals were used in fireproofing materials because of their excellent physical properties including fire resistance, high tensile strength, heat and electrical insulation, and resistance to acids and alkali. But in 1975 the Environmental Protection Agency began regulating materials containing > 1% asbestos.

The new in-situ BNL-Grace process, which uses a foamy solution sprayed directly onto asbestos-containing fireproofing chemically digests essentially all the asbestos fibers, transforming them into harmless materials. After treatment, the fireproofing is no longer a regulated material. The process produces essentially no waste.

Our problem was to demonstrate that all of the asbestos was converted and that the remaining materials were no longer regulated. Typical analysis methods use conventional optical and Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) to measure and observe fibers.

Type
Microscopy and Microanalysis in the “Real World”
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 4 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '98, Microscopy Society of America 56th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 32nd Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia July 12-16, 1998 , July 1998 , pp. 480 - 481
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

1. Sugama, T. et al., Industrial & Engineering Research, vol. 37, (1997) p79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2. Hriljac, J. A. et al., Analytica Chimica Acta, 350 (1997) 221–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. This research project was supported under a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement, or CRADA, through joint funding by W. R. Grace and Co. and the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management and Office of Energy Research under contract No. DE-AC02-76CH00016.Google Scholar