Patented Thermal Phase Separation (TPS) Technology
To choose Phase Separation Solutions is to choose one of the most advanced thermal treatment technologies available.
The TPS technology was originally developed in Canada for the commercial treatment of PCB impacted soils. It has proven itself time and again with the successful treatment of soil, sludge, sediment and waste material impacted with PAHs, pesticides, creosote, mercury, dioxins/furans, oilfield drilling waste, petrochemical sludge and paint solids and liquids. Since 1994 on 5 continents the proprietary TPS technology has been employed by a number of international experts on some of the most internationally recognized remediation projects ever undertaken. With PS2 on your side you have access to an unsurpassed depth of experience and proven expertise.
The technology, the first of its kind to carry the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) seal of approval, has been rigorously tested under Environment Canada’s Demonstration and Evaluation of Site Remediation Technologies (DESRT) Program, which is similar to the US EPA S.I.T.E. program, successfully and consistently achieving stringent treatment and emission criteria. In addition to being employed at PS2's state-of-the-art treatment facility in Saskatchewan the technology has been evaluated and approved for onsite operations across Canada and around the world including the US, Australia and Japan for a wide range of industrial contaminants.
It consistently produces a safe, clean soil that is ideally suited for use as fill material. The extracted contaminants can then be safely destroyed using proven chemical dechlorination technology or managed by a high temperature thermal treatment facility. In many cases where the contaminants are non-hazardous and valuable they can be recovered for recycling and even sale.
At our Treatment Facility, one (1) of only three (3) in Canada suited to the treatment of bulk PCB impacted soil and around the world this innovative technology has successfully treated hundreds of thousands of tonnes of contaminated material removing costly liability and returning formerly contaminated industrial lands to back commercial or residential use.
Clients around the world have readily embraced this technology as the ecological alternative to incineration. TPS is not an incineration or direct fired process. It has none of the hazards or potential environmental impacts associated with incineration. With the TPS technology a clean up is just that… clean.
The technology is a closed loop, low temperature, thermal desorption process.
What that means is that it is capable of separating hydrocarbons (including PCBs, Dioxins/Furans, Pesticides and Oil), with boiling points up to 550°C, from any material without direct contact with the flame while producing a clean, inert residue that is safe for use as landfill cover or in-fill at excavated sites. The difference between TPS and more commonly used incineration is that with no direct contact there is no combustion and no opportunity for harmful air emissions to be produced or released into the environment. As a result the technology has been permitted in Canada and around the world to treat some of the most toxic compounds ever manufactured.
It operates in the following way.
1) Desorption/Volatilization
Impacted soil or other hydrocarbon containing material is introduced into the indirectly heated extraction chamber via a rotary paddle airlock system under slightly negative pressure which ensures a minimum of oxygen infiltration and zero potential for contaminant escape. The dual extraction chambers pass through a directly heated jacket called the "firebox" where heat is indirectly transferred via conduction through the extraction chamber shell to the host material. The corresponding increase in host material temperature results in volatilization or boiling off of the hydrocarbons converting them to a vapour state.
The Patented Pyrolitic Depolymerization Desorption (PDD) Process
This application which PS2 has pioneered for the proven TPS technology allows PS2 to effectively process high volume, non-recyclable plastic materials in the same fashion in which it manages soil and sludge. Using the modified TPS system PS2 can effectively reverse the plastics manufacturing process (polymerization) by conversion of long chain hydrocarbons (plastic and resin) back into short chain hydrocarbon vapours (oil) through the application of indirect heat in a low oxygen environment; This oil which resembles No.2 Fuel Oil is clean, has a high energy value and is salable.
2) Condensation
The second stage involves cooling the desorbed gases (hydrocarbon vapour) and condensing them into liquid. The gases are first cooled in a direct quench process using water recovered from the process and constantly cleaned and recycled. At these temperatures, the hydrocarbons are completely re-condensed and captured in the liquid stream. The liquid stream is routed through a three-phase (oil/water/solids) separator where the separated hydrocarbons are directed to a storage tank. The water is directed through a surge tank to the Cooler Unit where it is brought to ambient temperature before being returned to the quench system. Surplus water is directed to a carbon/sand filtration system and on to a storage tank for testing and reuse as a re-hydration agent.
3) NC Gas Consumption
Not all hydrocarbon vapours generated during the process can be recondensed. This stream contains non-condensable hydrocarbons and synthesis gases which typically consist of propane, butane and others. These gases are directed through the NC Gas Purification System and then into the heating system as supplemental fuel reducing the reliance on external natural gas. While processing oil rich waste such as refining sludge, paint solids or when utilizing the patented PDDP application the volume of non-condensable gas produced can be sufficient to displace a significant portion of our virgin natural gas requirements further reducing the overall environmental footprint.
Since natural gas is the primary fuel source PS2 can treat the most hazardous of contaminants while producing no air emissions any different from those found in a standard industrial boiler or heating system.
4) Treated Solids
All solids are cooled and collected for analysis depending upon the primary contaminant being removed. Once they are confirmed clean they can be safely directed to off site landfill displacing valuable virgin cover material.
The TPS technology is uniquely flexible and was originally developed as a mobile, onsite remedial technology. This capacity has been only enhanced through further engineering investment and global deployment.
Flexibility and Mobility
It consists of 4 components which include the Control Unit, Extraction Chamber, Vapour Recovery Unit and NC Gas/Water Treatment Unit. Each component is: 1) designed and certified for transport as standard intermodal containers; 2) to be disassembled into components weighing no more than 8 metric tonnes suitable for helicopter lift and 3) rapid assembly and disassembly in the field.
Each basic system can treat up to a 55 metric tonnes of material per day with an operational crew of only 5. Production can be doubled or tripled through the addition of one or two Extraction Chambers while requiring no additional equipment or personnel. This combination of flexibility, functionality and mobility make the TPS ideally suited to remote site operations or on locations where material volumes are simply too large to move.
With a uniquely engineered technology PS2 is ideally suited to offer its low impact solution to contaminated sites anytime and anywhere from commercial properties in urban centers to abandoned military sites in the High Arctic.