Remediation Products Frequently Asked Questions
Table of Contents
AC Absorbent Polymers
Q: How do AC Absorbent Polymers differ from other products?
A: The three main types of products used to clean up oil spills are listed below.
- Peat-moss type products (absorb the oil) – The biggest disadvantage is dealing with the hydrocarbon-soaked peat moss. It is still toxic and highly difficult to manage and transport.
- Detergent-type products (break down the oil and hydrocarbons) – This is very expensive and not environmentally friendly. The broken-down chemicals leach into the soil and surrounding materials where oil spill clean up occurs.
- Polymer encapsulation-type products (such as AC Absorbent Polymers) (encapsulate hydrocarbon, making it chemically inert) – The resulting solidified hydrocarbon is easy to transport, does not leach, is readily landfillable, and retains its BTU value in case you want to use it as solid fuel. (AC Absorbent Polymers are also intentionally used to create solid fuel to make it easy for transportation over rough ground and for remote use where fuel is difficult to handle.)
Q: How do AC Absorbent Polymers work?
A: AC Absorbent Polymers are a food-grade, polymer-based product that is free of toxic chemicals. When it comes in contact with oil or any other hydrocarbon, it “encases” the hydrocarbon via an encapsulation process which renders the hydrocarbon inert. The resulting product is a rubber-like substance that is easy to manage, does not leach, and is safe to handle. The product begins working instantly, cleaning up the hydrocarbon in minutes. It can be used for simple clean ups (like car oil leaks) or volume clean ups (to pick up millions of gallons of spilt hydrocarbon). It is estimated that the $3-billion cost to clean up the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez could have been done ten times as fast and at one-third the cost if AC Absorbent Polymers had been available.
Q: How do I dispose of encapsulated hydrocarbon?
A: Once AC Absorbent Polymers have been used to encapsulate the hydrocarbon, it can be disposed of in two ways.
- The encapsulated hydrocarbon can be used as fuel and turned into energy or heat. It can be taken to coal-fired or other hydrocarbon generation plants, steel mills, cement plants, or other places that use hydrocarbons for fuel for high-temperature incineration.
- The encapsulated hydrocarbon can be landfilled. Once encapsulated, the hydrocarbon will not leach. The half-life of the encapsulated hydrocarbon exceeds the landfill requirements in North America.
Q: How many types of AC Absorbent Polymers are there?
A: There are two types of AC Absorbent Polymers for encapsulating hydrocarbons and one type of AC Absorbent Polymer for encapsulating water and other aqueous solutions. AC Environmental offers AC Absorbent Polymers for sale in the following forms:
- AC Carbon – Organic (simple) Hydrocarbons
- Use Organic when the hydrocarbon is known to be simple.
- AC Carbon – Synthetic (complex) Hydrocarbons
- Use Synthetic when the hydrocarbon is unknown or known to be complex.
- AC Aqua – Chemicals/Acids/Water (Aqueous)
- Use Aqueous to remove water from hydrocarbons and to encapsulate acids and other potentially harmful chemicals.
Q: How does AC Aqua work?
A: AC Aqua is a polymer-based product that is free of toxic chemicals. When it comes in contact with water, acid, or most other water-based chemicals, it “encases” the chemical via an encapsulation process thereby rendering the chemical inert. The resulting product is a solidified substance that is easy to manage, does not leach, and is safe to handle. The product begins working instantly and cleans up the chemical in minutes. It can be used for simple clean ups (like removing water from diesel or the inside of a transformer) and volume clean ups (to pick up millions of gallons of spilt chemical.)
Q: How do we determine how much polymer is required to soak the contents from a spill?
A: Typical application is to apply enough polymer so that it is white (unused polymer) on top. The polymer will only use what it needs to fully encapsulate the waste. For aqueous solutions, the AC Aqua polymer has an absorption capacity of up to 300 times its own volume. Absorption capacity varies from product to product.
Q: What training is required in order to spread the polymer safely?
A: There is no special training necessary for polymer application. The polymer is non-hazardous and non-toxic. We recommend testing polymers with products that end-users will typically be dealing with (e.g., diesel, gasoline, acid) to demonstrate reaction and end-result that can be expected on a larger scale application.
Q: If two different toxic materials are spilled together, how do we know which polymer to use?
A: Initial testing should be completed with a chemical classifier kit to narrow product type. If spill is hydrocarbon-specific, HS is recommended for unknown hydrocarbon spills. HS is the most universal of our products; it picks up synthetic and a majority of organic hydrocarbons.
Q: When a hydrocarbon spill occurs on land and is running into water, where do we spread the polymer to effectively collect the spill content?
A: We recommend using a polymer-filled boom sock to prevent flows from entering the water (place it closest to the water source where flow is taking place). It is ideal to create a temporary berm or holding area with the boom socks. Once contained, absorbent pads or loose polymer granules can be applied directly on the spilled hydrocarbon (this helps in encapsulation, solidification, and easy removal.)
Q: Does the polymer lose any ability to encapsulate materials over time?
A: Our AC Absorbent Polymers do not have a shelf life and will not lose its abilities over time.
Q: Do the polymer pieces come in different-sized particles?
A: Our AC Aqua polymer is available in these formats: Powder, Fine Grain, Medium Grain, and Course Grain. The smaller formats allow for a quicker reaction time. The larger formats allow for the encapsulation of larger volumes. AC Carbon polymers are available in the Medium Grain format.
Q: After the polymer picks up the hazardous material, what type of special handling is required to remove it from the site?
A: Once encapsulated, the hydrocarbon is rendered inert so it can be safely removed and transported. The AC Carbon polymer reduces off-gassing from encapsulated hydrocarbons by up to 85%, thus reducing risk of combustion. AC Environmental always recommends wearing the appropriate equipment when dealing with any hazardous or toxic material (encapsulated with polymer or not).
Q: What is the handling and disposal procedure to remove the material once a toxic material has been encapsulated?
A: Standard protective clothing should be worn when dealing with any clean up situation. Solidified waste can be gathered by hand and placed in drums or luger bins for storage and transport. Solidified hydrocarbon can be used either through cogeneration or landfilled. Testing must be done with each situation to classify the solidified waste for the landfill operator.
Q: Can a solidified mass be cut? Does that cutting process release toxic gas?
A: Yes, a solidified hydrocarbon can be cut and will not release any product or gases.
AC Carbon (Organic)
Q: Where does the AC Carbon (organic) work best?
A: Our AC Carbon (organic) product works best on known organic-hydrocarbon spills such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil.
Q: What does it look like?
A: It is white in colour and is shaped like a small pellet-sized ball.
Q: When it encapsulates the spill, does it float?
A: Yes, the AC Carbon (organic) polymer is hydrophobic and remains so even after encapsulating the hydrocarbon.
Q: How do you recover this material after you have added it over a spill on water?
A: You can use a net to collect all the material, or vacuum it with a Vac Truck. We recommend placing our new hydrocarbon mat over the spill (in cases where there are confined waters) and using our booms to create spill containment boundaries and to prevent hydrocarbon from spreading.
Q: What colour does it take after the absorption process?
A: It will turn the same colour as the product that it absorbs. For example, brown for diesel clean ups.
Q: How do you dispose of it?
A: You can either landfill it (based on federal regulations) or burn/incinerate it. The encapsulated hydrocarbon maintains the same BTU as in its virgin state.
Q: Is it biodegradable?
A: No, once encapsulated, the solidified product has a half-life of 1000+ years. It will not leach into the environment.
Q: Can you landfill it safely?
A: We have received approval, through testing, in the United States and Canada for general landfill. Each country will need to test to ensure federal regulations are being met.
Q: Is there any residual after burning it?
A: After the AC Carbon (organic) has been incinerated, you will still be left with the polymer as it incinerates at 18,600 degrees. The remaining polymer can be landfilled as it is non-hazardous, non-toxic, and poses no environmental harm to soil.
Q: What other uses does it have?
A: It can also be used to easily move any kind of contained fuel for later disposal or burning. It is easier to deal with smaller solid chunks for transportation purposes. No other chemical is required.
Q: What is its absorption capacity?
A: The polymer’s capacity is based on the product being dealt with. For example, diesel to polymer is a ratio of 6:1, gasoline to polymer is 15:1, oil to polymer is 1:1. Typically, you would use 75% less polymer when compared to conventional methods.
AC Carbon (Synthetic)
Q: What’s the difference between AC Carbon (organic) and AC Carbon (synthetic)?
A: The AC Carbon (organic) is used only for known organic spills. The AC Carbon (synthetic) is used where there’s certainty of a hydrocarbon / oil spill from a synthetic origin or mixes between organic and synthetic spills. AC Carbon (synthetic) is usually the best approach when there is not enough information about the spill’s nature.
Q: How much organic material can the AC Carbon (synthetic) hold up to?
A: It can hold up to 90% of the organic material and almost 100% of the synthetic.
Q: What does AC Carbon (synthetic) look like?
A: It comes in the form of a fine (almost powder) grain polymer.
AC Aqua
Q: What kind of acids can it contain?
A: It can work on almost every acid but users should test it first. It works best in lower concentration (20–50%). We are developing a new AC polymer that will be more effective for higher concentration acids and also act as an acid neutralizer.
Q: What does it do exactly?
A: This polymer will attach itself to the hydrophilic molecules of any liquid, encapsulate them, and enable further handling with bare hands.
Q: Does it contain hazardous vapours from those products?
A: Yes. Both the AC Carbon and AC Aqua polymers reduce off-gassing by up to 85%. The AC Aqua allows any hazardous material it contains to be safely handled and prevents toxic vapour from evaporating.
Q: What does the AC Aqua look like?
A: This product has a clear colour. It comes in the form of small pellets.
Q: How much weight can it carry?
A: It can handle up to 300 times its own volume.
AC Nano
Q: What is AC Nano best used for?
A: AC Nano is engineered to provide optimum performance and is used for heavy metal decontamination of industrial chemical wastewater, polluted soils, and ground waters. The order of preference is as follows (according to our tests): lead, cadmium, nickel, zinc, copper, manganese, and cobalt.
Q: Can AC Nano be safely disposed?
A: Yes, once captured, the product can be landfilled.
