Treatment of hazardous waste

Claim 2

A process for pretreating hazardous waste received in containers at a waste disposal plant prior to solidification, such method comprising placing the containers unopened in a vessel containing a liquid pretreatment media which neutralizes, precipitates or chemically modifies said hazardous waste, submitting the containers in the vessel to an agitating process which ruptures the containers thereby depositing the hazardous waste into the vessel to be acted upon by the pretreatment media thoroughly mixing said hazardous waste and pretreatment media to form a treated liquid and reduce said containers to particles, and removing said treated liquid from said vessel for solidification.

Claim 3

A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the agitating process is carried out in the vessel by members depending from arms rotatably driven by an upstanding shaft in the central part of the receptacle.

Claim 4

A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the pretreatment media is a neutralising media.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 wherein at least two pretreatment media are successively added to carry out more than one pretreatment step.

Claim 6

A method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the hazardous waste comprises a soluble hazardous component and the pretreatment media comprises a substance which reacts with the soluble component to precipitate it as an insoluble component.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 wherein at least two pretreatment media are successively added to carry out more than one pretreatment step.

Claim 8

A method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the media comprises a chemically modifying agent and the waste in the containers requires chemical modification prior to solidification.

Claim 9

The method of claim 7 wherein at least two pretreatment media are successively added to carry out more than one pretreatment step.

Claim 10

A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the waste contains a cyanide and the media is an oxidising agent to convert the cyanide to a cyanate.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 wherein at least two pretreatment media are successively added to carry out more than one pretreatment step.

Claim 12

A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein at least two pretreatment media are successively added to carry out more than one pretreatment step.

Claim 13

A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the pretreatment media is, or is derived from, a hazardous waste.

Claim 14

In a process for disposing of a hazardous waste material by a solidification process which converts said waste material into a harmless synthetic rock, the improved process for handling closed containers in which the said hazardous waste material is confined while avoiding contact with the hazardous waste material comprising placing the closed containers in a vessel which contains a liquid pretreatment media which neutralizes, precipitates or chemically modifies said hazardous waste material and reduces it hazardous characteristics, agitating the said liquid pretreatment media to move the containers in the liquid pretreatment media and rupture the containers thoroughly mixing said hazardous waste and pretreatment media to form a treated liquid and reduce said containers to particles, and removing said treated liquid from said vessel for solidification.

Claim 15

In a process for disposing of a hazardous waste material by a solidification process which converts said waste material into a harmless synthetic rock, the improved process for handling closed containers in which the said hazardous waste material is confined while avoiding contact with the hazardous waste material comprising placing the closed containers in a vessel which contains a liquid pretreatment media which neutralizes, precipitates or chemically modifies said hazardous waste material and reduces it hazardous characteristics, agitating the said liquid pretreatment media to move the containers in the liquid pretreatment media and rupture the containers thoroughly mixing said hazardous waste and pretreatment media to form a treated liquid and reduce said containers to particles, and removing said treated liquid from said vessel for solidification.