W.R. Grace and Brookhaven National Laboratory Collaborate on a Chemical Method to Treat Asbestos
W. R. Grace & Co. (Boca Raton, Fla.) and the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL, Upton, N.Y.) have completed a four-year cooperative effort to develop a product that destroys asbestos in installed fireproofing without diminishing the existing fire-resistive performance of the fireproofing material on columns and beams.
The new technique uses a foamy solution sprayed directly onto asbestos-containing fireproofing. BNL is keeping the details sketchy until patent applications have been approved, but does say that the process involves a mixture of acid, a source of fluorine, and foaming agents. "After a few passes with a spray nozzle directed at the insulation, the foam is absorbed into it," David Myers, manager of special projects at BNL, told Chemical Online. "The fluorine, in ionic form, reacts selectively with crysotile asbestos fibers, breaking them down into inert inorganic matter." The reaction takes from 24 hours to a few days to finish, and insulation layers as much as 2.5 inches thick can be made essentially asbestos-free.
Grace anticipates that building owners will realize significant cost savings from the new product, compared to conventional asbestos abatement, which involves constructing airtight barriers, manual scraping, and replacing the insulation. The cost of disposal of what is legally a hazardous waste is also considerable. The new product is expected to be commercially available in early 1998. Larry Ellberger, chief financial officer and acting chief executive officer of Grace, stated, "Our scientists embarked on this research several years ago because it was a natural extension of our expertise and because we were committed to helping our customers find a more time-efficient and cost-effective alternative to asbestos removal." Grace has been a leading supplier of asbestos-based fireproofing materials, with such products as spray-applied Monokote MK-6.
Dr. Leon Petrakis, the senior scientist in charge of the project at Brookhaven, said, "This method could be used in thousands of schools, office buildings, hospitals, and other institutions around the country. We also believe it could lead to the development of a family of innovative materials that chemically digest asbestos-containing materials [including amosite, another form of asbestos], with potential applications for addressing asbestos in thermal insulation at the Department of Energy, in other governmental facilities and in the utility industry." BNL made use of its extensive specialized research facilities, such as a toxicology lab and the Synchrotron Light Source, in performing the research. BNL has also developed a new, EPA-approved analytical procedure for analyzing for the presence of asbestos at levels as low as 0.1 percent.
W. R. Grace & Co., Tel: 561-362-1331.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Tel: 516-344-5658.
By Nick Basta