ASTM F873-84(1996)

NOTICE: This standard has either been superseded and replaced by a new version or withdrawn.
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Designation:F873 –84(Reapproved 1996)
Standard Guide for
Incinerating Oil Spill Wastes at Temporary Field Locations
This standard is issued under the fixed designation F 873; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (ε) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
1. Scope 2.1.6 oil spill—An uncontrolled discharge of petroleum
materials into the environment.
1.1 This guide addresses incineration as a means of waste
2.1.7 on-scene coordinator—the person in charge of oil
disposal and specifically discusses incinerating oil spill wastes
spill countermeasures.
at temporary field locations.
2.1.8 open burning—the process of burning a material
1.2 The purpose of this guide is to provide the user with
without the aid of an incinerator.
general information on incineration as a means of disposal, not
2.1.9 portable incinerator—a device capable of being trans-
to define a rigid set of standards. It is intended as a reference
ported by some practical means to a field location for the
to plan or execute disposal by incineration.
purpose of burning combustible waste products.
1.3 This guide outlines procedures and describes some
2.1.10 recycling—any disposal method that uses oil spill
equipmentthatcanbeappliedtoaland-basedfieldincineration
waste material in some manner other than returning it to a
process. Included in the guide is a description of typical oil
marketed product. Examples are road oiling and direct use as
spill wastes that can be incinerated; an outline of procedures to
fuel supplement.
select, prepare, operate, and restore a temporary site; and a
2.1.11 relative viscosity—the measured viscosity of an
summary of general site safety considerations.
emulsion (in any convenient unit) divided by the measured
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the
viscosity of the oil.
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the
2.1.12 reprocessing—reclaimed spilled oil by some type of
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-
treatment technique that returns the oil into a product that can
priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-
be sold.
bility of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific precau-
tionary information is given in Section.7
3. Significance and Use
2. Terminology 3.1 A series of five basic operations are generally required
to control an oil spill. These operations are: containment,
2.1 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
recovery, transfer, storage, and disposal. A deficiency in any
2.1.1 field—a location designed during an oil spill cleanup
one of these operations can cause the entire cleanup activity to
for incinerating oil spill waste material.
slow down or even stop. For example, recovery operations
2.1.2 incineration—controlled burning of waste products or
must be terminated when temporary storage fills to capacity
other combustible material.
and skimmers are no longer able to offload picked-up oil. In
2.1.3 incinerator—a device constructed for the purpose of
order to minimize any adverse effect that the disposal process
containing a material for thermal oxidization.
might have on the other four operations, proper planning and
2.1.4 landfarming—a controlled method of spreading a
management of the waste disposal operation is essential.
known amount of oil in a nominally uniform layer thickness
3.2 One way to avoid a slowdown due to the disposal
onto a designated land area for the purpose of biological
process is to select a disposal site near the cleanup activity. A
decomposition. This decomposition process is accelerated by
convenient site reduces the time necessary to transport the
mixingtheoillayerwiththetopfewinchesofsoil,aeratingthe
picked-upmaterialfromstoragetodisposal,thusincreasingthe
soil by occasional plowing and adding fertilizers that include
efficiency of the overall operation.
nitrogen and potassium to increase the oil decomposition rate.
3.3 Unfortunately all oil spill cleanup locations may not be
2.1.5 landfill—alanddisposaltechniquethatusesexcavated
convenient to established oil waste disposal areas. In remote
pits to contain the oil spill waste material. The waste is placed
areas travel time to refineries, landfarms, or approved landfills
in the excavation, covered over, and left to degrade.
may be hours or even days away from the spill. Therefore, it
may be advantageous to establish a temporary field disposal
This guide is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F20 on Hazardous
site near the cleanup operation.
Substances and Oil Spill Responseand is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee
F20.15on In-Situ Burning.
Current edition approved Feb. 28, 1984. Published May 1984.
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.
F873 –84 (1996)
3.4 An effective disposal method to use at temporary field in the emulsion, chemicals or heat can be added to break the
locations is incineration. Incinerating oily waste does not emulsion into free water and oil. After separation of the free
require a large land surface area as does landfarming. Also,
water, the remaining liquids will be uncontaminated oil and
with an incineration process there is no need for long term emulsions. Both are pumpable by conventional means, contain
subsurface monitoring as with the landfill method of disposal.
little or no debris, and have relatively high heating values.
3.5 The incineration process can serve two functions. First,
AccordingtoTable1,liquidsaredesignatedasuncontaminated
it can permanently destroy the oily waste to prevent recontami-
oil and emulsion.
nation by the oil, and second, it can reduce the volume of
4.2.1.1 Uncontaminated Oil—Liquid, uncontaminated oil is
recovered materials that must be transported to other disposal
pumpable by conventional means and contains little or no
facilities.
debris. The major component is crude oil or a refined product
3.6 Thisguidemaybeappliedwheredeemedsuitablebythe
such as fuel oil, diesel oil, or lubricating oil. These materials
user. Because of the emergency nature of most spill cleanup
normally have high heating values and burn efficiently. Al-
situations, it is recognized that these guidelines cannot always
though relatively uncontaminated, this category of liquid may
be applied in every detail. Accepted industry practice is to do
contain small amounts (for example, up to about 5 %) of other
a safe and environmentally acceptable job with the available
non-hydrocarbon.
resources.
4.2.1.2 Emulsions—Liquid emulsions are pumpable by con-
3.7 This guide is intended to be used by persons generally
ventional means and contain little or no debris. The major
familiar with the practical aspects of oil spill cleanup opera-
components are oil, either crude or certain refined products,
tions. It is intended as a guide for the on-scene coordinator or
and water. Generally, the more water in a water-in-oil emul-
personnel managing the spill waste disposal phase.
sion, the higher the viscosity. For example, the relative
viscosity of a water-in-oil emulsion with 50 % water is 10,
4. Classification of Oil Spill Waste Materials
whereastheviscositywith80%wateris10 000.Viscositycan
4.1 The ability of an incinerator to burn oil and oily debris
affect the type of transfer system, incinerator system and
successfully depends on the nature of the recovered material.
pretreatment required to lower the heating value.
Of particular importance is the quantity of water associated
4.2.2 Semi-solids—Semi-solid waste material may result
with the recovered oil and debris, the size distribution of the
fromoilweathering,debrismixingintooil,orlowtemperature.
debris, and the percentage of combustible, organic material in
Most oil spill cleanup operations must dispose of semi-solid
the mixture. This section describes the types of materials that
materials. The major components of semi-solids can be either
can be incinerated in the field.
oil or debris. For example, uncontaminated No. 6 fuel oil can
4.2 Recovered materials that can be incinerated are divided
become a semi-solid at low temperatures depending on its pour
into several general categories based on their physical state,
point. Oil-saturated pine needles or straw can also be consid-
size, combustibility, transfer requirements, and components.
ered semi-solid type materials. Semi-solids without treatment
Table 1 summarizes types of oil spill waste into the following
cangenerallybetransferredbysometypesofpositivedisplace-
categories.
4.2.1 Liquids—Oil recovered from a spill usually has water ment pumps, conveyor systems, vacuum systems, or screw
augers. They can also be pre-treated prior to incinerating. For
associated with it. The percentage of water collected with the
oil varies widely. The water can be present with the oil either example, debris can be separated from the oil or the oil can be
as free water or mixed into the oil to form a water-in-oil heated to make it a liquid in order to be pumped by conven-
emulsion.Itisoftennecessarytodecantthefreewaterfromthe tional means.According to Table 1, semi-solids are designated
oil prior to incineration. In order to decrease the water content by five categories as follows: uncontaminated oil, emulsions,
weathered oil, small combustible debris, and small noncom-
bustible debris.
TABLE 1 Types of Oil Spill Waste
4.2.2.1 Uncontaminated Oil—Semi-solid uncontaminated
Waste Material Physical State
oil can occur naturally or can be formed as a result of low
Categories Liquid Semi-solid Solid
temperatures. Some crude oils exist in nature as semi-solid
Oils
materials due to paraffinic constituents and must be heated in
order to be easily transferred. In the Arctic, temperatures are
Uncontaminated (Crudes, XX
low enough to cause some crude oils to become semi-solids.
refined products)
Emulsions (Crudes, some XX
4.2.2.2 Emulsions—Semi-solid emulsions can solidify at
refined products)
low temperatures when the water phase begins to freeze. The
Weathered (Tarballs, burned oil XX
residue)
greater the water phase the more solid the material becomes.
4.2.2.3 Weathered Oil—Semi-solid weathered oils are
Oily Debris
highly viscous materials composed mainly of oil with compo-
Small combustible (Sticks, XX
nents C and greater. Weathered oil is formed in many ways
cups, sorbent pads)
including exposure to sunlight, heat and long-term mixing in
Large combustible (Logs, X
seaweed mats, pilings)
water. Exposure to these conditions causes a reduction in the
Small noncombustible (Sand, XX
light ends of the oil and a resultant increase in the viscosity.
rocks, metal, soil)
Tarballs are an example of highly-weathered oil.
F873 –84 (1996)
4.2.2.4 Small Combustible Debris—Semi-solid small com- 5.2 Someincineratorsystemsrequireauxiliaryequipmentto
bustible debris refers to a mixture of oil, either liquid or operate. This equipment includes feed systems for loading the
semi-solid, and debris. The debris in the mixture is not bulky waste, water for cooling the flame, and fuel to ignite the waste
and any one piece can easily be picked up in one hand. or heat the incinerator chamber. Other systems are self-
Examples of such debris are oil-coated sorbent pads, leaves contained and do not require auxiliary equipment.
and wood cuttings. 5.3 Categories of Incinerators—Incinerator systems used to
4.2.2.5 Small Noncombustible Debris—Semi-solid non- burn oil spill waste products can be placed into one of the
following categories: factory assembled, user assembled, or
combustible debris refers to those oily debris mixtures that
containcomponentsthatwillnotburnatthesametemperatures user fabricated.
as the oil. Oils containing soils and metal may be included in 5.3.1 Factory Assembled—Factory assembled incinerators
this category. are complete commercially available devices. They require no
4.2.3 Solids—Solid waste material recovered at oil spills assembly or fabrication by user in order to implement their use
in the field.
exhibits no fluid characteristics. The major component of the
material is the solid matter and not the oil. Solids range in size
5.3.2 User Assembled—User assembled incinerators are
from oil-coated sand grains to logs. Solids are normally made from commercially available component parts; for ex-
transferred with material handling equipment and cannot be
ample, a fan, a motor, and a refractory lined chamber. They
pumped by conventional means. Large oil-coated materials require assembly of the components by the user, but parts do
that cannot be handled by one person are in this category and not need to be fabricated.
usually require power equipment, such as cranes or conveyor
5.3.3 User Fabricated—User fabricated incinerators are
systems to move them. Sometimes it is easier to incinerate
those not commercially available that require design and
large solids by first reducing their size by cutting, shredding or
fabrication. These units are generally one of a kind systems.
grinding. Solid materials in this guide are designated in Table
5.3.4 These guidelines will only describe factory assembled
1bythefollowingcategories:weatheredoil,smallcombustible
anduserassembledsystems.Userfabricatedsystemsareuseful
debris, large combustible debris, and small non-combustible
inthefield,butaretoonumeroustoincludeintheseguidelines.
debris.
5.4 Requirements of a Field Incinerator—In order for an
4.2.3.1 Weathered Oil—Solid weathered oils are found
incinerator to be a practical tool for field incineration, it must
mainly on shorelines and are formed as a result of long-time
satisfy the following general requirements.
exposure to sunlight, water and, often, mixing with debris.
5.4.1 Burns Oily Materials—The incinerator must be a
Normally weathered solid materials are not harmful to the
proven system, capable of burning oil liquids or semi-solids, or
environment but are a nuisance on recreational beaches.
both.
4.2.3.2 Small Combustible Debris—Solid small, combus-
5.4.2 Transportable—The incinerator shall be transportable
tible debris is material that can be picked up and moved by one
to the oil cleanup location by air, land, or water vehicles.
person. Oil-coated sticks, paper cups, and lightly-oiled sorbent
5.4.3 Safe—The incinerator shall be a device proven safe to
pads are examples.
use, and when operated correctly will not endanger persons,
4.2.3.3 Large Combustible Debris—Solid large, combus-
equipment, or the environment.
tible debris is material too large to be moved by one person.
5.4.4 Auxiliary Equipment—The incinerator system
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