Utilization of rigid polyurethane foam waste in removal of uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances

Szkoła Główna Służby Pożarniczej (Main School of Fire Service), Juliusza Słowackiego 52/54, 01-629 Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: wesierskitomas@poczta.onet.pl

Abstract

In 2017 in Poland 12522 incidents involving hazardous substances were recorded, of which 23 have been classified as large and very large. Apart from the share of carbon monoxide, most of them concerned uncontrolled petroleum product releases. In the same year over 427 m³ of foaming agents were used. Consequently, an extremely important issue at the intervention level is the efficient and safe removal of the resulting pollution. Tests of maximal absorption proprieties with the use of the modified Westinghouse method executed on a wide range of industrially used diverse industrial toxic substances and various classes of waste of firefighting foam agents have demonstrated substantial usability of rigid polyurethane foam waste. The obtained maximal theoretical sorptivity were within the range of 1.87-5.11 kg.kg^-1. It has also been proven that absorption proprieties in relation to waste firefighting foaming agents were reduced. However, the maximum absorption proprieties of the tested rigid polyurethane foam waste are much higher than those for standard mineral sorbents used in rescue operations, which indicates a high potential for their practical use for emergency services.