Cleaning oil-contaminated soil at the Avenue

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Cleaning oil-contaminated soil at the Avenue
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The Avenue Coke Works

• Processed coal to produce coke
• Coke used as a smokeless fuel and in the
  steel-making industry
• Wastes from the process left behind when the
  works closed in 1992

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Treating oily waste

• Oily waste was just dumped into big ponds or
  lagoons
• The waste needs to be dug out and treated

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Thermal treatment plant

• Treat soil contaminated with oily substances
• Burns them off to leave mostly water and carbon
  dioxide

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Thermal treatment

• Heavily contaminated soil is mixed with processed
  soil
• Gives soil of the correct stickiness to go into
  the thermal treatment plant

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Thermal treatment plant

• Soil enters a rotary kiln (rotating oven)
• Heated to 600oC
• Contaminants driven off as gases
• Cleaned soil is cooled for re-use

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Thermal treatment plant

• Gases are collected
• Particulates filtered out
• Gases burned at 1,200oC
• Products are mostly carbon dioxide and water

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Thermal treatment plant

• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• 270,000m3 of soil
• Cover football pitch with a pile 54m high