Ventilation – Vehicle – Freight
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-04
2001-02-13
Joyce, Harold (Department: 3749)
Ventilation
Vehicle
Freight
C095S134000, C241S024220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186884
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to mercury containing lamps and bulbs and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for economically and efficiently handling of lamps and bulbs containing mercury in an environmentally acceptable process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Mercury containing lamps, such as fluorescent lamps, are widely used in schools, factories, office buildings, shopping centers and other large buildings. Such buildings normally have a bulb replacement program as part of their normal maintenance. As will be appreciated, such programs often involve replacing all the lamps in a particular area of the building or, in some circumstances, throughout an entire building or complex.
Both state and federal governments are very concerned over the disposal of spent lamps containing mercury. Current lamp crushing techniques allow the mercury vapor contained in spent lamps to be released into the atmosphere, thus, causing significant environmental damage. When lamps are disposed of in landfills or the like, residual mercury often leaches into the ground.
In view of the above, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has recently enacted legislation preventing spent lamps containing mercury from being disposed of at landfills. Substantial penalties have been enacted to prevent illegal disposal of spent lamps containing mercury such as fluorescent lamps. If a landfill is discovered to have mercury containing lamps in their waste, any user of that landfill is considered a potential responsible party (PRP). Under current regulations, any PRP (no matter how large or small) would be liable for the closure of the failed landfill. This responsibility can equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars to a single generator of potentially hazardous material.
As will be appreciated, disposal of spent mercury containing lamps poses a significant problem for those buildings or facilities which tend to be large users of such mercury containing lamps. Heretofore, lamp disposal has been treated as any other waste. That is, it has been necessary for these larger facilities to contract with an organization which would manifest the spent lamps at the location where they are generated, followed by packaging and transporting them to a central processing facility where the spent lamps could be destroyed in a controlled environment. The costs of the paperwork, as well as the processing required to be used to properly dispose of mercury containing lamps in a controlled environment has a significant economic disadvantage associated therewith. As will be appreciated, transporting a large volume of spent lamps to a central processing facility essentially amounts to the transportation of air several hundred miles in most instances.
Because mercury containing lamps come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, the need and ability to transport the spent lamps to a central processing facility also involves significant handling costs and equipment for insuring against breakage of the lamps during the transportation process. Transportation of spent lamps, sometimes several hundreds of miles, inevitably leads to breakage of some of the lamps along the way and, thus, the release of potentially toxic mercury vapors into the atmosphere. Moreover, some states require a licensed hazardous waste hauler to ship the spent bulbs from the facility whereat the lamps are removed to the central processing facility. Requiring a hazardous waste hauler to move what essentially is air sometimes hundreds of mile can lead to a significant economic problem.
Thus there remains a need and a desire for an apparatus and method fort destroying mercury containing lamps which is both efficient and economical and, yet, satisfies environmental concerns when the spent lamps are destroyed by creating a product rather than a waste.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, one aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus for economically handling mercury containing lamps in an efficient manner while protecting the environment against release of mercury vapors into the atmosphere. In one form, the apparatus of the present invention includes a mobile vehicle which is transportable to a facility or site where the mercury containing lamps to be recycled are located, a mechanism mounted within an enclosure on the mobile vehicle for receiving and destroying the mercury containing lamps therewithin, and an apparatus for sensing mercury vapor levels within the enclosure of the vehicle. The terms “destroying” or “destruction” as used herein means rendering the spent mercury containing lamps innocuous and creates reusable materials.
In accordance with the present invention, the vehicle on which the mechanism for destroying mercury containing lamps is mounted is moved to a site or facility at which the spent or burned out lamps are located. The spent lamps are accumulated on site at the facility as the lamps burn out or are replaced thereby reducing the paperwork and handling of the spent lamps. Moreover, driving the lamp destruction mechanism to the site where the lamps are generated and stored eliminates many—if not all—the transportation problems discussed above.
In a preferred form of the invention, the enclosure on the vehicle includes a multi-walled structure arranged in surrounding relation relative to the lamp destruction apparatus. The enclosure further includes a door movable between open and closed positions. When the door is closed, the lamp destruction apparatus is operably separated from the atmosphere outside the enclosure on the vehicle.
The lamp destruction mechanism preferably includes a housing wherein mercury containing lamps are received and destroyed, a filter apparatus for trapping mercury vapors from gases passed therethrough, and an air handling unit. In a most preferred form, the lamp destruction apparatus of the present invention operates under the influence of a negative pressure or vacuum. Research has revealed that anything airborne will be drawn into and toward a negative source of air. Accordingly, when the lamps are crushed inside the vacuum chamber of the destruction apparatus, mercury vapors are positively drawn or entrained within a negative air stream thus preventing their escapement from the lamp destruction or crushing apparatus and thereby preventing any potential emissions to the atmosphere. In a most preferred form of the invention, the door to the enclosure is latched in a position such that it remains slightly open during a lamp destruction process such that ambient air from outside the enclosure is drawn into the enclosure to enhance the quality of air within the enclosure on the vehicle.
The housing of the destruction apparatus wherein the mercury containing lamps are destroyed preferably includes a first chamber wherein a vacuum is created during the lamp destruction process and a second chamber arranged in material receiving relation relative to said first chamber. As such, the processed particulates of glass and metal ends caps resulting from the destruction of the mercury containing lamps pass from the first chamber to the second chamber of the housing where they are held as non-hazardous raw material. Doors are provided on the housing to promote access to the interior of the housing.
The broken glass is collected within the receptacle and subsequently resold for use in other applications. For example, the crushed glass can be used in asphalt batching facilities for aggregate in road beds. Alternatively, the crushed glass can be used in sand blasting industry in the form of glass beads. Similarly, the aluminum end caps are captured for further handling. Suffice it to say, the aluminum end caps are collected and are likewise resold for their recycle value.
In a most preferred form of the invention, the housing wherein the mercury containing lamps are destroyed includes a tray which is slidably mounted on the housing for movement between loading and operational positions. In a loading position, the tray is positioned to facilitate loading of mercury c
Harbst John W.
Joyce Harold
MAG Patent, Inc.
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