oxygen. "But," Lester explains, "because of the huge number of reactions possible, we need to divide and coordinate our efforts. The scope is larger than any individual research group could possibly carry out on any reasonable time scale." The ad hoc group of theoreticians already has met twice, and has agreed to meet three times a year in the future to review progress and to assure that all important aspects of the problem are being addressed. D
Hazardous waste rules to be delayed The Environmental Protection Agency has been authorized by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to delay further the timetable for issuing final hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. The new schedule sets April 1980 as the date for promulgation of most, but not all, of the regulations. In agreeing to this new timetable, Judge Gesell says that the court was impressed with EPA's "sincerity, integrity, and good faith." Eckardt (Chris) Beck, EPA's new assistant administrator for water and waste management, says that the agency is "becoming extremely ag-
gressive, even hawkish" in dealing with the hazardous waste problem in the U.S. As proof, he cites EPA's recent decision to increase resources to tackle this enormous undertaking— 235 new people and $12.6 million in Preprogramed" funds, funds taken from other agency programs. In addition, Beck says, EPA has requested supplemental appropriations to this fiscal year's budget, and has asked for a substantial increase in next year's budget for the hazardous waste program. During the current fiscal year, the increased funds will be used to issue the majority of the regulations by April 1980. According to the schedule, EPA will issue generator, transporter, and notification process standards by February 1980. Hazardous waste identification and listing, interim hazardous waste facilities, permit, and state authorization standards will be promulgated by April 1980. Abandoned dump sites do not figure in the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. However, the agency is optimistic that some type of superfund legislation, which is designed to deal with the issue, will be forthcoming from Congress in late winter. Although Judge Gesell has agreed to EPA's schedule, he has requested that all parties to the proceedings formulate an order setting out the new schedule. In addition to EPA, the
Solchem receiver, in solar furnace, achieves conversion The Naval Research Laboratory's Solchem solar energy concept has taken an important step in development with a successful test of the receiver early this month at the White Sands, N.M., solar furnace (above). The Solchem concept involves the endothermic reaction of methane and carbon dioxide at a solar collector to form predominantly synthesis gas, composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (C&EN, July 30, page 26). The reverse reaction would then be carried out in a closed loop to produce heat for generating steam. In the test, 3 kw of solar energy was converted into chemical energy in the receiver, designed so that concentrated light enters a cavity formed by multiple dissociation coils through which feedstock flows. At the solar furnace, sunlight is reflected by a steerable mirror (right), through a Venetian blind attenuator (left), and into a paraboloidal mirror (left), which focuses the light and provides a temperature of more than 1000°C as the light enters the test house (right center).
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C&EN Dec. 17, 1979
parties include the Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Action, the state of Illinois, the National Solid Waste Management Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, some utilities, and pulp, paper, and mining companies. D
TVA launches fuel-cell program Fuel-cell technology is going to receive a boost from Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA's board of directors has authorized $24 million to launch the first phase of a program to develop fuel cells as a source of electricity for the future. The first phase of the program includes the design and construction of a 250-kw fuel cell pilot plant in Muscle Shoals, Ala. The plant will use phosphoric acid fuel cells powered by the hydrogen-rich gas produced by a TVA-owned coal gasifier being built on the same site. TVA hopes to demonstrate that fuel cells can be run on coal-derived fuels, and that the waste heat cogenerated with the electricity can be used by other industries in the region, such as paper mills. The gasifier, which is expected to begin operation next summer, will use about 200 tons of high-sulfur coal each day to produce a medium-Btu gas rich in both hydrogen and carbon dioxide, according to John R. Morgan, a project manager in TVA's division of energy demonstration and technology in Chattanooga, Tenn. Only 2 to 5% of the gas produced by the gasifier will be used to power the fuel cells, he says. The rest of the hydrogen gas will be catalytically reacted with nitrogen to produce ammonia for TVA's fertilizer development project. The ammonia plant currently uses natural gas as its source of hydrogen. If the results from the fuel-cell pilot plant are favorable, TVA plans to spend more than $50 million to build a 10-Mw fuel cell demonstration plant. So far, the board has approved only the preliminary design for this plant. But TVA is looking ahead to 1983, when it expects the demonstration plant to use up the coal gasifier's total output. The waste heat from the demonstration plant would be used to generate process steam for TVA's ammonia plant. At the same time, the ammonia plant would be converted to using natural gas. Thus, although the fuel-cell plants, the coal gasifier, and the "ammonia-fromcoal" project are separate developments, they are inexplicably linked by TVA's broad vision of energy use in the future. D
