Types of railway sleepers and their disposal.

Disposal railway sleepers is current problem for our country. A huge number of old railway supports cannot simply be stored in landfills. Each type of sleeper requires specific methods of disposal and recycling.

Important! The issue of recycling railway supports is acute in Russia today. Used sleepers need to be disposed of as industrial waste in specialized landfills. However, the areas allocated for this are already overcrowded. Wooden supports impregnated with creosote, acetone and other antiseptics have to be stored in the wrong places, which, of course, causes damage to all living things. Also for this reason, environmental services issue fines to enterprises that own railway sleepers. Therefore, it is important to resort to methods of disposal and recycling different types railway supports, problem solving their excessive accumulation and being an alternative way of producing energy and recyclable materials. Disposal and recycling of worn-out supports is carried out by special enterprises in compliance with safety regulations.

Disposal of wooden sleepers impregnated with antiseptic

All wooden supports are impregnated with antiseptics, which are toxins. Therefore, they are classified as waste hazard class 3. Disposal of wooden sleepers is carried out in several ways:

  1. Burning. Is the most common method. Destruction of sleepers impregnated with creosote and other antiseptics by burning is not safe for the environment due to the release of a mixture of phenols, acetone and other toxins when burning such supports.
  2. Using railway supports as a building material. The method is not safe for human health.
  3. Gasification. Allows you to significantly increase the level of neutralization of wooden supports.
  4. Pyrolysis. Carried out at high temperatures ah without access to oxygen. This method requires the creation of sealed conditions, which sharply reduces the level of harmful emissions into the environment.
  5. Recycling.

Disposal of concrete sleepers

Disposal of reinforced concrete sleepers mainly consists of their recycling. Its essence is to separate concrete products into fractions: crushed stone and metal reinforcement. These obtained materials can already be used as recyclable materials. For example, a fraction of the metal is melted down, and crushed stone is used as a building material.

Recycling of steel sleepers

The use of steel supports in our country is extremely rare. main reason reason why they should be disposed of is the appearance on them large quantity rust. Sometimes such supports are used as temporary tracks for railway lines of factories. The main way to dispose of this type of waste is to use it as scrap metal.

Recycling sleepers - a second life!

Interesting to know! Disposal of sleepers made of reinforced concrete and steel consists mainly of their recycling, as already mentioned above. Is it possible to “give a second life” to wooden railway supports?! Yes, you can. For example, it is possible to process sleepers into charcoal. This process is quite complex; it requires a special technology, which involves the following mandatory stages:

  • through chemical reactions with specially selected reagents they neutralize the dangerous compounds that make up creosote;
  • the neutralized tree is sent for subsequent processing as recyclable wood.

From processed wood, charcoal is obtained by pyrolysis, which has wide application(antiseptic, water absorbent, organic fertilizer component). However, unfortunately, this method of processing wooden supports is not very common in Russia due to the high cost of the technology itself.

There is also another safe way to recycle wooden poles to make a cement additive. This process also occurs in several stages:

  • first, all metal parts are removed from the supports; for this purpose, magnetic separation is used;
  • then the wooden product is crushed to the desired fraction;
  • crushed impregnated wood is combined with compounds that further reduce the toxicity of smoke;
  • This mixture is burned when elevated temperatures in a cement kiln, while all hazardous compounds are destroyed.

This technology for processing timber beams used in the construction of railways makes it possible to obtain a useful additive - a mixture after combustion, which is used in cement production.

Landfilling of railway sleepers (especially wooden sleepers) is another major cause of environmental pollution. Therefore, today it is important to resort to smart ways of recycling each type of support. And it’s even better to recycle them to obtain other necessary materials.

The following short video describes how the disposal and processing of wooden sleepers occurs at one of the modern enterprises in Russia:

The problem of recycling railway wooden sleepers is a critical one for the transport industry. Sleepers removed from the route are subject to burial at regional industrial waste landfills, however, due to the overcrowding of these landfills, railway departments are often forced to accumulate and store sleepers in places not intended for their storage. In accordance with the law, such unauthorized disposal of hazardous waste is often costly to its owners. Meanwhile, recycling wooden sleepers not only closes the life cycle product, but at the same time can become alternative source energy and valuable raw materials. Let's look at the most well-known methods for recycling used wooden sleepers today.

Method one: burning The main method of recycling wooden sleepers currently used is burning. Cheap and cheerful, sleepers burn very well - thanks to the same creosote impregnation. Its disadvantages: final products direct combustion - ash and... a huge amount of toxic volatile substances released into the environment! The peripheral part of the sleeper consists of 80% coal oil, which in turn contains 20.1% phenols, 17.2% phenanthrenes, 16.9% pyrene, 22% acetone and 12% butanol. These compounds, once released into the air, can cause severe poisoning in people, and in the long term - contribute to the emergence of oncological diseases. That is why effective recycling should be based not on simple combustion, but on the process deep processing with an intermediate process of creosote neutralization.

Method two: use as a building material The possibility of recycling sleepers even in the era of total shortage was appreciated by gardeners and rural residents, for whom waste wooden products became free building material. Despite the fact that there have long been no difficulties in finding building materials in the country, cases of using ODS for the construction of outbuildings (baths, chicken coops) and even country houses are still a very common occurrence. Its disadvantages: the use of sleepers impregnated with creosote for the construction of enclosing structures, as well as their burning, is categorically not recommended by experts - daily inhalation of toxic vapors of coal oil will not lead to anything good.

Method three: gasification Essentially, gasification is the limiting case of dispersion (conversion of fuel into a dusty stream). It is known that fuel dispersion reduces the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon compounds, while the degree of neutralization increases approximately a thousand times compared to conventional combustion. Gasification of fuel is carried out by its decomposition in the absence of oxygen. The gas produced in the gas generator, containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is burned in the boiler plant using a standard burner. During gasification process due to long residence time toxic substances in the oxidation zone (tens of minutes) with a lack of oxygen and moderate temperature(about 400°) the splitting of complex cyclic compounds occurs to produce a gas generator gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide. These substances are burned with excess oxygen in a boiler or a separate chamber of a gas generator, and the flue gases contain only water and carbon dioxide. Received thermal energy can be used for heating depots, workshops, and station buildings. Its disadvantages: as practice shows, most gas generating units are not economical enough and have rather low productivity with relatively high diesel fuel consumption.

Method four for recycling wooden sleepers: processing sleepers into charcoal The technology of deep processing of used railway sleepers assumes that at the first stage creosote compounds are neutralized with the help of chemical reagents, and already at the second stage the wood is processed. Its disadvantages: the possibility of recycling sleepers while complying with environmental standards - with education activated carbon and the release of thermal energy (which can then also be used in production cycle enterprises) seems attractive, but this technology is currently quite expensive. So far, its use cannot fundamentally solve the problem of waste disposal.

Method five (the most promising at the moment) : pyrolysis. The method of pyrolysis (thermal decomposition without air access) of used wooden sleepers with the distillation of coal oil was recently proposed by specialists from one of the enterprises. In their opinion, the use of the pyrolysis method for recycling ODS will not only prevent environmental pollution, since the pyrolysis process is carried out in sealed conditions, but will also provide economic benefits. The use of heat from the combustion of the resulting pyrogases will reduce energy costs for the process to a minimum. At proper organization technological process This recycling method will not only cover the energy needs of the pyrolysis process, but also use the excess heat generated for technical or domestic needs. In addition, the economic efficiency of this disposal method is significantly increased due to the sale of liquid and solid pyrolysis products, which can be used in industry. Received during experimental research The results indicate a slight difference in the adsorption activity of charcoal obtained from ODS from the sorption activity of charcoal from birch (on average 5%), which makes it possible to use it as a sorbent for technical purposes - for adsorption purification in industry. Its disadvantages: there is still very little information about practical application this technique. So, the problem of choice the best way utilization of sleepers largely depends on the lack of sufficient experience in processing this waste in accordance with environmental requirements, a shortage Money and imperfection environmental control, allowing you to freely burn and store LDS. However, steps to study ways to recycle wooden sleepers, although not very actively taken, allow us to hope that over time, ODS will become another valuable resource.

Based on materials from the magazine "RS Expert".

Railway sleepers are one of the types of items whose disposal is very difficult. Wooden sleepers impregnated with various antiseptics, acetone, creosote, and carbon oil are practically impossible to rationally destroy. It would seem that it would be easier to burn the tree. But when it burns, in this case, an incredible amount of all these harmful substances will be released into the atmosphere.

For these reasons, the disposal of sleepers is a real problem. modern civilization. This problem is especially acute in large countries, whose gigantic (in general, useless) expanses are covered with railway tracks of an insane length. Such countries include Russia, USA, China, India, Canada, Brazil (in general, the most large countries peace). In Australia, however, they quickly realized that cars move faster than trains and built highways rather than railways. Of course, they are there too, but not in such quantities.

What should those countries do that, out of greed, have seized more territory than they need to live? It turns out that everything is free from settlements and farmland space is simply an unnecessary obstacle to communication between populated areas.

Considering that every year certain sections of railway tracks are repaired, every year there are more and more sleepers that no one needs. Considering what is happening, the conclusion suggests itself that the disposal of sleepers should occur as quickly as possible.

Methods for destroying waste material

The most modern and quick ways The destruction of used sleepers is gasification of sleepers and pyrolysis. Gasification of sleepers is a rather complex physical and chemical process. Moreover, wooden sleepers are treated with oxygen in such a way that they turn into flammable gases.

Pyrolysis of sleepers is the opposite process. They are completely isolated from oxygen, entering, in fact, into a vacuum environment. They are subjected to thermal decomposition using very high temperatures. This method is ideal for carbon treated sleepers. This method of disposal is also good because the whole process is carried out in a sealed, closed room and substances harmful to the environment have time to be neutralized, first under the influence of high temperatures, and then with the help of special filters.

Recycling stages

But recycling sleepers is a difficult process, and at times it has to be done in two stages to completely guarantee the destruction of old sleepers:

  1. First stage – processing of the material with chemical reagents, the task of which is to bind and neutralize creosote;
  2. The second stage is the direct combustion of already neutralized wood using the pyrolysis method in a sealed room.

As we can see, creosote makes the process of recycling sleepers more labor-intensive, so it makes sense to treat them exclusively with coal oil (carbon, carbonate).

Annually at structural units of track facilities
located within the boundaries of the road, when performing various types track repair, about 1,000,000 waste wooden sleepers impregnated with antiseptics are generated. Coal oil is the most toxic of all septic tanks, as it consists of 70 percent aromatic hydrocarbons.
According to the federal waste classifier, soaked them sleepers belong to the third hazard class.

Construction from sleepers

Used sleepers are used to build cabins, sheds, and even bridges over small streams. However, for these purposes, you can direct sleepers under 7 years old, that is, those that are impregnated with safe antiseptics, and not poisonous creosote. Them sleepers processed several years ago. Disposal problem railway wooden sleepers, extremely acute for the transport industry.
Specify: wooden sleepers price, total volumes. Sale of sleepers from the manufacturer and from the Russian reserve.

Methods for recycling wooden sleepers

  1. Burning is the most known method recycling of wooden sleepers. Since all sleepers are impregnated with a special substance - creosote, this method is a negative point and entails the release of a large amount of toxic substances, such as acetone, butanol, phenols, phenanthrenes, which enter the environment. These types of substances contribute to the formation of cancer.
  2. Construction material - sleepers are used as a construction (recycled) material. This method is not environmentally friendly and is harmful to health due to the release of a sharp, unpleasant and toxic odor, but for the same reason, sleepers do not rot or decompose. Warning: impregnated wooden sleepers (impregnation of sleepers is harmful to the body, impregnation with creosote is a harmful chemical compound different substances) should not be used in the construction of premises, buildings, country houses...
  3. Gasification is an extreme case of dispersion (conversion of fuel into a dusty stream). It is known that fuel dispersion reduces the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon compounds, while the degree of neutralization increases approximately a thousand times compared to conventional combustion.
  4. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of sleepers at high temperatures without air access. Possible use for old (used sleepers) wooden sleepers with distillation of coal oil. A similar method was proposed by specialists from one of the Kazan enterprises. This method is carried out in sealed conditions, which helps reduce the release of toxic substances into the environment.
  5. Recycling old year's sleepers- This method involves two stages of passage. The first is that creosote compounds are neutralized using chemical reagents; at the second stage, the wood is processed.

Considering the importance of the issue, as well as the fact that the Eastern Railway is mostly located on a specially protected natural area, a new workshop is being introduced at the Tagul station of the East Siberian Railway, which is designed to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by 70 tons annually.

Disposal of sleepers

The production area occupied by the workshop is 4214 m? it contains a site for the collection and preparation of oil-containing waste, a site for temporary disposal of waste, a complex for the preparation and supply of old year's sleepers for combustion and workshop building.

The complex for preparing and supplying old sleepers for burning consists of a roller for 15 sleepers, a conveyor belt, a roller crusher, and receiving tanks for accumulating wood chips.

The main advantage of the new workshop is the fire neutralization of waste using the IN-50 incinerator unit; it is designed for environmentally friendly, safe, high-temperature combustion of old sleepers. The incinerator is capable of jointly recycling solid and liquid waste, waste oils, fuel oil and oil sludge. This disposal method is quite economical in comparison with foreign analogues.

The IN-50 incinerator complex for thermal waste disposal was developed by specialists from JSC Turmalin, St. Petersburg. The installation with a capacity of 50 kg/hour, 12 tons per day or 4000 tons per year has been modernized for the simultaneous destruction of sleepers that have expired and are not suitable for further use and oil sludge waste.

Loading of waste into the incinerator is carried out using receiving containers and a skip hoist. The operating temperature in the combustion chamber is 850-900 degrees.
Combustion products undergo impact afterburning in a special chamber for 2 seconds as gases pass through a torch in a special burner with a flame temperature of up to 1500°. After this, the exhaust gases pass through a rapid gas cooling unit to a temperature of no more than 400° and a double mechanical cleaning system on a cyclone and an alkaline cleaning system on a scraper.

According to the results obtained, the emission of pollutants does not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations and complies with the established hygienic requirements.

The ash residue makes up no more than 3% of the mass of incinerated waste and is subject to disposal at conventional solid waste landfills.

The roller crusher was developed by specialists from the research and production enterprise Vikmax (LLC NPP VIKMAX) in Yekaterinburg; it is designed for crushing wood of any size and degree of contamination, including metal crutches, into thermal energy chips.

The principle of operation (after repair, burn the old sleepers in an incinerator) is the longitudinal feeding and breaking of wood between two wolves, which have the form of gears, whereby one wolf is driven, and the second is spring-loaded and is engaged with the drive by means of radially located knives. Sharpening of knives is not required during the entire service life. Chip size - 100-300 mm.

The IN-50.5M installation has a heat exchanger with a heated surface area of ​​80 m? lump sum of water in the heat exchanger 4.2 m? with a temperature of 95 degrees. According to the stated design capacity, the heat exchanger is capable of delivering 1.2 gigocalories of thermal energy per hour.

The construction project provides for the use of the power of the heat exchanger for heating the workshop premises - waste disposal. After working out the rhythm of sleeper delivery, excess heat will be used to heat the PMS-67 base. Decommissioning the coal-fired boiler house will eliminate the cost of its maintenance in the amount of more than 3 million rubles. Will reduce the consumption of standard fuel by 419 tons per year, reduce emissions of pollutants in atmospheric air in the amount of 70 tons per year.

The cost of this investment project 84.3 million rubles, payback period is only 4 years. Due to changes in infrastructure, liquidation of the boiler house, reduction of the fund wages.

The net economic effect is 8.8 million rubles per year.
Of course, one installation will solve the problem of waste disposal at railway is not possible, transporting waste over long distances is too costly.

The project provides for the collection of used sleepers at the Taishet-Chuna landfill along the northern passage and Taishet-Tulun along the main passage. Therefore, today the issue of constructing a pilot complex for the disposal of rejected waste is being considered.
wooden railway sleepers at the Vikhorevka station with a capacity of 470 thousand sleepers per year with the involvement of funds from a subsidiary dependent company of Russian Railways LLC, EnergoPromSbyt LLC.

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Recycling of sleepers - railway wooden sleepers, use after repairs

One of the areas of application of the Pirotex installation is the recycling of used sleepers. The problem is that the landfills where waste sleepers are disposed of are usually overcrowded. At the same time, Russia ranks third in the world (after the USA and China) in terms of the length of railway tracks - 121 thousand km. From 1,640 to 2,000 sleepers are laid in one kilometer. Each of them is impregnated with coal-tar creosote oil (creosote). It is not surprising that the disposal of waste wooden sleepers has become a sore point.

The scheme by which used sleepers are usually disposed of today often looks like this: 1. sleepers are stored illegally, paying environmental fines in case of inspections; 2. Instead of hazard class 3, they try to obtain a conclusion about the 4th or even 5th hazard class of these wastes, and either burn them or transfer these sleepers to the population for private outbuildings, despite all the harm that is caused environment and the human body.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF WOODEN SLEEPERS:

SLEEPER(Dutch spalk - support) - support for rails in the form of beams or reinforced concrete products. In a railway track, sleepers are usually laid on the ballast layer of the track superstructure and provide stability relative position rail threads, perceive pressure directly from the rails or from intermediate fastenings and transmit it to the sleeper base.

CREOSOTE(French créosote, from Greek kreas-meat, sozo-keep) - colorless (sometimes yellowish or yellow-green), flammable, sparingly soluble in water, oily liquid with a strong odor and pungent taste, obtained from wood and coal tar. Soluble in alcohol and ether. Poisonous.

METHODS FOR DISPOSAL OF USED SLEEPERS

The main legal methods for disposing of used sleepers (other than landfill) include: combustion, gasification and pyrolysis. All of them, in one way or another, are an opportunity to reuse used sleepers, but the effectiveness of each of them deserves separate consideration.

BURNING.

The most common method of recycling wooden sleepers, as it does not entail significant sales costs. The process itself consists of the usual burning of sleepers, but the resulting products are ash and volatile toxic compounds (for example, acetone, phenanthrene, phenols, etc.) that enter the air. The latter, with prolonged exposure, can cause cancer in humans. Incineration is not only an economically ineffective method, but also dangerous.

GASIFICATION

This method is a thousand times safer and harmless than burning. During gasification, fuel (sleepers) turns into a dust-like stream. According to statistics, most gas generating plants designed for gasification of sleepers are not economical enough and have low productivity with relatively high operating costs.

PYROLYSIS

The most promising method for recycling waste sleepers. The reaction (thermal decomposition without air access) occurs in a closed space, therefore pyrolysis of used wooden sleepers is the most environmentally friendly method of their disposal. The economy of the process is ensured through the use of processed products.

The yield of processed products during the pyrolysis of sleepers (confirmed by experiment on
installation "Pirotex"):
Coal – 25%
Liquid fuel – 18%
Gas – 57%

It must be understood that only wooden sleepers impregnated with creazote or other hydrocarbon impregnations are subject to pyrolysis. Some factories began using water-soluble copper-based antiseptics to impregnate sleepers. Such sleepers are not subject to pyrolysis, since they do not contain hydrocarbons for distillation.

The photo below shows coal obtained through the pyrolysis of waste sleepers. According to research results, the sorption activity of coal from sleepers is slightly higher than coal from birch. In the second photo you can see the combustion of gas, also obtained from the pyrolysis of sleepers.

The Technokompleks company has experimentally proven that using the Pirotex pyrolysis unit it is possible to carry out cost-effective and environmentally friendly clean business for the disposal of waste wooden sleepers.

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