Re: MANUAL COMPACTOR

[don@radpro.uchicago.edu]

Save your money.  We have an ordinary electric powered, hydraulic drum
compactor and it really doesn't do very much.  The best compaction we 
got was about 30%.  Granted, a 30% increase in your storage capacity for
the price of a compactor may be a bargain, but I would be surprised if
a muscle powered one will prperform as well.  Moreover, if your waste contains
a lot of plastic, which most does nowadays, you probably won't get anywhere
near the maximum compaction because of spring back.  Plastics are difficult
even for the supercompactor folks.  A VP of SEG, which owns a supercompactor
large enough to super compact other supercompactors, said that they only get
compaction ratios of only 2:1 for plastics using their supercompactor with
pressures up to 25,000 psi.

Question:  does anyone have any experience freeze drying animal carcasses
to reduce their volume?

___________________________________________________________________

Don Jordan                          Tel. (312) 702-6299
Office of Radiation Safety          Fax        702-4008
The University of Chicago           email: don@radpro.uchicago.edu
1101 East 57th Street, Room 11
Chicago, Illinois  60637  
                -- Any opinions are the author's --