Metals Accumulation During Thermal Processing of Sewage Sludge - Characterization of Fly Ash and Air Pollution Control (APC) Residues

AbstractAir pollution control (APC) residues, which are known to be the byproducts of incineration treatment, exhibit a high leaching potential of toxic metals. Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S–H), which is a major hydration product of hardened cement and immobilizes toxic metal, can be formed by the reaction of Ca with pozzolanic Si in a highly alkaline environment. Toxic metals might be immobilized by the addition of pozzolanic material to APC residues (instead of using cement), which is a Ca source and provides an alkaline condition. In this study, diatomite, which mainly comprises amorphous silica (SiO2·nH2O), was investigated as a pozzolanic material for Pb immobilization in APC residues obtained from a municipal solid waste incinerator. APC residues were cured with and without the addition of diatomite at different temperatures. When diatomite was added to APC residues, pozzolanic phases such as C-S–H gel were formed via the consumption of Ca(OH)2 and CaClOH. Compared to APC residues cured without diatomite, the leaching of Pb decreased by 99% for APC residues cured for 14 days with 10% diatomite at 70 °C. The results of sequential chemical extraction showed that water-soluble Pb in APC residues was reduced from 10.3% to nearly zero by the pozzolanic reaction. Consequently, the leaching amount of Pb dropped below 0.3 mg/L (Japanese criteria for landfill disposal). Overall, these experiments provide promising results regarding the possibility of using diatomite for pretreating APC residues.

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Investigation of Environmental Leaching Behavior of an Innovative Method for Landfilling of Waste Incineration Air Pollution Control Residues

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14041025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 1025

Author(s):

Mihail Reinhold Wächter ◽

Ioana Ionel ◽

Daniel Dan ◽

Adina Negrea

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Portland Cement ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Waste Incineration ◽

Air Pollution Control ◽

Leaching Behavior ◽

Lignite Fly Ash ◽

Incineration Residues ◽

Apc Residues ◽

Air Pollution Control Residues

Waste incineration air pollution control (APC) residues require pretreatment before landfilling because these types of residues encompass pollutants from an incineration gas stream. The environmental concerns of APC residues consist of a risk of leaching and subsequent release of potentially harmful substances that occur under environmental exposure. The stabilization/solidification (S/S) method of incineration residues is one of the most applied technologies for hazardous incineration residues. Portland cement is commonly used as a binder material in S/S for pollutant encapsulation, in order to change the hydrological characteristics of the landfilled material. Based on previous research, an innovative S/S method for APC residues is investigated, meant to replace Portland cement with cement-like material made from lignite fly ash (FA). To do this, a lab-scale landfill was created through the promoted S/S method and exposed to the environment for 12 months. Thus, this article assesses the lab-scale leaching behavior of a landfill disposal material exposed to environmental conditions and attempts to prove the promoted innovative S/S method. The results show that the replacement of Portland cement with a substitute material for utilization in the S/S method can mitigate energy consumption in the industrial cement subsector.

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Chlorine Sources, Sinks, and Impacts in WTE Power Plants

18th Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference ◽

10.1115/nawtec18-3577 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nickolas J. Themelis

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Fly Ash ◽

Corrosion Rate ◽

Polyvinyl Chloride ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Power Plants ◽

Air Pollution Control ◽

Combustion Gases ◽

The U.S ◽

Stack Gas

The principal sources of chlorine in the MSW feed to WTE power plants are food wastes (e.g., wheat, green vegetables, melon, pineapple), yard wastes (leaves, grass, etc.), salt (NaCl), and chlorinated plastics (mostly polyvinyl chloride). Chlorine has important impacts on the WTE operation in terms of higher corrosion rate than in coal-fired power plants, formation of hydrochloric gas that must be controlled in the stack gas to less than the U.S. EPA standard (29 ppm by volume), and potential for formation of dioxins and furans. Past Columbia studies have shown that the chlorine content in MSW is in the order of 0.5%. In comparison, chlorine concentration in coal is about 0.1%; this results in much lower HCl concentration in the combustion gases and allows coal-fired power plants to be operated at higher superheater tube temperatures and thus higher thermal efficiencies. Most of the chlorine output from a WTE is in the fly ash collected in the fabric filter baghouse of the Air Pollution Control system. This study examined in detail the sources and sinks of chlorine in a WTE unit. It is concluded that on the average MSW contains about 0.5% chlorine, which results in hydrogen chloride concentration in the WTE combustion gases of up to 600 parts per million by volume. About 45% of the chlorine content in MSW derives from chlorinated plastics, mainly polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and 55% from salt (NaCl) and chlorine-containing food and yard wastes. An estimated 97–98% of the chlorine input is converted to calcium chloride in the dry scrubber of the Air Pollution Control (APC) system and captured in the fly ash collected in the baghouse; the remainder is in the stack gas at a concentration that is one half of the U.S. EPA standard. Reducing the input of PVC in the MSW stream would have no effect on dioxin formation but would reduce the corrosion rate in the WTE boiler.

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