Treatment of waste incinerator air-pollution-control residues with FeSO₄: Concept and product characterization

This paper describes a new concept for treatment of air- pollution-control (APC) residues from waste incineration and characterises the wastewater and stabilised residues generated by the process. The process involves mixing of APC-residues with a ferrous sulphate solution and subsequent oxidation of the suspension (Ferroxprocess 1996). The process results in a significant reduction in the leaching of salts and heavy metals from the residue, by washing out most of the salts and by binding the heavy metals in the iron oxides formed. In the laboratory, a semidry gas-cleaning residue and a fly ash were treated by the process. The generated wastewater contained low concentrations of heavy metals (e.g. Pb: 27–39 μg l–1 and Cd: 2.6–4.6 μg l–1), but high concentrations of salts (e.g. Cl, Na, K, and Ca). The treatment process reduced the leaching of Pb from the residues by more than two orders of magnitude at fixed pH as determined by pHstatic leaching tests. Likewise, the leaching of Cd, Zn and Cu was significantly reduced. The effect on elements that form oxyanions (e.g. Cr) is marginal and in the current process there is no reduction in the release of Hg.