Effect of electric arc vitrification of bottom ash on the mobility and fate of metals

Increasing amounts of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) residues are treated prior to landfilling or reuse. In Japan, electric are melting is used for bottom ash vitrification that generates a glasslike slag. The objective of this paper was to assess this pretreatment technique with respect to its effect on metal mobility and metal content. Both bottom ash and slag were sampled and analyzed on total solids (TS), fixed solids (FS), particle density (pp), specific BET surface area, particle size distribution, and total element content. A six-step wet sequential extraction procedure was used for assessing metal mobility. The results were qualitatively verified by scanning electron microscopy. The major conclusion was that the availability of various metals was affected differently by electric are vitrification. Metals were solidified, stabilized, and/or separated from the slag. The mobility of Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ca was reduced. In slag, major fractions of these elements were found in moderately reducible phases or in the residual slag lattice. The approximately three-fourths of Pb [174 +/- 7 mg (kg of FS)(-1)] and half of Zn content [676 +/- 352 mg (kg of FS)(-1)] were most likely removed from bottom ash through evaporation. The total content increases of Al, Cr, Mi, and Cd (51 +/- 3, 621 +/- 27, 138 +/- 19, and 99 +/- 32%, respectively) were probably caused by the wear of furnace refractories.