Abstract
Abstract. A number of metallic elements are inherited from waste during thermal treatment and concentrated in the incineration residues. Because the major part of the incineration residue mass are bottom ashes (BAs), their study is of great importance from the point of view of their environmental impact or resource potential. The general focus of this study was on the minor metallic elements present in BAs. They co-occurred with main phases and often determined the inherited potential of the material. The analysed residues were produced from municipal and industrial waste. The BAs were studied using spectroscopic methods of chemical microanalysis: energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometry (WDX). Both the main and minor metallic elements were concentrated in metallic components. They were typically present as separate grains and metallic inclusions (commonly in the glass matrix of the grains) ranging in size from several to hundreds of micrometres. Despite Fe-, Al- and Cu-rich occurrences, metallic elements rarely occurred in fragments composed of a single element. Their main forms of occurrence were alloy grains, admixtures in polymetallic occurrences and micro-inclusions in glassy matrix. The content of particular elements in those forms was investigated and described in greater detail. Even though two types of bottom ash were formed from different types of waste and differences in used technologies were present, the obtained materials contained metallic components having similar attributes. Elevated concentrations of not only Fe and Al, but also Ti, Cu and Zn, allow us to consider bottom ash as a promising material from the point of view of metallic elements' recovery (e.g. by the physical concentration of elements through gravity or magnetic methods).
Highlights
Waste incineration is one of the most common treatment methods in waste management
We focus on the distribution of minor metallic elements within the phases in two types of bottom ashes (BAs) produced from waste generated in households and industry
In comparison to the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) BA, the industrial and hazardous waste incineration (IHWI) BA had less Si and Ca, similar content of Fe, Mg and usually slightly higher content of other main elements. In both types of BAs, the content of particular elements varied in some range when comparing single samples collected in different sampling campaigns
Summary
Waste incineration is one of the most common treatment methods in waste management. It allows waste mass and volume reduction. It causes growth in the worldwide production of waste incineration residues. As concentrates of inflammable waste fraction, they are composed of newly formed phases and components inherited from waste such as metallic fragments, fragmented glass or ceramic (Chandler et al, 1997). Most metallic elements concentrate in BAs they might be considered as a source of valuable components or waste-based raw material in industrial applications (Funari et al, 2015; Lam et al, 2010; Kowalski et al, 2016)
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