Abstract
The MSWI fly ash which contains a large number of heavy metal substances is a subsidiary product of waste incineration power generation technology. If the MSWI fly ash is disposed improperly, heavy metal pollutants will pose a great threat to environmental safety and human health. Based on the technology of electrokinetic remediation, the feasibility of removing heavy metal pollutants from the MSWI fly ash using a modified electrokinetic remediation device - cylinder device was evaluated in this study. Differing from the traditional cuboid device with the volume ratio of the cathode chamber to the anode chamber being 1:1, the volume ratio of the cathode chamber to the anode chamber of the cylinder device was 16:1. Changes in parameters, such as pH values and conductivity in the cathode and the anode chambers as well as current and voltage in the sample area were analysed under the voltage gradient of 2 V/cm. After the experiment, the average removal efficiencies for Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu in the sample area were 53.2%, 31.4%, 42.3% and 30.7%, respectively. It indicates that the cylinder device is effective in removing heavy metals from the MSWI fly ash. Adopting the cylinder device for the experimental study on the electrokinetic remediation technology could provide a better way of thinking for the future engineering practices and applications.
Highlights
Along with global climate changes and economic development, most countries are suffering increasing pressure on resources, environment and ecology
Some studies suggested that the electrokinetic remediation technology could effectively remove heavy metal pollutants from the MSWI fly ash
Www.nature.com/scientificreports of the electrokinetic remediation technology, the traditional experimental device was modified and designed in a cylinder shape as a whole in this study; the anode chamber was located in the central ring area of the cylinder device; the cathode chamber was located in the outer ring area; and the sample area was located between the central ring and the outer ring
Summary
Contents of Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu in the samples were determined by AAS (Analytik Jena Co., Ltd. Model novAA400). The removal efficiency of heavy metal leaching toxicity was calculated as the ratio of the reduced part of heavy metal leaching toxicity value in the fly ash after electrokinetic remediation to the original heavy metal leaching toxicity value in the fly ash before electrokinetic remediation. Its mathematical expression can be presented as follows: w. W is the efficiency of removing heavy metals; C0 is the original heavy metal leaching toxicity value in the fly ash; C is the heavy metal leaching toxicity value in the fly ash after the electrokinetic remediation; C/C0 is the ratio of leaching concentration, which could directly express the efficiency of removing heavy metals in different sections of the sample area before and after the electrokinetic remediation. All experiments were conducted in triplicate, and the average values were used in the data analysis
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