Hazardous waste stabilization with clean-coal technology ash residuals

Abstract

Clean coal technology by-products, collected from commercial operations under steady state conditions, are reacted at bench-scale with metal-laden hazardous wastes. Reaction conditions involve mixing calibrated weight ratios of by-product to hazardous waste with attention to minimizing added moisture. Of the 15 heavy metals monitored, lead appeared to be the element of greatest concern both from a leaching and a regulatory point of view. While leaching information is focused on lead stabilization, similar information exists for other metals as well. Stabilized solid products of reactions are sampled for TCLP evaluations. For samples showing evidence of metal stabilization, further experimentation was conducted evaluating optimum moisture content and development of physical strength (measured as compressive strength) over time of curing. Results show that certain hazardous wastes are highly amenable to chemical stabilization, while others are not; certain by-products provided superior stabilization, but did not allow for strength generation over time.