Ranking Coal Ash Materials for Their Potential to Leach Arsenic and Selenium: Relative Importance of Ash Chemistry and Site Biogeochemistry

Schwartz, Grace E.; Hower, James C.; Phillips, Allison L.; Rivera, Nelson; Vengosh, Avner; Hsu-Kim, Heileen

doi:10.1089/ees.2017.0347

Title: Ranking Coal Ash Materials for Their Potential to Leach Arsenic and Selenium: Relative Importance of Ash Chemistry and Site Biogeochemistry

Journal Article · Tue Jan 23 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Environmental Engineering Science (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2017.0347· OSTI ID:1615778

^[1]; Hower, James C. ^[2]; Phillips, Allison L. ^[1]; Rivera, Nelson ^[1]; Vengosh, Avner ^[1]; Hsu-Kim, Heileen ^[1]

Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)

The chemical composition of coal ash is highly heterogeneous and dependent on the origin of the source coal, combustion parameters, and type and configuration of air pollution control devices. This heterogeneity results in uncertainty in the evaluation of leaching potential of contaminants from coal ash. The goal of this work was to identify whether a single leaching protocol could roughly group high-leaching potential coal ash from low-leaching potential coal ash, with respect to arsenic (As) and selenium (Se). We used four different leaching tests, including the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Protocol (TCLP), natural pH, aerobic sediment microcosms, and anaerobic sediment microcosms on 10 different coal ash materials, including fly ash, lime-treated ash, and flue gas desulfurization materials. Leaching tests showed promise in categorizing high and low-leaching potential ash materials, indicating that a single point test could act as a first screening measure to identify high-risk ash materials. However, the amount of contaminant leached varied widely across tests, reflecting the importance of ambient conditions (pH, redox state) on leaching. These results demonstrate that on-site geochemical conditions play a critical role in As and Se mobilization from coal ash, underscoring the need to develop a situation-based risk assessment framework for contamination by coal ash pollutants.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); Environmental Research and Education Foundation; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; T32-ES021432

OSTI ID:: 1615778

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1436933

Journal Information:: Environmental Engineering Science (Online), Vol. 35, Issue 7; ISSN 1557-9018

Publisher:: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 23 works

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Characteristics of Arsenic Leached from Sediments: Agricultural Implications of Abandoned Mines Hwang, Soonho; Her, Younggu; Jun, Sang Min Applied Sciences, Vol. 9, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.3390/app9214628	journal	October 2019

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

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