Characterization of municipal solid waste incinerator ash leachates using multielemental techniques
- Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (United States)
One of the most vital and persistent public health challenges facing state and local governments today is the disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSW). Sanitary landfills accommodate most MSW, but the vexing problems of leachate generation from rainwater permeation and methane gas production due to decomposition persist. Replacing brimming landfills is becoming increasingly more difficult as activists mobilize legal and political resistance to siting new landfills in their communities. Pressure is mounting to develop safe alternative methods of disposal for the steadily increasing volume of MSW. Incineration of MSW reduces its volume and mass by as much as 90 and 80%, respectively, significantly prolonging the life of landfills. Unlike organic molecules that can be destroyed with good combustion conditions, metals remain in the residual ash at essentially the same levels at which they were present in the refuse. Combustion also alters the chemical matrix of the waste, often transforming metals into substantially more mobile configurations. The concentration of metals in the ash and the susceptibility of metals to leach into groundwater are serious concerns when siting and designing MSW incinerator (MSWI) ash landfills. The potential threat to groundwater posed by metals contamination from MSWI ash monofills cannot be adequately assessed without thorough knowledge of the distribution of metals in the ash and an understanding of the chemical solubility of these elements in the landfill environment.
- OSTI ID:
- 5978203
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930601--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 68; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
320604 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Municipalities & Community Systems-- Municipal Waste Management-- (1980-)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
ASHES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONTAMINATION
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LEACHATES
MASS TRANSFER
METALS
MIXTURES
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
OXIDATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RESIDUES
SOLUBILITY
SOLUTIONS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES
WATER