Monitoring of the heavy metal release during waste combustion

Abstract

A method for analyzing on-line the vaporized metals in an exhaust gas was developed by coupling an ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) spectrometer to the gas outlet of both a fixed bed reactor and a fluidized bed reactor. A calibration device was set up and implemented. It involves a standard gas synthesis protocol to obtain quantitative data. The calibration method was validated by heating Cd-spiked porous alumina particles in the fluidized bed. The mass of cadmium released from the solid phase was measured and compared to the amount of cadmium detected by the on-line gas monitoring system. The versatile character of such a tool was demonstrated by case studies involving two types of wastes (municipal waste and sludge from water treatment plant) and two types of high temperature processes (fixed bed and fluidized bed).