Immobilization of heavy metals in sludge using phosphoric acid and monobasic calcium phosphate

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the potential of pre-treatment with phosphoric acid (PA) and monobasic calcium phosphate (MCP) for the stabilization of heavy metals in sludge and its bottom ash. The tannery sludge samples were collected in Wenzhou, China and heavily contaminated with heavy metals, such as Pb, Cr and so on. The samples were pre-treated with PA or MCP. Then XRD and TCLP tests were adopted as the evaluating methods to characterize the Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn and Cd immobilization in the pre-treated sludge and its bottom ash. The results showed that this treatment effectively immobilized Pb and Cd in the sludge, lightly stabilized the metal Cu, and adversely, enhanced the leachability of Zn. After incineration at 900 C, Pb and Cr in the bottom ash of pre-treated sludge were significantly stabilized due to the formation of their highly thermostable phosphates and pyromorphite-like minerals during the incineration process. However, an increase of Cu and Zn solubility was observed which might be attributable to the acidification of sludge due to the addition of PA or MCP. © 2013 Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.