Total and extractable non-process elements in green liquor dregs from the chemical recovery circuit of a semi-chemical pulp mill

The total heavy metal concentrations in green liquor dregs investigated in this study were clearly lower than the current Finnish statutory limit values for fertilizer used in forestry. This is an advantage if applying for an environmental permit to utilize the green liquor dregs. They contained only carbonate minerals, were strongly alkaline (pH 11.7), and had a neutralizing value of 34.2% (Ca equivalents; d.w.), according to which 1.1 tonnes of green liquor dregs would be required to replace 1 tonne of a commercial ground limestone product produced by SMA Mineral Ltd. These properties support the utilization and re-use of this residue, for instance as a soil conditioning agent. Before such use, it would be necessary to assess the mobility of non-process elements in the dregs. Three-stage sequential extraction procedure development by the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) was therefore carried out, in which elements in the residue were fractionated between acid soluble (CH3COOH; BCR 1), reducible (NH2OH–HCl; BCR 2) and oxidizable (H2O2 + CH3COONH4; BCR 3) fractions. Except for Co and Ni, the highest extractable concentrations of non-process elements (Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sb, Se, V and Zn) were in the oxidizable fraction, although certain non-process elements were also extractable and quantitatively detectable in fractions BCR 1 and BRC 2. The results are discussed from various perspectives and in relation to observations in the literature concerning the release of heavy metals and sulphur from the sample matrix under different extraction conditions.