Effect of accelerated carbonation and zero valent iron on metal leaching from bottom ash

Especially, the leaching of Cr and Cu clearly decreased as a result of accelerated carbonation. The combination of accelerated carbonation with Fe(0) addition reduced the leaching of Cr and Cu even further and reduced also the leaching of Mo, Zn, Pb and Cd compared to untreated BA. Compared with only accelerated carbonation, the Fe(0) addition significantly reduced the leaching of Cr, Cu and Mo. The effects of Fe(0) addition can be related to binding of the studied elements to newly formed iron oxides. The effects of Fe(0) addition were often more distinct at pH values between 7 and 9, which indicates that a single treatment with only Fe addition would be less effective and a combined treatment is recommended. The pHstat results showed that accelerated carbonation in combination with Fe(0)0 addition widens the pH range for low solubility of about one unit for several of the studied elements. This indicates that pre-treating the bottom ash with a combination of accelerated carbonation and Fe(0) addition makes the leaching properties of the ash less sensitive to pH changes that may occur during reuse. All in all, the addition of Fe0 in combination with carbonation could be an effective pre-treatment method for decreasing the mobility of potentially harmful components in bottom ash.