Alumino Silicates

Past studies have shown that many alumino-silicate mineral sorbents are effective in controlling heavy metal emission during incineration. The objective of this study was to identify Al-Si based mineral sorbents that can minimize leaching of heavy metals from the incinerator ash of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA-) treated wood. Experiments were carried out using CCA metal spikes combined with Al-Si sorbents, heated to 700 oC, 900 oC and 1100 oC for 30 minutes. The residual ash was leached using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis was conducted to determine the crystalline speciation of the products. Results showed that low leaching was observed for chromium, below the 5 mg/L TC limit, by alumina and silica at all temperatures, and kaolin at higher temperatures (900 oC and 1100 oC). For copper, all sorbents displayed low leaching values (< 51 mg/l) as compared to the baseline. For arsenic, all sorbents exceeded the TC limit. Speciation characterization results revealed the formation of several metal-metal and metal-mineral compounds that might have resulted in different leaching behaviors of each metal-sorbent pair under different combustion conditions. The results suggest that a combination of sorbents at different stages of the combustion process can be effective to control the leaching of CCA metals.