Immobilization of lead and zinc in scrubber residues from MSW combustion using soluble phosphates

The immobilization of MSWI-scrubber residues with soluble PO43− was studied and compared to the immobilization using cement. The DIN 38414-S4 leaching protocol and pH dependent leaching were used to evaluate the leaching of Pb and Zn. Four different scrubber residues from MSW combustion (Pb concentration: 2.8–4.8 mg/g; Zn concentration: 3.0–12.3 mg/g) were mixed with water and cement or Na2HPO4 as source of soluble PO43− at dosages of at least 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 g per g residue. With cement as well as with PO43− a reduction in Pb and Zn leaching was observed. With 0.4 g cement per g residue, the Pb leaching was reduced by a factor ranging from 70 to 100, but still exceeded the Pb landfill limit of 2 mg/l. With PO43− the Pb leaching was reduced with a factor of 100–300 to below 2 mg/l. The Zn landfill limit (10 mg/l) was only exceeded by one untreated residue. Adding 0.2 g cement or 0.1 g PO43− per g of that residue was enough to reduce leaching below 10 mg/l. However, when 0.6 g Na2HPO4 per g residue was added to a lime based scrubber residue, an increase in Zn leaching up to 12.5 mg/l was observed due to an increase in pH of up to 13.0. When using NaH2PO4 and H3PO4 no such increase in Zn leaching was observed. pH dependent leaching performed on one of the four residues showed that in the pH range of 2.5–6, Pb leaching was 100–50 times lower with Na2HPO4 treatment than with cement. In the pH range from 7–11, almost equal results were obtained for cement treated and Na2HPO4 treated residue. Above a pH of 12, Pb leaching was three times lower for the PO43−-treated residue than for the cement treated residue. With soluble PO43−, Pb leaching below 2 mg/l could be attained at a dosage of 0.27 g PO43−/g residue. With cement, Pb leaching was never below 2 mg/l.