Case study on removal of heavy metals from waste incineration fly ash by acid leaching method

Abstract

Four kinds of fly ash from three municipal solid incinerators in southern China were examined in this study. The characteristics of fly ash were examined and acid leaching treatment was used to remove heavy metals from samples. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was executed to assess the effect of acid leaching method to fly ash samples. The experiment results showed that the contents of Cd and Pb in the original fly ash were higher, which classified them into the hazardous waste list. With the treatment of water washing and acid leaching, all fly ash samples removed heavy metals efficiently and the contents of heavy metals in treated fly ash met the admittance criterion of sanitary landfill.