Journal of Hazardous Materials 165 (2009) 766773

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Journal of Hazardous Materials

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Characteristics of elements in waste ashes from a solid waste incinerator in Taiwan

Cheng-Yuan Chang a , Chu-Fang Wang b , D.T. Mui b , Man-Ting Cheng c , Hung-Lung Chiang d,
a

Institute of Environmental Resource and Energy in Science Technology, Chung Hua University, No 707, Sec. 2, Wu Fu Rd, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Science, National Tsing Hua University, No 101, Sec. 2, Kuang Fu Rd, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan c Department of Environmental Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan d Department of Health Risk Management, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Incineration, one of the most effective methods used to treat solid wastes, reduces the volume of solid wastes signicantly and enables recovery of thermal energy. However, during this waste treatment, a small amount of heavy metals can be present in the form of y ash or vapor in the ue gas, becoming a threat to human health and other living organisms once emitted into the environment. This study focuses on the characteristics and behavior of elements contained in the combustion residues and their impact on various wastes at Taiwans municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI). Three kinds of waste, municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste (IW), and biomass waste (BM), were analyzed to obtain their physical properties and elemental composition before incineration. The combustion residues were collected with a sampler at various locations such as the furnace bottom, a heat economizer, a semi-dry scrubber, a baghouse lter and a gas stack. Twenty-one elements were determined to establish the actual mass fraction and to estimate the possible impact on the environment. Owing to its volatility, Cd was found in high concentrations in bag-house lter ash. In addition, the mass fraction of Zn, As, Pb, Sb and V in bag-house lter ash was found greater than 20% for the three kinds of wastes. Iron (Fe) content was found to be high in MSW, S, Cd, Ni, Pb and Sb content were high in IW and Se content was high in BW. 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Article history: Received 2 June 2008 Received in revised form 14 October 2008 Accepted 15 October 2008 Available online 1 November 2008 Keywords: Municipal solid waste incinerator Heavy metals Bottom ash Fly ash

1. Introduction In the past four decades, industry has rapidly developed and played a very important role in the economy of Taiwan. The rate of urbanization has continuously increased, and living standards have been considerably improved; however, the environment has been seriously damaged by the large amount of solid waste generated from societys daily activities [1]. It has been estimated that a total of 7.0 million tons of MSW [2] and 23 million tons of IW [3] were generated during 2002 in Taiwan. The large amount of BW, including commercial waste, garden waste, and tree leaves, generated every day has become a major challenge for scientists and environmentalists. Various treatment methods, including resource reuse and recycling, landll, and incineration, have been investigated and utilized. Because the islands natural resources are limited, sanitary landlls are not an appropriate approach to the disposal of solid waste. The total recycling rate for MSW is only 15.5% [2], and some wastes have been shifted from landlls to

Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 4 22079685; fax: +886 4 22079687. E-mail address: hlchiang@mail.cmu.edu.tw (H.-L. Chiang). 0304-3894/$ see front matter 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.10.059

incineration. The use of incinerators to reduce the waste mass and volume and protect human beings from contaminants and toxic substances contained in MSW and IW has the potential to solve the waste management problem. Twenty-four incinerators have been built and can be operated to burn 24,650 tons of MSW daily in Taiwan. In addition, 15 more incinerators have been planned as BOO/BOT (build-own-operate/build-operate-transfer) projects to dispose various kinds of waste [4]. Although the mass and volume of wastes can be signicantly reduced by incineration, heavy metals condensed or adsorbed in ash or vapor may be present in ue gas or residues. Potential element emissions from MSWI can threaten human health and that of other living organisms once emitted into the environment [57]. The portioning behavior of elements in incineration output as presented in the literature is primarily dependent on the physical and chemical properties of the metals and the behavior of these metals in incinerators [812]. But few articles provide detailed information about element distribution in an incineration system, especially in energy recovery and air pollution control systems. This study investigates the characteristics and behavior of metals and the impacts of three kinds of waste, MSW, IW and BW, treated by MSWI in Taiwan. The wastes were collected from various

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Fig. 1. Equipment diagram and ash sampling positions at incinerator ((A): bottom ash, (B): heat economizer ash, (C): semi-dry scrubber ash, (D): bag-house ash and (E): ue gas).

locations in northern Taiwan such as residences, streets, commercial centers and markets, factories and companies, and gardens and parks and transported to the incineration plant. The input wastes were rst analyzed to identify their components (i.e., paper, paper board, textiles, plastics, metal, glass, etc.), major element composition (i.e., carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and chlorine, etc.), moisture content, ash content and heat values. In addition, 21 trace elements in ashes including bottom ash, heat economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, and bag-house ash were determined by ICPAES (Inductively Coupled PlasmaAtomic Emission Spectrometry and ICPMS (Inductively Coupled PlasmaMass Spectrometry). The distribution of trace elements in the particles of ue gas after air pollution control device was also investigated in detail. 2. Experimental 2.1. Incinerator The incinerator in which the research was conducted is located in Taipei, in northern Taiwan. This is a chain grate-type furnace having a capacity of 1800 tons (four Von-Roll stoker type furnaces, 18.75 tons/h, temperature 8501050 C) of waste per day, equipped with a heat economizer (heat recovery), semi-dry lime scrubber, and bag-house lter as its energy recovery system and air pollution control devices. The ue gas, after passing air pollution control devices (APCD), is emitted through a gas stack that is situated at the end of the system. Solid residues generated from the combustion process such as bottom ash, heat economizer ash, semi-dry lime scrubber ash, and bag-house lter ash were separated and collected in individual samplers for further analysis. The incineration system scheme and sampling positions are illustrated in Fig. 1. 2.2. Waste incineration The incinerator was separately fed with waste such as MSW, IW and BW. The three kinds of waste were incinerated separately to obtain the element compositions of incinerated residues. The waste was fed to the furnace as received without pretreatment, and there was no selection of specic ingredients when lling the hopper. The waste material fed to the furnace was weighed by a calibrated crane balance. About 380450 tons of waste per day was incinerated to determine the residue characteristics. These wastes were analyzed before incineration to identify their composition and

other properties for further evaluation. The designed temperature of the furnace was from 850 C to 1050 C. The incinerator operating temperatures for each kind of waste are shown in Table 1. 2.3. Sampling The work of sampling incinerated waste residues was conducted during a period of 3 months (June 2003August 2003). Three days were selected for the three kinds of wastes (one sampling day for each kind of waste) in 1 month. Totally three runs of each waste were tested for residual ashes and ue gas sampling. Ten samples of every run were taken for each source of ash including bottom ash, heat economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, and bag-house lter ash after the waste was completely incinerated and cooled down. Every sample was carried out in triplicate for analysis. The residues were collected, loaded into a cylinder sampler and mixed, homogenized, and fractionated. After drying at 105 C for 24 h, subsamples were pulverized in a ball mill and sieved with a machine to obtain granules smaller than 297 m. Three samples of particulate matter from the ue gas were taken for analysis. The sampling time of each sample was 2 h, and the gas ow, connected with the pump by a pumping probe, was measured using a standard gas meter and following the standard procedures of US EPA [13]. The probe was tted with a stainless steel cup at one end and a glassber lter (Advantec, No. 88R, thickness: 1.6 mm, 25 mm 90 mm, Japan) at the other end to collect particulate matter. The probe also contained a 1:1 HNO3 solution to trap metals from the vapor phase. 2.4. Analytical technique and equipment It is very important to select an appropriate method for analysis of incineration residues to achieve correct data. To obtain the composition of solid residues collected from various locations in the incineration system, the barely dissolved samples were digested in
Table 1 Incinerator operation conditions. Operation parameters of incinerator Furnace temperature ( C) Economizer temperature ( C) Semi-dry scrubber temperature ( C) Bag-house temperature ( C) Stack temperature ( C) Stack ow rates (kNm3 /h)

MSW 895 303 201 151 149 77.3 25 4 3 1 1 9.3

IW 931 297 192 151 149 64.4 7 2 4 1 1 2.0

BW 861 307 205 151 149 85.3 9 4 5 1 1 5.9

768 Table 2 Physical composition of wastes. Components and heat values Organic mattera Paper and paperboard Textiles Wood, bamboo, straw and leaves (yard wastes) Kitchen wastes Plastics Others Inorganic matterb Metal Glass Ceramics Moisture content (%) Ash content (%) Low heating values (kcal/kg) High heating values (kcal/kg)
a b

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MSW

IW

BW

21.8 4.98 2.4 54.7 13.6 0 1.2 0.69 0.6 58.7 15.7 1751 2258

41.3 6.44 3.9 23.7 23.5 0.53 0.3 0 0.5 37.6 6.8 2857 3317

12.2 0.41 1.7 69.2 15.7 0 0.2 0 0 65.9 4.4 1267 1791

Leather and rubber were trace in organic matter. Stone and soil were trace in inorganic matter.

an acid mixture before analysis. For this reason, a two-step digestion procedure was used in this research. In the rst step, 10 mg samples were digested with 5 ml of HClO4 + 3 ml of HNO3 + 2 ml of HF in sealed vessels and heated in a pressure bomb at 170 C for 5 h [14,15]. In the second step, the sample solutions after digestion were transferred into a PTFE beaker and gently heated (90 C) on a hot plate to evaporate the residual acid. The samples collected from the stack gas were also digested in the acid mixture following a three-step digestion procedure. First, the glassber lter was treated with 7 ml of HClO4 + 3 ml of HNO3 concentrated in the sealed vessels, and the solution was heated in the pressure bomb at 170 C for 5 h. After the glassber lter was removed, 2 ml of HF was added into the sealed vessels, and the
Table 3 Elemental concentration (mg/g) of BCR 176 (n = 12). Element BCR 176 certied (mg/g) ICP measured (mg/g) Recovery (%) This study Al Ca Fe K Mg Na S As Ba Cd Cr Cu Mn Ni Pb Sb Se Sr V Zn 101.6 87.98 21.3 1.1 44.99 21.83 43.03 44.6 0.093 4.3 0.2 0.470 0.009 0.863 0.030 1.30 0.03 1.60 0.20 0.124 0.004 10.9 0.2 0.412 0.018 0.041 0.002 0.433 0.020 0.037 0.001 25.8 0.4 104 89.7 21.5 37.8 20.7 41.7 41.9 0.088 4.19 0.400 0.838 1.26 1.51 0.114 10.6 0.346 0.035 0.390 0.036 25.1 3 0.9 0.2 0.4 0.2 1.2 1.6 0.001 0.03 0.021 0.011 0.04 0.04 0.007 0.1 0.024 0.005 0.008 0.001 0.3 102 102 101 86.2 94.8 97.0 93.9 94.2 97.5 85.0 97.1 96.4 94.3 92.3 97.1 84.0 86.1 90.1 98.8 97.2 2 1 1 0.9 1.0 2.9 3.5 0.9 0.8 4.4 1.3 3.2 2.8 5.8 0.8 5.9 12.1 1.8 0.6 1.2 HCl + HNO3 a 56.2 94.3 88.6 70.3b 54.0 60.7 65.1 91.3 29.5 89.9 24.4 88.6 84.6 NAc 93.3 NA 101.1 77.4 91.3 92.6

solution was heated again in the pressure bomb at 170 C for 2 h. In the last step, the sample solution was transferred into the PTFE beaker and gently heated (about 90 C) on the hot plate to evaporate the residual acid from the solution. Finally, the sample solution was diluted with 50 ml of 2% HNO3 for analysis [16] (Table 2). To determine the concentration of seven major elements, including Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S, a PerkinElmer Model 3000 DV ICPAES was used. Additionally, a PerkinElmer SCIEX Elan Model 5000 ICPMS was used for identifying As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr, V and Zn. The incineration y ash of a certied reference city waste (BCR 176) was introduced to enable evaluation of the accuracy and reliability of the digestion method. The BCR 176 certied reference material is a city waste incineration ash [17,18]. The y ash was collected from the electrostatic lter of a city waste incinerator without any combustion additives. Analytical results are shown in Table 3. All elements were recovered in the acceptable range (84102%). In addition, microwave digestion with hydrochloric acid and nitric acid mixed solution was used for BCR 176; results indicated that the element recovery of BCR 176 was low, especially for Al, K, Mg, Na, S, Ba, Cr and Sr (the recovery of these elements was lower than 80%). Ca, Fe, As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Se, V and Zn were in the acceptable range (84101%) [19]. Results indicated that a two-step closed-vessel acid mixture digestion process (HNO3 + HClO4 /HF) for multi-element analysis of the BCR 176 was better, as shown in Table 3. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Composition of wastes Three kinds of wastes including MSW, IW and BW, were analyzed to determine their compositions. Table 2 shows the major compositions and properties of these wastes before they were burned in the incinerator. The MSW came from residences, schools, streets, recreational sites, and administrative ofces. Kitchen waste accounted for 54.7% of the MSW. The water content of this category of waste was 58.7%. The BW consisted of waste material from traditional market areas, stores, garden waste, and mown grass. The raw material of BW was difcult to incinerate because it contained a very high portion of water (65.9%). The IW was characterized by a very high concentration of waste paper, plastics and textiles. A signicantly increased fraction of waste paper and plastics in IW has contributed to increasing its low heating value (LHV) of 2857 kcal/kg and high heating value (HHV) of 3317 kcal/kg,

Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S were measured by ICPAES, and other elements were measured by ICPMS. Al, Ca, K, Mg, Na, S, and As are not in the certied range. a BCR 176 was digested by a closed-vessel in the microwave (Horizontal, 2007). b The bold values indicates the recovery out of the criteria (80120%). c NA: not available.

Fig. 2. Composition of wastes (MSW, IW and BW are municipal solid waste, industrial waste and biomass waste, respectively. S is 0.030.05% and Cl is 0.120.15%).

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Fig. 3. Element concentration of the incineration ashes (the unit of Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, S, and Zn is mg/g; the unit of As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr and V is

g/g).

while BW has the lowest LHV and HHV, i.e., 1267 kcal/kg and 1791 kcal/kg, respectively. This phenomenon could be explained by the very high moisture content of BW; removing the moisture during incineration requires a certain heat to promote evaporation. Fig. 2 illustrates the physical concentration of elements contained in each type of waste. Aside from moisture content, the MSW consisted of 20.4% carbon, 10.8% oxygen, 2.87% hydrogen and 6.44% other material. The concentration of other elements such as Cl, N, S was less than 1%. The portions of C, O, and H in BW were 16.5%, 10% and 2.38%, respectively, while the concentration of these ele-

ments in the IW seems to be the highest among the investigated wastes. Trace elemental composition of waste is important in developing an understanding of the element distribution in incinerated residues and element mass balance in an incinerator system. In Taiwan, the trace element composition of MSW is still lacking and should be investigated in a future study. In the United Kingdom, the trace element compositions of MSW were as follows: Zn, Cu, and Pb were 0.751.5 mg/g, Cr and Ni were 100200 g/g, and Cd, As and Co were 312 g/g [20]. Some studies [21,22] indicated that

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the amounts of Zn, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb were lower than those reported by Poole et al. [20]. In some cases, the As and Cd contents were high [21]. Generally the Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb contents were low in BW [23]. 3.2. Chemical composition of incineration residues Although the incineration of solid waste has many advantages including detoxication, volume reduction and resource recovery, the residues contain some toxic elements that require careful disposal. The composition of the ash is affected by the incinerator behavior, i.e., combustion temperature, furnace type, feed rate, residence time, gas velocity, etc. [20,21]. Fig. 3 shows the chemical composition of incineration residues such as bottom ash, economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, bag-house lter ash, and ue gas of the investigated wastes. The many factors that affect the element partitioning to bottom ash, boiler hopper, and emission control y ash and stack emissions reect the complex relationship between the feed composition and emissions. In addition, the elemental partitioning to bottom ash and y ash during the combustion of MSW is determined by the temperatures in various combustion zones, the combustion air distribution, and the physical and chemical properties of waste components containing the elements, especially metals [24]. 3.2.1. Bottom ash Bottom ash, which can be reused as secondary building materials, generally contains a low concentration of heavy metals, especially volatile species such as Pb, Cd and Zn [25]. Generally the fraction vaporized from the combustion bed40% for Pb, 82% for Cd, 50% for Zn and 10% for Cris based on the thermodynamic study [26]. The distribution of heavy metals in incineration residues may have been affected by various factors including furnace type, capacity, and temperature, as well as waste compositions [27]. In general, a large furnace has an advantage in obtaining stable combustion because of its relative insensitivity to the uctuation of the waste feed. Furthermore, volatilization of metals increases with increasing furnace temperature and then directly affects the concentration of elements in the bottom ash [28,29]. As shown in Fig. 3, the major components in the bottom ash were Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S. The concentration of Ca was in the range of 160200 mg/g, the highest portion of all elements in the bottom ash, especially in BW, where it was 194 mg/g. Al was the second major element in mass content, i.e., 30.6 mg/g in MSW, 40.1 mg/g in IW and 36.5 mg/g in BW. Fe and Na were the third elements, ranging from 10.3 mg/g (in BW) to 37.1 mg/g (in MSW) and from 18.8 mg/g (in IW) to 24.2 mg/g (in BW), respectively. The remainder of the elements ranged from 5.3 mg/g to 17 mg/g. The toxic elements such as Cd, Pb and As appeared in bottom ash in concentrations lower than 1 mg/g, except for Zn, which was higher than 2 mg/g, and Cu, which was about 1 mg/g. All of the trace elements, such as Ba, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Sb, Se, and V, were found in concentrations lower than 1 mg/g. 3.2.2. Fly ashes (heat recovery ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, and bag-house lter ash) Belevi and Moench [30] reported that about 90% of Al, Ca, Mg and Na, 67% of K, and 9599% of S were transferred to bottom ash, with the remainder in the gas stream going through the heat economizer, semi-dry scrubber, and bag-house lter. In the investigated cases, Ca was found in almost the same amount in both bottom ash and heat economizer ash, but the largest amount of Ca, ranging from 195 mg/g in BW to 241 mg/g in IW, was found at the semi-dry scrubber due to the injection of lime solution to remove acid gas [31]. Metals such as Al, K, and Na were also found in very high concentrations in the APCD equipment. Cd and Pb were found in the highest concentration at the bag-house lter, which is

not surprising, as they are highly volatile elements. The other toxic and trace elements were found in lower concentrations, and the amounts decreased in the heat economizer, semi-dry scrubber and bag-house lter. 3.2.3. Flue gas Particulate matter of ue gas was collected using a probe connected to a stainless steel cup containing a glass lter. The stack gas ow rate was about 64 2 kNm3 /h for the IW burning process, 77 9 kNm3 /h for MSW, and 85 6 kNm3 /h for BW (Table 1). The higher gas ow rate of the MSW and BW incineration processes was due to very high moisture concentration. These processes required more heat to evaporate this moisture [32]. The major elements in the ue gas from all three kinds of wastes consisted of Ca, Fe and K, with the Ca concentration higher than 145 mg/g. The other elements, such as Al and S, were high in comparison with the remaining MSW and BW waste. The toxic and trace element concentrations were lower than 1 mg/g, except for Cr, Ni and Pb. Data for Na, Ba and Zn were not available due to the interference of the glassber lter during the analytical process. 3.3. Elemental behavior of incinerated residues Incinerator experience (based on a mixture of wastes including MSW, IW and BW) in this study indicates that every ton of solid waste produces approximately 107 kg of bottom ash, 8 kg of heat economizer ash, 6 kg of semi-dry scrubber ash, and 15.4 kg of bag-house lter ash. The element concentration in the incineration residues depends strongly on the composition of the input wastes investigated. 3.3.1. Group of major elements Actually, Fe and Al from incinerated solid waste are mostly fed to incinerators in metallic form, and their oxides are very stable. During the incineration process, high concentrations are found in the bottom ash and very low concentrations in the ue gas. Table 4 shows the total amount of emission and the element distribution for all three investigated wastes at the furnace and the APCDs in the MSWI. Total emission amount of elements in MSW, IW and BW were measured by the sum of element contents in the incinerated residues including bottom ash, heat economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, bag-lter ash and the particles of ue gas during the incineration procedures. The total emission amount is measured as follows: Eij = Cij Mj Fij = Eij j=n E j=1 ij 100% (1) (2)

where Eij is the emission amount of element i in a type of incinerated residue j (i.e., bottom ash, heat economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, bag-lter ash and ue gas particles), Cij is the element concentration in incinerated residues ( g/g or mg/g), and Mj is mass of incinerated residues (g). j=1 Eij is total emission amount of element in the incineration system. Fij is the distribution fraction of elements in the combustion residues (%). As mentioned above, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S were the major emitted species in the incineration residues. The Ca content was about 22.9 kg/ton of MSW, 24.6 kg/ton of IW, and 26.2 kg/ton of BW, and those of the other elements of this group were higher than 1 kg/ton of waste. More than 70% Ca, Mg, and Na and more than 80% of Al and Fe were transferred to bottom ash. In particular, more than 90% of Al and Fe from IW and 94.6% of Fe from MSW
j=n

Table 4 Total emission amount and element distribution at different air pollution control devices in MSWI. Elements Total emission amounta (g/ton) MSW Al Ca Fe K Mg Na S Zn As Ba Cd Co Cr Cu Mn Ni Pb Sb Se Sr V
a b c

Bottom ash (%) MSW 79b 75 95 61 76 72 37 55 61 72 14 70 64 87 79 61 61 60 65 81 61 IW 90 76 92 61 83 70 76 46 65 84 36 79 73 81 85 93 68 56 67 85 65 BW 82 79 78 61 75 76 48 68 52 65 20 63 68 89 75 80 70 51 73 84 52

Heat economizer ash (%) MSW 9.0 7.0 2.6 7.7 11 6.4 21 13 12 15 12 14 20 4.5 11 14 6.4 14 11 7.6 12 IW 5.9 5.8 5.4 7.1 8.1 6.8 6.6 13 7.5 9.2 6.9 12 9.8 6.8 8.7 3.2 3.7 7.7 8.9 6.1 7.5 BW 8.7 5.9 10 8.0 10 5.6 14 8.7 10 14 11 26 15 2.8 9.3 6.5 4.6 12 7.0 6.1 10

Semi-dry scrubber ash (%) MSW 7.9 5.5 1.8 3.8 6.5 4.1 6.6 6.9 5.9 7.5 4.3 5.8 6.0 1.9 5.9 9.2 2.8 4.7 5.8 4.6 5.9 IW 2.1 5.9 1.4 2.9 3.3 2.7 2.6 4.5 4.8 2.9 3.2 3.3 6.0 1.7 2.5 1.2 1.6 4.7 4.9 3.2 4.8 BW 6.6 4.5 8.7 4.8 6.5 4.0 7.4 5.6 6.4 13.0 4.9 5.5 7.7 2.9 10.1 9.4 2.5 5.4 7.4 4.4 6.4

Bag-house ash (%) MSW 3.7 13 0.94 27 6.8 17 35 25 21 5.5 70 9.7 10 6.2 4.4 16 30 21 18 6.4 21 IW 1.6 13 1.3 29 5.2 21 15 36 23 3.6 54 5.7 11 10 3.7 2.3 27 31 20 5.8 23 BW 3.1 10 3.0 26 8.3 14 31 17 31 7.6 64 5.8 8.5 5.0 5.2 3.9 22 32 12 5.9 31

Flue gas (%) MSW 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.003 0.002 NAc 0.020 NA 0.004 NA 0.004 0.003 0.015 0.001 0.001 0.041 0.003 0.001 0.010 0.023 0.004 IW 0.001 0.001 0.007 0.002 0.000 NA 0.001 NA 0.002 NA 0.009 0.036 0.027 0.002 0.001 0.017 0.002 0.001 0.009 0.001 0.002 BW 0.001 0.001 0.012 0.003 0.001 NA 0.003 NA 0.002 NA 0.005 0.005 0.009 0.001 0.002 0.112 0.001 0.001 0.006 0.005 0.002

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IW 4740 24600 2410 2970 1390 2890 2170 464 2.68 110 5.46 2.75 9.67 92.4 129 39.6 222 20.1 2.46 56.0 2.68

BW 4790 26200 1410 2460 1170 3420 1180 543 2.82 78.8 2.75 2.74 10.5 133 110 11.3 114 12.8 5.56 57.7 2.82

4120 22900 4200 2580 1280 3140 1270 410 2.33 82.2 3.37 2.96 9.17 113 123 10.2 93.1 14.2 2.84 53.8 2.33

Total emission amount is the sum of element content in combustion residues including incineration residues such as bottom ash, economizer ash, semi-dry scrubber ash, bag-house lter ash, and ue gas. Bold indicates that the fraction is >20%. Note: NA = not available.

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were transferred to bottom ash. The concentrations of Al, Fe, and Mg decreased step by step, as they were captured at the heat economizer, semi-dry scrubber, and bag-house lter, while those of Ca, K, Na and S increased slightly, with these elements captured at the bag-house lter. After passing through the APCD equipment, the ue gas was nearly clean and was emitted through the gas stack into the environment. A high fraction of incineration residues is generated from MSWIs around Taiwan. These residues contain a signicant amount of valuable heavy metals that can be recovered for reuse before disposal to protect the environment and conserve resources. 3.3.2. Group of minor and trace elements The minor and trace elements were present in very low concentrations in the incineration residues. Nearly all of the elements in this group, including Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Se, Sr and V, were transferred to bottom ash. Rigo and Chandler (1994) reported that 98% of Ni remained in bottom ash and formed a stable condensed species [33]. Only a very small fraction found in y ash was due to particulate matters carried over from the furnace into the ue gas. As shown in Table 4, more than 80% of Cu and Sr from all three kinds of wastes and 70% of Ba, Co, Mn and V from MSW and IW were transferred to bottom ash during the burning step. The literature reports that about 90 wt% of Cu remained in the bottom ash [33,34]. Cd, Zn, Pb, As and Sb are well known as highly volatile elements [21,26]. During the incineration process, reactions occur in Cd, Zn and Pb to produce their oxides and chloride compounds [21]. Generally, increased halogen concentration can lead to enhanced volatilization [20]. The experimental work of Srum et al. [21] showed that high portions of Zn remained in the bottom ash, and 2ZnOSiO2 could be the dominant compound. These compounds are volatilized and usually shifted and captured in the APCD equipment [28]. Especially in the case of Cd, approximately 50% of its compounds was transferred to bag-house lter ash, while only about 13% was found in bottom ash. As and Sb were found in very small amounts in all three kinds of investigated wastes. Similar to the other elements in their group, nearly 60% of As and Sb from MSW and IW were transferred to the bottom ash, and more than 22% was transferred into bag-house ash. Those found in higher portions in BW amounted to 31%. Lima et al. [12] investigated the y ash characteristics from bio and municipal waste; results indicated that fuel and temperature were the most important factors in determining the distribution and species of Cd and Cr. Generally, Cd was mainly associated with carbonate in MSW ash and oxides in straw and wool and oil ash. But Cr was mainly associated with oxides in y ash or with carbonates in straw ash. The concentration of some volatile elements such as Pb, Cd and Sb of the incineration residues from solid wastes generated in Taiwan was slightly higher than that from MSW cited in the literature [35]. The literature shows a large variation in the volatility of Pb. Reported extreme values of the fraction of Pb remaining in the bottom ash varied from 58% to 94% [21,34]. Chang and Wey [10] investigated Pb and Cd contents in y ash from three incinerators and conrmed that they were higher than in bottom ash. Therefore, some portion of Pb could be volatilized into y ash. The major elements were found in the ash of APCD, with most of them in the bag-house lter. Based on the amounts of elements emitted, the iron content was high in MSW; sulfur, cadmium, nickel, lead and stibium contents were high in IW; and selenium content was high in BW. Generally, selenium compounds are easily uptaken by vegetable matter; therefore selenium could be accumulated by vegetation [36]. Based on the previous study, the selenium content in crops and plants was 0.030.5 ppm for non-toxic soils and 10400 ppm for toxic soils [37]. In addition, selenium is a trace element in sh, shellsh,

meat (especially organ meats), eggs, and milk [38,39], which may be another source of selenium in BW. Therefore, the high kitchen waste content in the BW (i.e., foods, leaves, wood, trash, etc.) was one reason for the high selenium content in the three kinds of wastes. But more studies are necessary to prove high selenium content in BW. 4. Conclusion Three kinds of solid wastes were investigated in northern Taiwan incinerators to determine the characteristics and element behavior in incineration residues from MSWI. MSW and BW have LHV and HHV lower than that of IW due to the higher concentrations of moisture and lower content of plastics and paper in their composition. The concentrations of plastics and paper in IW are very high because of the investigated waste collected in the area, which is home to a local package industry and large stores. In practice, the incineration of waste having high heat value is not suggested due to safety concerns. Mixing a certain portion of low heat value waste with the high heat value waste may be a good approach for incineration to avoid damage and improve the operation time of the incinerator. Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S were the major elements in all three kinds of investigated incineration residues. The concentrations of Ca ranged from 22.9 kg/ton of MSW to 26.2 kg/ton of BW, the highest among the elements presented in the wastes. More than 70% of the Al, Ca, Fe, Mg and Na were transferred to the bottom ash. They had been cleaned when the ue gas passed through the APCD. Although the toxic and trace elements were present in very small amounts in the ue gas, their inuence on the environment should not be neglected. These compounds must be treated before being discharged into the air. During incineration, some of the elements, such as Cd, Pb, and Zn, were converted into metal chlorides that were easily volatilized in ue gas. Approximately 60% of the volatile elements such as As, Pb, Sb and Zn were transferred to bottom ash, while more than half of Cd was transferred to bag-house lter ash. To ensure compliance with legal emission limits of toxic elements to the air, it is necessary to treat incineration residues separately. Even though most of the y ash was retained by the APCD incineration system, the ue gas contained a large amount of toxic elements that can harm and damage living organisms. To protect the environment from pollution, it is necessary to provide effective treatment before discharge into the air. References
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