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Removal of contaminants in leachate from landfill by waste steel scrap and converter slag

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Abstract

This study may be the first investigation to be performed into the potential benefits of recycling industrial waste in controlling contaminants in leachate. Batch reactors were used to evaluate the efficacy of waste steel scrap and converter slag to treat mixed contaminants using mimic leachate solution. The waste steel scrap was prepared through pre-treatment by an acid-washed step, which retained both zero-valent iron site and iron oxide site. Extensive trichloroethene (TCE) removal (95%) occurred by acid-washed steel scrap within 48 h. In addition, dehalogenation (Cl− production) was observed to be above 7.5% of the added TCE on a molar basis for 48 h. The waste steel scrap also removed tetrachloroethylene (PCE) through the dehalogenation process although to a lesser extent than TCE. Heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) were extensively removed by both acid-washed steel scrap and converter slag through the adsorption process. Among salt ions (NH +4 , NO −3 , and PO 3−4 ), PO 3−4 was removed by both waste steel scrap (100% within 8 h) and converter slag (100% within 20 min), whereas NO -3 and NH + 4 were removed by waste steel scrap (100% within 7 days) and converter slag (up to 50% within 4 days) respectively. This work suggests that permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) with waste steel scrap and converter slag might be an effective approach to intercepting mixed contaminants in leachate from landfill.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Core Environmental Technology Development Project for the Next Generation (Project No. 042-041-004). The authors wish to thank the National Instrumentation Center for Environmental Management (NICEM) at Seoul National University for valuable analytical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, 200-702, South Korea

    Byung-Taek Oh

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul, 130-743, South Korea

    Jai-Young Lee

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, South Korea

    Jeyong Yoon

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  1. Byung-Taek Oh
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  2. Jai-Young Lee
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Correspondence to Byung-Taek Oh or Jai-Young Lee.

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Oh, BT., Lee, JY. & Yoon, J. Removal of contaminants in leachate from landfill by waste steel scrap and converter slag. Environ Geochem Health 29, 331–336 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-007-9094-0

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