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Process envelopes for stabilisation/solidification of contaminated soil using lime–slag blend

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Abstract

Purpose

Stabilisation/solidification (S/S) has emerged as an efficient and cost-effective technology for the treatment of contaminated soils. However, the performance of S/S-treated soils is governed by several intercorrelated variables, which complicates the optimisation of the treatment process design. Therefore, it is desirable to develop process envelopes, which define the range of operating variables that result in acceptable performance.

Methods

In this work, process envelopes were developed for S/S treatment of contaminated soil with a blend of hydrated lime (hlime) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as the binder (hlime/GGBS = 1:4). A sand contaminated with a mixture of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons was treated with 5%, 10% and 20% binder dosages, at different water contents. The effectiveness of the treatment was assessed using unconfined compressive strength (UCS), permeability, acid neutralisation capacity and contaminant leachability with pH, at set periods.

Results

The UCS values obtained after 28 days of treatment were up to ∼800 kPa, which is quite low, and permeability was ∼10−8 m/s, which is higher than might be required. However, these values might be acceptable in some scenarios. The binder significantly reduced the leachability of cadmium and nickel. With the 20% dosage, both metals met the waste acceptance criteria for inert waste landfill and relevant environmental quality standards.

Conclusions

The results show that greater than 20% dosage would be required to achieve a balance of acceptable mechanical and leaching properties. Overall, the process envelopes for different performance criteria depend on the end-use of the treated material.

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Acknowledgement

This paper was written to support the ProCeSS project, which was conducted by a consortium of five universities, led by University College London, and 17 industrial partners, funded through the UK Technology Strategy Board (ProCeSS, Project No: TP/3/WMM/6/I/15611), which is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. The project website is at http://www.cege.ucl.ac.uk/process. The authors thank Dr. Martin Liska for providing data on the solubility profiles of the heavy metals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK

    Reginald B. Kogbara, Yaolin Yi & Abir Al-Tabbaa

  2. Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, 2# Sipailou, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Yaolin Yi

Authors
  1. Reginald B. Kogbara
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  2. Yaolin Yi
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  3. Abir Al-Tabbaa
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Correspondence to Reginald B. Kogbara.

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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang

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Kogbara, R.B., Yi, Y. & Al-Tabbaa, A. Process envelopes for stabilisation/solidification of contaminated soil using lime–slag blend. Environ Sci Pollut Res 18, 1286–1296 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0480-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0480-x

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