Measuring evaporation rates of metal compounds from solid samples.

A thermogravimeter (TGA, Mettler-Toledo TGA/SDTA851e) was connected to an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES, Varian Liberty 110) using a condensation interface (CI), which transforms gaseous high-boiling-temperature substances into solid (or liquid) aerosols. Argon was used as the carrier gas to transfer the aerosols into the ICP-OES for on-line elemental analysis. This new analytical TGA-CI-ICP-OES device, called TGA-ICP, is the first of its kind and allows one to study the thermochemically induced evaporation behavior of high-boiling-temperature substances, such as heavy metal compounds, under different thermochemical conditions. It allows the investigation of the behavior of large solid or liquid samples (100-500 mg), which is important for applying the results to industrial processes. So far, the CI principle has allowed only semiquantitative elemental analyses of hot gases when connected to an ICP-OES. In this work, we show that a direct calibration of the CI-ICP-OES device is possible in combination with a TGA. The intensities determined by ICP-OES could be directly related to gravimetrically determined evaporation rates of volatile model compounds. The results show model evaporation experiments with native CdCl2 and CdCl2 resulting from the reaction of CaCl2 with CdO. Cadmium was studied because it is a volatile toxic heavy metal and its thermal behavior is relevant in various waste-treatment and recycling processes.

Heavy metal partitioning from electronic scrap during thermal End-of-Life treatment.

Samples of identical Printed Wiring Board Assemblies (PWBA) have been thermally treated in a Quartz Tube Reactor (QTR) in order to detect the volatility of selected heavy metals contained in electronic scrap being of environmental concern. In preparation, evaporation experiments were performed using a Thermo Gravimeter (TG) in connection with an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emissions Spectrometer (ICP-OES). The QTR experiments were performed under reducing and under oxidising conditions at 550 and at 880 degrees C. The volatilisation has been determined for As, Cd, Ni, Ga, Pb, and Sb using ICP-OES analysis of the ash residues. The results were evaluated by thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, the TG-ICP measurements and in comparison with similar studies. In coincidence with the preparative TG-ICP measurements as well as with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations neither As nor Cd could be detected in the residuals of the thermally treated PWBA samples, suggesting a high volatility of these metals. Ga does not show a distinct volatilisation mechanism and seems to be incorporated in the siliceous fraction. Ni remains as stable compound in the bottom ash. Sb shows a high volatility nearly independent of temperature and oxygen supply. The results imply that, if electronic scrap is thermally processed, attention has to be paid in particular to Sb, As, and Ga. These metals are increasingly used in new electronic equipment such as mobile phone network equipment of the third generation.

Thermal treatment of metal-enriched biomass produced from heavy metal phytoextraction.

Phytoextraction is an environmentally sound method for cleaning up sites that are contaminated with toxic heavy metals. However, the method has been questioned because it produces a biomass-rich secondary waste containing the extracted metals. Therefore, further treatment of this biomass is necessary. In this study, we investigated whether thermal treatment could be a feasible option for evaporatively separating metals from the plant residues. We used a laboratory scale reactor designed to simulate the volatilization behavior of heavy metals in a grate furnace. The evaporation of alkali and heavy metals from plant samples was investigated online, using a thermo-desorption spectrometer (TDS). Experiments were performed in the temperature range of 25-950 degrees C with leaves of the Cd and Zn hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens and of the high biomass plant Salix viminalis (willow), both grown on contaminated soils. Gasification (i.e., pyrolysis), which occurs under reducing conditions, was a better method than incineration under oxidizing conditions to increase volatilization and, hence subsequently recovery, of Cd and Zn from plants. It would also allow the recycling of the bottom ash as fertilizer. Thus, our investigations confirmed that incineration (or co-incineration) is a viable option for the treatment of the heavy metal-enriched plants.