Potential Surrogate Metals for Incinerator Trial Burns

摘要

Over the past four years, the research program at the Environmental ProtectionAgency's (EPA's) Incinerator Research Facility (IRF) has developed an extensive body of metals partitioning data from pilot-scale incineration tests using synthetic hazardous wastes, actual listed hazardous wastes, and contaminated materials from Superfund sites. Because metals volatility dominates partitioning, surrogates can be used and the choice of surrogates is simplified. The paper discusses the results of three extensive parametric test programs performed at the IRF using synthetic hazardous wastes containing both hazardous constituent and potential surrogate metals. These results show that surrogates partition in the same manner as selected hazardous constituent metals. Thus, the use of surrogates deserves consideration, if not in actual trial burns, then at least in scoping tests used to guide the formal trial burn.