title: Flow analysis of heavy metals in a pilot-scale incinerator for residues from waste electrical and electronic equipment dismantling.
abstract: The large amount of residues generated from dismantling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) results in a considerable environmental burden. We used material flow analysis to investigate heavy metal behavior in an incineration plant in China used exclusively to incinerate residues from WEEE dismantling. The heavy metals tested were enriched in the bottom and fly ashes after incineration. However, the contents of heavy metals in the bottom ash, fly ash and exhaust gas do not have a significant correlation with that of the input waste. The evaporation and recondensation behavior of heavy metals caused their contents to differ with air pollution control equipment because of the temperature difference during gas venting. Among the heavy metals tested, Cd had the strongest tendency to transfer during incineration (TCd=69.5%) because it had the lowest melting point, followed by Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. The exchangeable and residual fractions of heavy metals increased substantially in the incineration products compared with that of the input residues. Although the mass of residues from WEEE dismantling can be reduced by 70% by incineration, the safe disposal of the metal-enriched bottom and fly ashes is still required.
authors: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, PR China.
authors: Yu-Yang
authors: YY
authors: Long
authors: Yi-Jian
authors: YJ
authors: Feng
authors: Si-Shi
authors: SS
authors: Cai
authors: Wei-Xu
authors: WX
authors: Ding
authors: Dong-Sheng
authors: DS
authors: Shen
mesh_terms: D059029:Electronic Waste; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D017745:Incineration; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy
keywords: Dismantling; Heavy metal; Incineration; Material flow analysis; Waste electrical and electronic equipment