title: Measurement of chemical leaching potential of sulfate from landfill disposed sulfate containing wastes.
abstract: A number of sulfate-containing wastes are disposed in municipal solid wastes (MSW) landfills including residues from coal, wood, and MSW combustion, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Under anaerobic conditions that dominate landfills, the sulfate can be reduced to hydrogen sulfide which is problematic for several reasons including its low odor threshold, toxicity, and corrosive nature. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate existing protocols for the quantification of total leachable sulfate from solid samples and to compare their effectiveness and efficiency with a new protocol described in this study. Methods compared include two existing acid extraction protocols commonly used in the U.S., a pH neutral protocol that requires multiple changes of the leaching solution, and a new acid extraction method. The new acid extraction method was shown to be simple and effective to measure the leaching potential of sulfate from a range of landfill disposed sulfate-containing wastes. However, the acid extraction methods do not distinguish between sulfate and other forms of sulfur and are thus most useful when sulfate is the only form of sulfur present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7908, Raleigh, NC, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Southern Methodist University, PO Box 750340, Dallas, TX, United States. Electronic address: wsun@smu.edu.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7908, Raleigh, NC, United States.
authors.forename: Morton A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barlaz
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D013431:Sulfates / Q000032:analysis*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013431:Sulfates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Hydrogen sulfide; Landfill; Municipal solid waste; Sulfate-containing wastes