The incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) results in the annual production of 2.7 million tons of bottom ash in France. Utilisation of bottom ash in road construction is encouraged in France but strictly regulated. Because the incinerator residues contain enriched concentrations of metals and salts, particular attention must be focused on the potential environmental problems. In the present study, a laboratory tool (lysimeter) has been developed to reproduce the conditions of bottom ash utilisation and to study their environmental impact via the percolates collected at the bottom of the lysimeter. Four lysimeter experiments were conducted in order to study reproducibility, as well as the influence of water flow rate and pressure on the composition of the percolates. The lysimeter experiments have been then compared with the utilisation of bottom ash under real conditions (two experimental road sections). The comparison of results of lysimeter test and those measured after performing the French standard leach test (AFNOR NF X31-210) shows a recovery of 89% for the chlorides and between 30 and 35% for the sulfates. This indicates that almost all chlorides have been dissolved, contrary to the sulfates, which are less soluble.
AFNOR NF X31-210 (1992) Déchets: essais de lixiviation. In: Association Française de Normalisation. Paris La Défense. France.
2.
Barlaz, M.A., Schaefer, D.M. & Ham, R.K. (1989) Inhibition of methane formation from municipal refuse in laboratory scale lysimeters. Applied Biochemistry Biotechnology20/21, 181-204.
3.
Bergström, L. (1992) Leaching of bentazon in swidish soil using field lysimeters. Swedish Journal of Agricultural Research22, 103-109.
4.
Blanchard, J.M., Comel, C., Navarro, A., Revin, Ph., Veron, J. & Pillay, G. (1989) Les mâchefers d’incinération d’ordures ménagères - I. Principales propriétés. Techniques, Sciences, Méthodes, L’eau84ème année n°3, 127-132.
5.
Boast, C.W. & Robertson, T.M. (1982) A “micro-lysimeter” method for determining evaporation from bare soil: description and laboratory evaluation. Soil Science Society American Journal46, 689-696.
6.
Bruder-Hubscher, V., Lagarde, F., Leroy, M.J.F., Coughanowr, C., & Enguehard, F. (2000) Utilisation of bottom ash in road construction. Evaluation of the environmental impact. Waste Management and Research (submitted).
7.
Connell, L.D. & Bell, P.R. (1992) Description of a field experiment to measure leachate formation from soil shale wastes. Waste Management and Research10, 517-533.
8.
Corwin, D.L. & Le Mert, R.D. (1994) Construction and evaluation of an inexpensive weighing lysimeter for studying contaminant transport. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology15, 107-123.
9.
Fuchs, B., Track, C., Lang, S. & Gimmler, H. (1997) Salt effects of processed municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash on vegetation and underground water. Angewandte Botanik71, 154-163.
10.
Führ, F., Cheng, H.H. & Mittlelstaedt, W. (1976) Pesticide balance and metabolism studies with standardized lysimeters. Landwirtschaftliche Forschung32, 272-278.
11.
Führ, F., Burauel, P., Dust, M., Mittlelstaedt, W., Pütz, T., Reinken, G. & Stork, A. (1998) Comprehensive tracer studies on the environmental behavior of pesticides: the lysimeter concept. American Chemical Society Chap. 1, pp. 1-20.
12.
Gau, S.H. & Jeng, W.C. (1998) Influence of ligands on metals leachability from landfilling bottom ashes. Journal of Hazardous Materials58, 59-71.
13.
Gordon, M.E., Huebner, P.M. & Miazga, T.J. (1989) Hydraulic conductivity of three landfill clay liners. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering115, 1148-1160.
14.
Gould, J.P., Pohland, F.G. & Cross, W.H. (1989) Chemical controls on the fate of mercury and lead codisposed with municipal solid waste. Water Science and Technology21, 833-843.
15.
Hinesly, T.D. & Jones, R.L. (1990) Phosphorus in waters from sewage sludge amended lysimeters. Environmental Pollution65, 293-309.
16.
Jemison, J.M. & Fox R.H. (1992) Estimation of zero-tension pan lysimeter collection efficiency. Soil Science154, 85-93.
17.
Johnson, C.A., Kersten, M., Ziegler, F. & Moor, H.C. (1996) Leaching behaviour and solubility -controlling solid phases of heavy metals in municipal solid waste incinerator ash. Waste Management16, 129-134.
18.
Khan, B.R., Mainuddin, M. & Molla, M.N. (1993) Design, construction ad testing of a lysimeter for a study of evapotranspiration of different crops. Agricultural Water Management23, 183-197.
19.
Kida, A., Noma, Y. & Imada, T. (1996) Chemical speciation and leaching properties of elements in municipal incinerator ash. Waste Management16, 527-536.
20.
Krzanowski, J.E., Eighmy, T.T., Crannell, B.S. & Eusden, J.D. (1998) An analytical electron microscopy investigation of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash. Journal of Materials Research13, 28-36.
21.
Martin, E.C., Loudon, T.L., Ritchie, J.T. & Werner, A. (1994) Use of drainage lysimeters to evaluate nitrogen and irrigation management strategies to minimise nitrate leaching in maize production. American Society of Agricultural Engineers37, 79-83.
22.
Meima, J.A. & Comans, R.N.J. (1997) Geochemical modeling of weathering reactions in municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash. Environmental Science and Technology31, 1269-1276.
23.
Meima, J.A. & Comans, R.N.J. (1999) The leaching of trace elements from municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash at different stages of weathering. Applied Geochemistry14, 159-171.
24.
Olaniya, M.S., Bhoyar, R.V. & Bhide, A.D. (1991) Effects of solid waste disposal on land. Indian Journal of Environmental Health34, 143-150.
25.
Pardini, G., Volterrani, M. & Grossi, N. (1993) Effects of municipal solid waste compost on soil fertility and nitrogen balance: lysimetric trials. Agricoltura Mediterranea123, 303-310.
26.
Pütz, T., Brumhard, B., Dressel, J., Kaiser, R., Wüstemeyer, A., Scholz, K., Schäfer, H., König, Th. & Führ, F. (1998) A comprehensive approach to studying the fate of pesticides in soil at the laboratory lysimeter and field scales. American Chemical Society Chap. 11, pp. 152-162.
27.
Reitzel, S., Faquhar, G. & McBean, E. (1991) Temporal characterisation of municipal solid waste leachate. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering19, 668-679.
28.
Rogers, R.D. & McConnell, J.W. (1991) Performance verification of solidified radioactive waste using lysimeters. Engineering Geology30, 79-101.
29.
Rogers, R.D., McConnell, J.W., Sullivan, Jr, T.M., Jastrow, J.D. & Hichs, D.S. (1993) Field testing of waste forms using lysimeters: results after seven years. Geoconfine ISBN 90 5410 3302, 459-465.
30.
Rüdel, H., Schmidt, S., Kordel, W. & Klein, W. (1993) Degradation of pesticides in soil: comparison of laboratory experiments in a biometer system and outdoor lysimeter experiments. Science of the Total Environment132, 181-200.
31.
Smith, A.E., Weldon, O., Slaughter, W., Peeler, H. & Mantripragada, N. (1993) A greenhouse system for determining pesticide movement from the golf course greens. Journal of Environmental Quality22, 864-867.
32.
Sogn, T.A., Abrahamsen, G. & Stuanes, A.O. (1993) Lysimeter study with a cambic arenosol exposed to artificial acid rain: I. Concentrations of ions in leachate. Water, Air and Soil Pollution68, 493-504.
Stessel, R.I. & Murphy, R.J. (1992) A lysimeter study of the aerobic landfill concept. Waste Management and Research10, 485-503.
35.
Schuhmacher, M., Meneses, M., Granero, S., Llobet, J.M. & Domingo, J.L. (1997) Trace element pollution of soils connected near a municipal solid waste incinerator: human health risk. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology59, 861-867.
36.
Webster, C.P., Shepherd, M.A., Goulding, K.W.T. & Lord, E. (1993) Comparisons of methods for measuring the leaching of mineral nitrogen from arable land. Journal of Soil Science44, 49-62.
