화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol.279, 52-59, 2014
Preferential removal and immobilization of stable and radioactive cesium in contaminated fly ash with nanometallic Ca/CaO methanol suspension
In this work, the capability of nanometallic Ca/CaO methanol suspension in removing and/or immobilizing stable (Cs-133) and radioactive cesium species (Cs-134 and Cs-137) in contaminated fly ash was investigated. After a first methanol and second water washing yielded only 45% of Cs-133 removal. While, after a first methanol washing, the second solvent with nanometallic Ca/Ca methanol suspension yielded simultaneous enhanced removal and immobilization about 99% of Cs-133. SEM-EDS analysis revealed that the mass percent of detectable Cs-133 on the fly ash surface recorded a 100% decrease. When real radioactive cesium contaminated fly ash (containing an initial 14,040 Bq kg(-1) Cs-134 and Cs-137 cumulated concentration) obtained from burning wastes from Fukushima were reduced to 3583 Bq kg(-1) after treatment with nanometallic Ca/Ca methanol suspension. Elution test conducted on the treated fly ash gave 100 Bq L-1 total Cs-134 and Cs-137 concentrations in eluted solution. Furthermore, both ash content and eluted solution concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 were much lower than the Japanese Ministry of the Environment regulatory limit of 8000 Bq kg(-1) and 150 Bq L-1 respectively. The results of this study suggest that the nanometallic Ca/CaO methanol suspension is a highly potential amendment for the remediation of radioactive cesium-contaminated fly ash. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.