ABSTRACT
Nowadays, there has been a growing attention on river sediments as a result of
its various sources and close relationship to the water environment. Treatments of
such contaminated sediments are usually massive. Current treatment of these
sediments are usually river dredging and other physical methods followed by landfill
disposition. Leaching from the dredged sediment may lead to contamination of both
surface and underground water. On the other hand, such method also led to a large
amount of waste of mineral resources. Moreover, because of the complexity of
sediment components as well as the large amount and various types of pollutants,
proper usage of the contaminated sediment has become a worldwide concern.
It is obvious that traditional treatments of contaminated sediments using
physical, chemical and biological method are limited in various ways, though there
are also certain advantages. This study, developed from previous research, used
cement, natural zeolite, calcium oxide and TMT as a curing agent and stabilizer for
sediments contaminated from the river of Wen Zao Bang to create a new
environmental material by determining the optimal ratio of these agents. The curing
specimens were both with excellent compression performance as well as low toxicity
in leaching. Mechanism of solidification and stabilization were examined, discussed
and summarized. The main finds are as follows:
Environmental risk assessment shows that the following areas were seriously
polluted by heavy metals: North Jiang Yang Bridge, Song Gang port, Taihe Road,
Chen Hang bridges. The major pollutants were Zn and Cu. However, ecological risk
assessment also indicates that Cd was at the highest. Therefore, controls most be taken
for these three heavy metals in the process.
The optimal ratio of curing agents including cement, natural clinoptilolite,
calcium oxide was determined as 31.3: 15.7: 3: 0 (mass ratio), by carrying out an
orthogonal experiment and single factor analysis. Mechanism of solidification was
explored in aspects of: 1) hydration reaction, 2) pozzolanic reaction, 3) micro-set
material effect, 4) ion exchange and carbonation and 5) mutual synergies.
Based on the ratio of solidification, the optimal ratio of the agents for
solidification and stabilization was further optimized by analyzing: 1) pH of the
leaching solution, 2) CODCr, 3) NH3-N, 4) index of heavy metal concentration. The
final mass ratio was: cement: clinoptilolite: calcium oxide: TMT = 30: 12.5: 3:
1.5.The underlying mechanism for the stabilization was also investigated: adsorption
of NH3-N and heavy metals on zeolite could be fitted in Langmuir adsorption
isotherm model, and the adsorption capacity was .
Chromium, Cu, Zn and Mn in pure river sediments were mainly in residual fraction,
while Pb and Cd existed mainly in the reducible fraction and Ni was mainly in
organic state. After stabilization, the proportion of heavy metals in the two more
reactive fraction (weak acid extractable and reducible fraction) reduced to the range
from 1.3 to 8.9% of the total, and the residual fraction became to be the main form.
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