XRF and leaching characterization of waste glasses derived from wastewater treatment sludges

Purpose of this study was to investigate use of XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectrometry) as a near real-time method to determine melter glass compositions. A range of glasses derived from wastewater treatment sludges associated with DOE sites was prepared. They were analyzed by XRF and wet chemistry digestion with atomic absorption/inductively coupled emission spectrometry. Results indicated good correlation between these two methods. A rapid sample preparation and analysis technique was developed and demonstrated by acquiring a sample from a pilot-scale simulated waste glass melter and analyzing it by XRF within one hour. From the results, XRF shows excellent potential as a process control tool for waste glass vitrification. Glasses prepared for this study were further analyzed for durability by toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and product consistency test and results are presented

XRF and leaching characterization of waste glasses derived from wastewater treatment sludges

Purpose of this study was to investigate use of XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectrometry) as a near real-time method to determine melter glass compositions. A range of glasses derived from wastewater treatment sludges associated with DOE sites was prepared. They were analyzed by XRF and wet chemistry digestion with atomic absorption/inductively coupled emission spectrometry. Results indicated good correlation between these two methods. A rapid sample preparation and analysis technique was developed and demonstrated by acquiring a sample from a pilot-scale simulated waste glass melter and analyzing it by XRF within one hour. From the results, XRF shows excellent potential as a process control tool for waste glass vitrification. Glasses prepared for this study were further analyzed for durability by toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and product consistency test and results are presented

Elemental analysis of waste glass by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry

An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique is reported which shows promise for the elemental analysis of low-level mixed waste glasses. This technique can be used for both quantitative laboratory analysis and process control. The glass-forming melts are cast into graphite molds and resulting disks are annealed and polished. The disk is then analyzed with a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and the elemental intensities are converted into concentration with a fundamental parameters routine without the use of matrix-matched standards. Precision of elemental determinations are all better than one percent relative standard deviation. The XRF analysis has been compared with a reference method utilizing conventional wet chemical dissolution techniques followed by atomic spectroscopic determination. Results show that there is no significant difference between these two techniques, however, the XRF technique is much simpler and faster than the wet chemical methods