Vitrification of chromium electroplating sludge

This work investigated the vitrification of hazardous electroplating sludge containing 140 mg/g Cr with/without bottom ash or cullet conditioning to lower specimens' basicities to 0.97-1.17 or 0.18-0.23, respectively. The conditioning was found to enhance the smooth/glassy appearance of slags but no ingot was obtained. Cr was > 98% retained in the vitrified slags. Cr2O3 dominated in crystalline structure for the slag vitrified from the sludge, but this domination gradually shifted to Fe2SiO4/Fe3O4/SiO2 or SiO2 crystalline with increasing addition of bottom ash or cullet into the sludge, respectively. Compared to the raw sludge, the sludge-vitrified slag displayed lower leaching concentrations for most metals (particularly Cr (2.54 mg/ L)), and smaller leaching ratios for Ag, Cr, and Cu (1.35, 0.02, and < 0.01%, respectively) but greater ones for Cd, Pb, and Zn (3.83, 2.46, and 0.36%, respectively). The Cr leaching ratios were similar to 0.01% for the slags vitrified from the conditioned sludge. Independent of the slag basicity and crystalline structure, metal leaching quantity increased but leaching ratio decreased with increasing slag metal content. The slag compressive strengths were improved to > 14.7 MPa at the mixing ratios >= 2/1 and 1/1 for bottom ash/sludge and cullet/sludge, respectively. Fulfilling the criteria of Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), all the slags were recyclable.