Deca-brominated diphenyl ether destruction and PBDD/F and PCDD/F emissions from coprocessing deca-BDE mixture-contaminated soils in cement kilns.

The disposal of soil contaminated with polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) was studied using an industrial coprocessing cement kiln. Two tests, Test 1 and Test 2, studied the destruction, removal, and emissions of PBDE in soils with PBDE concentrations of 4160 and 25,000 mg/kg, respectively. Emissions of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were also quantified. The PBDE destruction and removal efficiencies for Tests 1 and 2 were 99.9997% and 99.9998%, respectively. PBDE stack gas concentrations were 39.1 and 85.9 ng/Nm³ for Tests 1 and 2, respectively. The mean PBDD/F TEQ stack gas concentrations related to Tests 1 and 2 were 11.0 and 11.4 pg/Nm³, and PBDFs contributed 60.0-64.2% of the total PBDD/F concentrations. 2,3,7,8-TeBDD made the greatest contribution to the total PBDD/Fs, 40%, of all the homologues. The mean PCDD/F TEQ stack gas concentrations in Tests 1 and 2 were 0.74 and 0.65 pg/Nm³. The total PBDE, PBDD/F, and PCDD/F TEQ at the kiln outlet was 0.006% and 0.001% of the feed material TEQ. Therefore, coprocessing heavily PBDE-contaminated soils in a cement kiln is a highly efficient and environmentally sound treatment technology.