Application of large volume injection GC–MS to analysis of organic compounds in the extracts and leachates of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 1005 - 1016
• Main Authors: KORENKOVA, Eva, MATISOVA, Eva, SLOBODNIK, Jaroslav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2006; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Carbon; Coal Ash; COMBUSTION; ELDERLY PEOPLE; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Exact sciences and technology; FLY ASH; GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; Incineration; INCINERATORS; LEACHATES; MASS SPECTRA; MASS SPECTROSCOPY; Organic Chemicals - analysis; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC SOLVENTS; Other wastes and particular components of wastes; Particulate Matter; POLLUTANTS; Pollution; Refuse Disposal - instrumentation; Refuse Disposal - methods; SOLID WASTES; Urban and domestic wastes; Wastes; Italy; Incineration plant; Fly ash; Gas chromatography; Organic solvent; Sonication; Electron impact ionization; Incineration; Urban waste; Solid waste; Lixiviation; Leachate; Mass spectrometry
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2005.10.003

Organic solvent and water extracts of fly ash from a Milan (Italy) municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) were analyzed by large volume injection-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (LVI-GC–MS) with programmable temperature vaporizer (PTV). Using injection volumes of 10–100 μl, typically over a hundred compounds were detected in organic solvent extracts and ca. 35% of them could be tentatively identified from their electron impact ionization mass spectra. A protocol for the determination of the maximum amount of a potential environmental pollutant available for leaching (availability test) was developed for four selected target compounds: pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), hexachlorobenzene (HxCB), o-terphenyl ( o-TPH) and m-terphenyl ( m-TPH). Key parameters, extraction time and liquid-to-solid ratio ( L/ S), were studied in more detail. Recoveries of PeCB, HxCB and o-TPH spiked into the fly ash samples at two concentration levels ranged from 38% to 53% for freshly spiked and from 14% to 40% for 40-day aged fly ash. Recoveries of m-TPH were 8% to 11% from freshly spiked and less than 3% from aged spiked fly ash. The native amounts in Milan MSWI fly ash, determined in an interlaboratory exercise using the developed protocol, were 31 ng/g PeCB, 34 ng/g HxCB, 72 ng/g o-TPH and 4.4 ng/g m-TPH. A separate methodology was developed for the determination of compounds extracted from fly ash by water (leaching test). Following 8-h sonication at L/ S 20, the leached amounts of PeCB, HxCB and o-TPH were 1.1, 3.1 and 6.0 ng/g fly ash, respectively.