Since 1988, nine test programs have been conducted at the Environmental Protection Agency Incineration Research Facility aimed at evaluating the fate of trace metals in the rotary kiln incineration of hazardous wastes and Superfund site materials. Results of six of those test programs have been reported to date. Of these six, two were parametric test series using a synthetic hazardous waste formulation and four were incineration treatability test programs using contaminated Superfund site materials. Results of these six text programs show remarkably consistent arsenic and lead partitioning behavior among the incinerator system discharge streams. Overall test programs lead exhibits relatively nonvolatile behavior over a kiln temperature range from nominally 815 C (1,500 F) to 980 C (1,800F) provided no chlorine is present in the feed material. Arsenic also exhibits relatively nonvolatile behavior over the same temperature range regardless of whether the feed contains chlorine at levels up to nominally 8 percent. Arsenic may be more volatile in the incineration of environmental samples such as Superfund site wastes than it is from a synthetic waste in which arsenic is introduced as As2O3 in aqueous solution. However, even with environmental samples, behavior is relatively nonvolatile. Lead volatility significantly increases at all kiln temperatures as feed chlorine content increases from 0 to as high as 8 percent.

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