HW 9 Key

1. First choose a design pH. Figure 4-31 (LaGrega, p 204) shows that it may not be
possible to have both metals below their "hazardous characteristic" levels of 5.0 mg/l for
lead and 1.0 mg/L for cadmium. Lead reaches its minimum concentration of about 8
mg/L at pH 9.2. Cadmium reaches its minimum concentration near pH 11.1 and it is
above 1.0 mg/L for pH values below 9.9. Both metals have about the same ratio of
concentration in waste to critical TCLP value, so that will not be a factor in choosing the
desired pH. The ratio of the equilibrium metal concentrations to their critical values (5.0
and 1.0 mg/L) would be the same near pH 9.6. Therefore, choose pH 9.6 as the design
pH. Please note that a few students, took a step further, and plotted the ratio against the
pH to get a more accurate optimum pH. Choosing the pH from the graph would be ideal.
If a Portland cement-fly ash mix does not meet the TCLP requirements, then additional
reagents could be added to lower the concentration of these metals. Addition of
phosphate is often effective in immobilizing lead.
Calculate the ANC of each component at design pH using linear interpolation. A few
students interpolated the ANC at the optimum pH, after plotting the ANC against the pH.
Choosing the ANC at the design pH from such a graph would be ideal.
ANC(x) = ANC(x1) + [(ANC(x2) - ANC(x1))/(x2 - x1)](x-x1)
cement:
ANCpc(9.6) = ANCpc(10.5) - [(ANCpc(10.5) - ANCpc(8.5))/(10.5-8.5)](9.6-10.5)
ANCpc(9.6) = 20 + [(16-20)/(10.5-8.5)]( 9.6 8.5) = 17.8 meq/g
fly ash:
ANCfa(9.6) = 0 + [(-1-0)/(10.8-7.8)]( 9.6 7.8) = -0.60 meq/g
waste:
ANCw(9.6) = -1 + [(- 2-(-1))/(9.8 - 7.7)]( 9.6 -7.7) = -1.90 meq/g
Develop a set of equations to solve. First, apply the requirement that the estimated ANC
of the treated material at the design pH should equal 2.0 meq/g.
2.0 = Sum (fiANCi ) = fpcANCpc + ffaANCfa + fwANCw
(1) 2.0 = fpc(17.8) + ffa(-0.60) + fw(-1.90)
relative amounts of fly ash and Portland cement
fpc/ffa = 1.5
(2) ffa = fpc /1.5
Sum of fractions must equal zero:
(3) 1.0 = fpc + ffa + fw
These three linear equations can be solved by substitution to give:
fpc = 0.190
ffa = 0.126
fw = 0.684

cement/waste = 0.190/0.684 = 0.278

fly ash/waste = 0.126/0.684 = 0.184
total binder/waste = (0.190+0.126)/0.684 = 0.462
2. The available water-cement ratio = (1-0.15)*fw/fpc = 0.85(0.698)/(0.181) = 3.3. This far
exceeds the desired water-cement ratio of 0.45.

Relevant clarification regarding the simple leachate model, used in Q3 and Q4:
For the simple system of leaching from one face of a slab, L is the length
perpendicular to the face through which leaching occurs. In the more general case,
L would be the ratio of volume to area through which leaching occurs.
3. First, calculate leachate concentration of mercury under kinetic-limited conditions.
0.5

M 0 Dobs

Ql L t
M0 = (1500 g/ m3)(50 m3) = 7.5 E4 g
L = (50 m3)/(200 m2) = 0.25 m
t = (100 day)(24 hr/day)(3600 s/hr) = 8.64 E6 s
Ql = (10 m3/yr)/{(365 d/yr)(24 hr/d)(3600 s/hr)}= 3.17 E-7 m3/s
Cl = {(7.5 E4 g)/(3.17 E-7 m3/s)(0.25 m)}{(2 E-14 m2/s)/((3.14159)(8.64 E6 s))}0.5
Cl = 25.7 g/m3 = 25.7 mg/L
Cl

Compare leachate concentration under kinetic control (25.7 mg/L) with leachate
concentration under equilibrium control (0.3 mg/L). Smallest concentration will be one
expected. Therefore, equilibrium conditions will control and the leachate concentration
will be 0.3 mg/L.
Calculate the exposure concentration for mercury
C

out
gw

in
Ql Cl QgwC gw

Qgw Ql
Cgwout = [(10 m3/yr)(0.3 mg/L)+(1000 m3/yr)(0.0001 mg/L)]/
[(10 m3/yr) + (1000 m3/yr)]
Cgwout = 3.1 E-3 mg/L = 3.1 g/L

The exposure concentration (3.1 g/L) is greater than the MCL for drinking water (2
g/L), so the standard is not met.
4. The critical leachate flow at which the system changes from equilibrium to kinetic
control occurs when the leachate concentrations for each case are equal

0.5

Ceq

M 0 Dobs

Ql L t

Ql ,crit

M 0 Dobs

Ceq L t

0.5

Ql,crit = {(7.5E4 g)/[(0.3 g/m3) (0.25 m)]}{(2 E-14 m2/s)/((3.14159)(8.64 E6 s))}0.5

Ql,crit =[(7.5E4 g)/(7.5 E-2 g/m2)][7.36 E-22 m2/s2]0.5
Ql,crit = 2.7 E-5 m3/s = 856 m3/yr.