Leaching behavior of Cr(III) in stabilized/solidified soil

The leaching behavior of chromium was studied using batch leaching tests, surface complexation modeling and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. A contaminated soil sample containing 1330 mg-Cr kg(-1) and 25600 mg-Fe kg(-1) of dry soil was stabilized/solidified (S/S) with 10% cement, 25% cement, 10% lime and a mixture of 20% flyash and 5% lime. The XANES analysis showed that Cr(III) was the only Cr species in untreated soil and S/S-treated samples. The leachate Cr concentration determined using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was reduced from 5.18 mg l(-1) for untreated soil to 0.84 mg l(-1) for the sample treated with 25% cement. The Cr leachability in untreated and treated soil samples decreased dramatically as the pH increased from 3 to 5, remained at similar levels in the pH range between 5 and 10.5, and further decreased at pH>10.5. Modeling results indicated that the release of Cr(III) was controlled by adsorption on iron oxides at pH<10.5, and by precipitation of Ca(2)Cr(2)O(5).6H(2)O at pH>10.5.