69    AN ABBREVIATED TCLP FOR STABILIZATION STUDIES
Mackenzie L. Davis, Associate Professor
Nancy Tomboulian, Graduate Assistant
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Douglas H. Wachter, Sales Manager
Dennis J. Bush, Laboratory Director
JWI, Inc.
Holland, Michigan 49424
INTRODUCTION
On the 8th of August 1988, the U.S. EPA established the Best Demonstrated Available Technology
(BDAT) for treatment of metal plating sludge (F006) prior to land disposal (Table I). Stabilization/
solidification or an equivalent process that will reduce the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure
(TCLP) to the established standard is now required before F006 waste can be land disposed.
JWI, Inc. manufactures filter presses (J-Press) and dryers (J-Mate) that are used by the metal
finishing industry to reduce their volume of waste. In developing the BDAT standards, the EPA did
not consider the effect of presses and dryers on stabilization/solidification technology. As an aid to
their customers, JWI asked Michigan State University to assist them in designing and executing a
series of experiments to define the effects of presses and dryers on the ability of metal finishers to
meet the BDAT requirements. We were successful in demonstrating that the product from both the J-
Mate and the J-Press can be stabilized to meet the BDAT standards and will report these results
elsewhere.1
In experiments conducted to determine the ratio of cement kiln dust to F006 sludge required to meet
the new standard, we observed that the analytical procedure may be shortened by using the pH after
extraction to forecast whether the TCLP extract will pass the more rigorous metal analysis required by
the BDAT standard.
THE TOXICITY CHARACTERISTIC LEACHING PROCEDURE (TCLP)
The TCLP is described in great detail in the Federal Register.2 The flowchart shown in Figure 1
outlines the procedure for F006 metal sludges. The test requires that the liquid be separated from the
solids under pressure filtration. The liquid and solid fractions are analyzed separately. The solid
fraction is reduced in size to less than 1 cm. Preliminary tests on a sample fraction are performed to
Table I.    BDAT Treatment Standards for F006 N on wastewaters
TCLP miximum for any
single grab sample
Constituent (mg/L)
Cadmium
0.066
Chromium (total)
5.2
Copper8
0.71
Lead
0.51
Nickel
0.32
Silver
0.72
Zinc3
0.086
Proposed but not finalized.
44th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, © 1990 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
Printed in U.S.A.
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