Simultaneous determination of fluorine, chlorine and sulfur in incinerator residues by oxidative high pressure digestion and ion chromatography

Abstract
An oxidative high pressure digestion method is presented to dissolve fluorine, chlorine and sulfur components of municipal solid waste incinerator residues. It is a combination of the classical high pressure digestion technique with the combustion in a closed system. The concentration determination is carried out by ion chromatography. The results are compared with those obtained by other digestion and extraction methods combined also with ion chromatography. A CNS-analyzer is used as a further method to compare the sulfur concentrations. Based on the obtained data, the accuracy of the fluorine, chlorine and sulfur concentrations is estimated as better than 85%. It is concluded, that the oxidative high pressure digestion combined with ion chromatography is an appropriate method to determine fluorine, chlorine and sulfur concentrations in incinerator residues. Its main advantage is the simultaneous analysis of these three elements. However, it is a time consuming method.