Remediation of soils contaminated by lead- and copper-containing rifle bullets

Väinö Hintikka, Pekka Parvinen, Pekka Sten, Jukka Laukkanen, Jaakko Leppinen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientificpeer-review

Abstract

The possibilities of using mineral processing techniques to remediate rifle range soils were evaluated.The studied soils originated from two Finnish rifle ranges, Viikinmäki and Utti, and were heavily contaminated by lead- and copper-containing bullets and their disintegrated fine-grained weathering products.Most of the lead and copper in the soil samples is in the form of coarser particles, which can be easily recovered mechanically by combining wet sieving with consecutive gravity concentration stages.In this process, 83-85% of the total lead and 91-99% of the total copper can be recovered into a ca. 90% pure bullet product.The fine soil fraction contains 14-17% of the total lead, mainly as fine-grained carbona-ceous weathering products of the bullets, and 1-3% of the total copper.Due to the higher solubility of the lead carbonates and the high surface area of these particles, they form a significant source of contamination for the environment.Complex-forming leaching was used to recover the lead and copper from the fine soil fractions with recoveries of 95-98%.By combining the mechanical and leaching processes, lead and copper recoveries higher than 99.4% can be reached.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationVTT Symposium 204. International Conference on Practical Applications in Environmental Geotechnology. ECOGEO 2000. Helsinki, FI, 4 - 6 Sept. 2000. Tammirinne, Markku (ed.)
Place of PublicationEspoo
PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Pages237-244
ISBN (Electronic)951-38-5702-6
ISBN (Print)951-38-5701-8
Publication statusPublished - 2000
MoE publication typeA4 Article in a conference publication
EventInternational Conference on Practical Applications in Environmental Geotechnology: ECOGEO 2000 - Helsinki, Finland
Duration: 4 Sept 20006 Sept 2000

Publication series

SeriesVTT Symposium
Number204
ISSN0357-9387

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Practical Applications in Environmental Geotechnology
Abbreviated titleECOGEO 2000
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityHelsinki
Period4/09/006/09/00

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