ABSTRACT
The field of stabilization and solidification (S/S) has lately begun to mature into an accepted environmental technology. S/S is specifically cited under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act as a method to be considered for remedying releases from contaminated soils and sediments. The United States Environmental Protection Agency is considering a special set of rules for the treatment and disposal of contaminated soil and debris. Most pretreatment operations involve either particle size reduction to allow proper treatment, or chemical treatment that must be done separately from the S/S operation per se. Stabilization systems not only solidify the waste by chemical means, but also insolublize, immobilize, encapsulate, destroy, sorb, or otherwise interact with selected waste components. The compositions of most of the primary reagents used in inorganic S/S systems were plotted on a ternary diagram using three oxide combinations: SiO2, CaO + MgO, and Al2O3 + Fe2O3.
