[en] The paper presents results of investigations into possibility of migration to the soil and water environment of trace elements present in one of the main phases, zinc sulphide, emitted in dusts from various operations of pyrometallurgical extraction of Zn and Pb at the Miasteczko Śląskie Zinc Smelting Plant. The quantity of elements was estimated on the basis of: (1) dust fall, (2) zinc sulphide content in dust, (3) element content in zinc sulphide and (4) mobility of zinc sulphide under the hypergenic conditions of the soil and water environment of the Smelting Plant area. Among the elements considered, arsenic emitted with zinc sulphide contained in dusts from the Sintering Machine will pose a potential hazard for the soil and water environment of the Miasteczko Śląskie Zinc Smelting Plant area.

[en] Highlights: • None of the additives show the tendency to As, Ni, Sb and Zn capture in the ash. • Ammonium sulphate captures and immobilises Cr and Cu in the bottom ash. • Halloysite is effective in Cd, Co, V and Mn capture in the bottom ash. • Kaolinite is the most effective in Pb capture. -- Abstract: Up to now, a few studies on the efficiency of heavy metal(-oid)s capture by a sorbent directly mixed with fuel, have been performed. For this reason, the main objective of the study is to determine whether or not such a solution is effective when RDF is incinerated. The paper presents a two-step analysis of the impact of three sorbents (ammonium sulphate, kaolinite and halloysite) in three dosages (2, 4 and 8 wt%) on heavy metal(-oid)s retention in the bottom ash. 12 heavy metal(-oid)s were taken into consideration - As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn. Samples were incinerated in a lab-scale tubular reactor at two temperatures - 900 °C and 1100 °C. The first step of investigation constitutes ICP analysis of heavy metal(-oid)s content in the bottom ash, coupled with SEM/EDS analysis. Afterwards, the second step was to determine the stability of formed additive-heavy metal(-oid)s complexes via leachability tests in neutral and acid environments. The performed research has shown that ammonium sulphate is effective in Cr, Cu and Hg capture, halloysite – in Cd, Co, V and Mn capture, whereas kaolinite – in Pb capture.