Acid neutralisation capacity of accelerated carbonated stainless steel slag

The acid neutralisation capacity test is widely used to assess the long-term performance of waste materials prior to disposal. Samples of fixed mass are exposed to increasing additions of nitric add in sealed containers and the resultant pH is plotted as a titration curve. In this work, the add neutralisation capacity test was used in the assessment of an accelerated carbonated stainless steel slag. Difficulties arose in applying the test procedure to this material. This was largely because of the raised pressure from significant volumes of released carbon dioxide trapped in the sealed sample containers, causing an alteration to leachate pH values. Consequently, the add neutralisation capacity test was modified to enable testing of samples in equilibrium with the atmosphere. No adverse effects on the results from testing of a carbonate free material were recorded.