In this study, the effect of hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentrations on removal efficiency and chemical forms of heavy metals in dredged sediment during acid washing was investigated. The removal efficiencies of Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni and Cd by acid washing were 18.4-92.4%, 7.2-83.7%, 9.4-75%, 8.1-53.4% and 34.4-70.8%, respectively. Overall, the removal efficiencies of heavy metals were remarkably enhanced with the increase of the acid strength. However, the removal efficiencies for 0.5 and 1.0 M HCl were comparable, and both cases met the Korean soil contamination standard. Based on the sequential extraction results, concentration of the exchangeable fraction (F1), the most labile fraction, increased whereas concentrations of the other fractions decreased with increasing acid strength. Particularly, the carbonate (F2) and Fe/Mn oxides (F3) fractions drastically decreased by using 0.5 M or 1.0 M HCl. The current study results verified that acid washing could effectively reduce heavy metal concentrations and its potential mobility in dredged sediments. However, the study also found that acid washing may cause significant increase in bioavailable fraction of heavy metals, suggesting the need to evaluate the changes in chemical forms of heavy metals by acid washing when determining the acid strength to be applied. 

Keywords: Dredged sediment, Acid washing, Hydrochloric acid concentration, Heavy metal removal efficiency, Chemical form of heavy metals