Municipal solid waste (MSW) fly ash is classified as a hazardous material because it contains high amounts of heavy metals. For decontamination, MSW fly ash is first mixed with alkali or alkaline earth metal chlorides (e.g. calcium chloride) and water, and then the mixture is pelletized and treated in a rotary reactor at about 1000 degrees C. Volatile heavy metal compounds are formed and evaporate. In this paper, the effect of calcium chloride addition, gas velocity, temperature and residence time on the separation of heavy metals are studied. The fly ash was sampled at the waste-to-energy plant Fernwarme Wien/Spittelau (Vienna, Austria). The results were obtained from batch tests performed in an indirectly heated laboratory-scale rotary reactor. More than 90% of Cd and Pb and about 60% of Cu and 80% of Zn could be removed in the experiments. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.