Fast firing of tiles containing paper mill sludge, glass cullet and clay

The paper describes results obtained in the development of a previous research. We study here, in fast firing, the sintering behaviour and measure some properties of tiles containing a mixture of 60 wt% of paper mill sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet. The behaviour of this material is compared to those displayed by materials obtained by the same mixture added with 10, 20 and 30 wt% of a natural red clay. In parallel, the same properties are measured also on a reference blend, which is presently used to produce commercial tiles. We show that powders containing 60 wt% of paper sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet to which 30 wt% of clay is added give rise to materials that display a stable sintering process and have good hardness and strength and therefore could be used for the industrial production of tiles.     

Recycling MSWI bottom and fly ash as raw materials for Portland cement

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash is rich in heavy metals and salts. The disposal of MSWI ash without proper treatment may cause serious environmental problems. Recently, the local cement industry in Taiwan has played an important role in the management of solid wastes because it can utilize various kinds of wastes as either fuels or raw materials. The objective of this study is to assess the possibility of MSWI ash reuse as a raw material for cement production. The ash was first washed with water and acid to remove the chlorides, which could cause serious corrosion in the cement kiln. Various amounts of pre-washed ash were added to replace the clay component of the raw materials for cement production. The allowable limits of chloride in the fly ash and bottom ash were found to be 1.75% and 3.50% respectively. The results indicate that cement production can be a feasible alternative for MSWI ash management. It is also evident that the addition of either fly ash or bottom ash did not have any effect on the compressive strength of the clinker. Cement products conformed to the Chinese National Standard (CNS) of Type II Portland cement with one exception, the setting time of the clinker was much longer.     

Artificial lightweight aggregates as utilization for future ashes - A case study

In the future, more electricity in the Netherlands will be produced using coal with co-combustion. Due to this, the generated annual ash volume will increase and the chemical composition will be influenced. One of the options for utilization if present markets are saturated and for use of fly ashes with different compositions, is as raw material for lightweight aggregates. This was selected as one of the best utilizations options regarding potential ash volume to be applied, environmental aspects and status of technology. Because of this, a study has been performed to assess the potential utilization of fly ash for the production of lightweight aggregate. Lightweight aggregate has been produced in a laboratory scale rotary kiln. The raw material consisted of class F fly ash with high free lime content. An addition of 8% clay was necessary to get green pellets with sufficient green strength. The basic properties of the produced lightweight aggregate and its behaviour in concrete have been investigated. The concrete has a good compressive strength and its leaching behaviour meets the most stringent requirements of Dutch environmental regulations. The carbon foot print of concrete will be negatively influenced if only the concrete itself is taken into account, but the reduction of the volume weight has advantages regarding design, transport emissions and isolation properties which may counteract this. In the Dutch situation the operational costs are higher than expected potential selling price for the LWA, which implies that the gate fee for the fly ash is negative.     

Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash for sulfoaluminate cement clinker production

The feasibility of partially substituting raw materials with municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash in sulfoaluminate cement (SAC) clinker production was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), compressive strength and free expansion ratio testing. Three different leaching tests were used to assess the environmental impact of the produced material. Experimental results show that the replacement of MSWI fly ash could be taken up to 30% in the raw mixes. The good quality SAC clinkers are obtained by controlling the compositional parameters at alkalinity modulus (C(m)) around 1.05, alumina-sulfur ratio (P) around 2.5, alumina-silica ratio (N) around 2.0~3.0 and firing the raw mixes at 1250 °C for 2h. The compressive strengths of SAC are high in early age while that develop slowly in later age. Results also show that the expansive properties of SAC are strongly depended on the gypsum content. Leaching studies of toxic elements in the hydrated SAC-based system reveal that all the investigated elements are well bounded in the clinker minerals or immobilized by the hydration products. Although some limited positive results indicate that the SAC prepared from MSWI fly ash would present no immediate thread to the environment, the long-term toxicity leaching behavior needs to be further studied.     

Cathode ray tube glass recycling: an example of clean technology.

In this study the use of 'cleaned' end of life (EOL) cathode ray tube (CRT) glass as a raw material in ceramic glazes is described. At present, the recycling and industrial utilization of CRT, a glass material from TV and computer sets, is a subject of intense research with particular regard to the so-called open-loop recycling, namely cycles different from that of the origin. However, the use of CRT glass as a secondary raw material is strictly related to the demand of high-quality raw material. The good preliminary results reached by introducing clean TV and PC monitor panel and cone glass into ceramic glaze formulations pushed research toward the setting-up of a base glaze that is exploitable for the production of pigmented, silk-screened and flame-hardened glazes (products used industrially for coating floor tiles). The aesthetic and chemical characterization of the tiles glazed by this product showed an extremely similar behaviour to originals that did not contain CRT glass. The good technical results achieved have been supported by the life cycle assessment analysis, which has demonstrated a reduction of the environmental impact of the CRT glass-containing ceramic glaze with respect to the standard one.     

Physical-mechanical and environmental properties of sintered municipal incinerator fly ash

A step-wise treatment of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) incinerator fly ash including washing, milling and sintering was investigated in order to manufacture ceramic materials with improved physical, mechanical and environmental properties and, possibly, to reduce the power input of the sintering process. An interpretation of the test results based on the microstructure of sintered products and sintering kinetic modeling was also attempted to identify the densification mechanisms. It was found that milling of washed fly ash represents a basic step for manufacturing high-density ceramic materials with very high compressive strengths (up to 500 N/mm2). A significant reduction in the power input of the sintering process (reduction of firing temperature from 1210 degrees C for washed fly ash to 1140 degrees C for milled-washed fly ash) is also achieved. A dense, well-sintered microstructure is formed through an intermediate-stage, liquid-phase sintering mechanism controlled by liquid-phase diffusion and grain shape accommodation. Such a microstructure is able to strongly immobilise heavy metals, thus giving good environmental properties to sintered product.     

Solidification/stabilization of ash from medical waste incineration into geopolymers

In the present work, bottom and fly ash, generated from incinerated medical waste, was used as a raw material for the production of geopolymers. The stabilization (S/S) process studied in this paper has been evaluated by means of the leaching and mechanical properties of the S/S solids obtained. Hospital waste ash, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate solution and metakaolin were mixed. Geopolymers were cured at 50 °C for 24 h. After a certain aging time of 7 and 28 days, the strength of the geopolymer specimens, the leachability of heavy metals and the mineralogical phase of the produced geopolymers were studied. The effects of the additions of fly ash and calcium compounds were also investigated. The results showed that hospital waste ash can be utilized as source material for the production of geopolymers. The addition of fly ash and calcium compounds considerably improves the strength of the geopolymer specimens (2–8 MPa). Finally, the solidified matrices indicated that geopolymerization process is able to reduce the amount of the heavy metals found in the leachate of the hospital waste ash.     

A novel way to upgrade the coarse part of a high calcium fly ash for reuse into cement systems

Reject fly ash (rFA) represents a significant portion of the fly ashes produced from coal-fired power plants. Due to the high carbon content and large particle mean diameter, rFA is not utilized in the construction sector (for example, as supplementary cementing material) and is currently dumped into landfills, thus representing an additional environmental burden. Recently, the feasibility of using rFA in a relatively small number of applications, like solidification/stabilization of other wastes, has been investigated by different researchers. However, as the overall amount of fly ash utilized in such applications is still limited, there is a need to investigate other possibilities for rFA utilization starting from a deeper understanding of its properties. In the work presented herein, mechanical and hydration properties of cementitious materials prepared by blending the coarse fraction of a lignite high-calcium fly ash with ordinary cement were monitored and compared with the respective ones of a good quality fly ash-cement mixture. The results of this work reveal that a relatively cheap, bilateral classification-grinding method is able to promote the pozzolanic behavior of the rFAs, so that the overall performances of rFA containing cements are drastically improved. The evaluation of these results supports the belief that appropriate utilization of non-standardized materials may lead to new environmental-friendly products of superior quality.     

An Investigation into the Influence of Filler Silanization Conditions on Mechanical and Thermal Parameters of Epoxy Resin-Fly Ash Composites

The insulation material of electronic devices should offers high thermal conductivity whilst retaining suitable mechanical properties. Epoxy resin is an example of a material that is commonly used by industry for electronic insulation, despite the fact that neither the thermal conductivity nor the mechanical properties are particularly satisfying. These properties can be enhanced by incorporating filler, with silica flour representing the most popular filler. An economically appealing solution is to replace silica flour with fly ash as filler material, however it must be remembered that compatibility of fly ash and epoxy resin is not ideal. In order to improve the coupling between these two materials, fly ash particles covered with [3-(2-Aminoethylamino)propyl]trimethoxysilane were obtained with six different conditions of the silanization process, where the amount of silane, the temperature and the time of the reaction were changed. The presence of the silane layer was confirmed via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The mechanical properties, including tensile strength, Young Modulus and fracture toughness, as well as the thermal conductivity of the final samples were investigated. In the case of composites with silanized fillers, all of the mechanical properties were improved, and an enhancement of thermal conductivity was observed for several composites. Moreover, the differences in coupling between the silanized fly ash and the untreated fly ash, and the epoxy matrix were precisely recorded by means of SEM. The presented studies confirm that an effective silanization process can significantly improve the properties of composites, while also verifying the usefulness of waste material. The results highlight that fly ash may be utilized to create a more economically affordable insulation material.     

Coal fly ash utilization: low temperature sintering of wall tiles

We present here a study of the sintering of fly ash and its mixture with low alkali pyrophyllite in the presence of sodium hexa meta phosphate (SHMP), a complex activator of sintering, for the purpose of wall tile manufacturing. The sintering of fly ash with SHMP in the temperature range 925-1050 degrees C produces tiles with low impact strength; however, the incremental addition of low alkali pyrophyllite improves impact strength. The impact strength of composites with 40% (w/w) pyrophyllite in the fly ash-pyrophyllite mix satisfies the acceptable limit (19.6J/m) set by the Indian Standards Institute for wall tiles. Increasing the pyrophyllite content results in an increase in the apparent density of tiles, while shrinkage and water absorption decrease. The strength of fly ash tiles is attributed to the formation of a silicophosphate phase; in pyrophyllite rich tiles, it is attributed to the formation of a tridymite-structured T-AlPO(4) phase. Scanning electron micrographs show that the reinforcing rod shaped T-AlPO(4) crystals become more prominent as the pyrophyllite content increases in the sintered tiles.     

PREPARATION OF CERAMIC MEMBRANE FILTERS,FROM WASTE FLY ASH,SUITABLE FOR HOT GAS CLEANING

The preparation and performance of ceramic membrane filters made from fly ash from coal-fired power stations were investigated. The porous and crack-free ceramic composite membrane was prepared by dip-coating a stainless steel mesh in a slurry of fly ash. Membrane properties investigated included pore structure, permeability and mechanical strength. The ash membrane filter shows great potential for the filtration and microfiltration of high-temperature gas-particulate streams, and re-uses waste fly ash composed of multiple oxides with a wide size distribution. The median pore size of the tested membrane was 2.3μm and the differential pressure gradient was 0.9 kPa l⁻¹min⁻¹, which is comparable to fabric filters currently in use in some New South Wales power stations. The high mechanical strength of the membrane was caused by fusion of the glassy material in the fly ash. Since the membrane consists of metal and ceramic composities, it also shows good flexibility.     

Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash in ceramic brick: product characterization and environmental toxicity

In this study, municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash was used as a blending in making ceramic brick based on its characterization and an orthogonal test was performed to determine the optimal mixture ratio of the materials. Besides, the fired bricks made in accordance with the optimal mixture ratio were characterized for performance, phase transformation, microstructure, leaching toxicity of the heavy metals in accordance with GB/T 2542-92 (Detection methods for bricks analysis, China) and by means of XRD, SEM and leaching toxicity analysis. It was found that the optimal mixture ratio of materials (MSWI fly ash:red ceramic clay:feldspar:gang sand) was 20:60:10:10 by mass, and the optimal sintering temperature was 950 °C. Leaching results of heavy metals from sintered bricks were reduced considerably in comparison with those from green bricks prior to sintering process. The results as a whole suggested that utilization of MSWI fly ash in ceramic brick constituted a potential means of adding value.     

New technology and application of brick making with coal fly ash

China has ranked first in the coal fly ash emission in the world. The multipurpose use of the fly ash from power plant waste is always an important topic for the Chinese environmental protection, which has drawn the concern of the government, scientific research departments, manufacturing enterprises and industry experts. This paper introduces an experimental research on how to recycle fly ash effectively, a kind of new technology of making bricks by which fly ash content could be amounted to 50–80 %. The article introduces raw materials of fly ash brick, production process and key control points. It introduces how to change the technical parameters of the existing brick-making mechanical device, optimize the parameters combination and improve the device performance. High-content fly ash bricks are manufactured, which selects wet fly ash from power plants, adding aggregate with reasonable ratio and additives with reasonable dosage, and do the experimental research on manufactured products for properties, production technology and selection about technology parameters of production equipment. All indexes of strength grade, freezing-thawing resisting, and other standards of the studied bricks reached the national standards for building materials industry.     

Performance of industrial by-products in controlled low-strength materials (CLSM)

As the construction industry continues to recognise the importance of sustainable development, technologies such as controlled low-strength material (CLSM) have come to the forefront as viable means of safely and efficiently using by-product and waste materials in infrastructure applications. CLSM, also known as flowable fill, can be defined as an engineered backfill material containing fine aggregates, Portland cement, water and a by-product material. CLSM can provide an economically and technically feasible alternative to conventional fill materials because of potential cost savings related to its unique and often superior technical properties. In this present experimental study, three industrial by-products, namely fly ash (FA), rice husk ash (RHA) and quarry dust (QD), were used as constituent materials in CLSM. Mixture proportions were developed for CLSM containing these industrial by-products and were tested in the laboratory for various properties, such as flowability, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), stress-strain behaviour, density, water absorption and volume changes. Comparison between the two pozzolanic materials, namely FA and RHA, for their potential to produce an effective CLSM has been made. It can be observed from the results that by-product materials such as FA, RHA and QD can be successfully used in CLSM. This successful utilization of by-product materials is important to sustainable development and is the focus of this research.     

Comparative study on the characteristics of fly ash and bottom ash geopolymers

This research was conducted to compare geopolymers made from fly ash and ground bottom ash. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na(2)SiO(3)) solutions were used as activators. A mass ratio of 1.5 Na(2)SiO(3)/NaOH and three concentrations of NaOH (5, 10, and 15M) were used; the geopolymers were cured at 65 degrees C for 48 h. A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used on the geopolymer pastes. Geopolymer mortars were also prepared in order to investigate compressive strength. The results show that both fly ash and bottom ash can be utilized as source materials for the production of geopolymers. The properties of the geopolymers are dependent on source materials and the NaOH concentration. Fly ash is more reactive and produces a higher degree of geopolymerization in comparison with bottom ash. The moderate NaOH concentration of 10 M is found to be suitable and gives fly ash and bottom ash geopolymer mortars with compressive strengths of 35 and 18 MPa.     

Characterization of MSWI bottom ashes towards utilization as glass raw material

The characterization of the bottom ashes produced by two Portuguese municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) was performed with the aim of assessing the feasibility of using this waste as raw material in the production of glass that can be further processed as glass-ceramics for application in construction. Density and particle size distribution measurements were carried out for physical characterization. Chemical characterization revealed that SiO(2), a network glass former oxide, was present in a relatively high content (52-58wt%), indicating the suitability for this waste to be employed in the development of vitreous materials. CaO, Na(2)O and K(2)O, which act as fluxing agents, were present in various amounts (2-17wt%) together with several other oxides normally present in ceramic and glass raw materials. Mineralogical characterization revealed that the main crystalline phases were quartz (SiO(2)) and calcite (CaCO(3)) and that minor amounts of different alkaline and alkaline-earth aluminosilicate phases were also present. Thermal characterization showed that the decomposition of the different compounds occurred up to 1100 degrees C and that total weight loss was <10wt%. Heating both bottom ashes at 1400 degrees C for 2h resulted in a melt with suitable viscosity to be poured into a mould, and homogeneous black-coloured glasses with a smooth shiny surface were obtained after cooling. The vitrified bottom ashes were totally amorphous as confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The results from the present experimental work indicate that the examined bottom ashes can be a potential material to melt and to obtain a glass that can be further processed as glass-ceramics to be applied in construction.     

Modification of hydraulic conductivity in granular soils using waste materials

This paper evaluates the use of waste products such as silica fume and fly ash in modification of the granular soils in order to remove some environmental problems and create new useful findings in the field of engineering. It is known that silica fume and fly ash, as well as clay material, are used in geotechnical engineering because of their pozzolanic reactivity and fineness to improve the soil properties needed with respect to engineering purposes. The main objective of this research project was to investigate the use of these materials in geotechnical engineering and to improve the hydraulic properties of soils by means of grouting. For this reason, firstly, suitable grouts in suspension forms were prepared by using silica fume, fly ash, clay and cement in different percentages. The properties of these cement-based grouts were then determined to obtain the desired optimum values for grouting. After that, these grouts were penetrated into the soil samples under pressure. The experimental work indicates that these waste materials and clay improved the physical properties and the fluidity of the cement-based grouts and they also decreased the hydraulic conductivity of the grouted soil samples by sealing the voids of the soil. The results of this study have important findings concerning the use of these materials in soil treatment and the improvement of hydraulic conductivity of the soils.     

Ceramic processing of incinerator bottom ash

The <8 mm fraction of aged incinerator bottom ash from a commercial incinerator (energy from waste) plant has been collected at regular intervals, characterised and processed to form ceramic materials. Ashes were sieved, wet ball milled, dried, compacted and sintered at temperatures between 1080 and 1115 degrees C. Variations in the chemical composition and mineralogy of the milled ash, and the mineralogy, physical properties and leaching of sintered products have been assessed. Milling produces a raw material with consistent chemical and mineralogical composition with quartz (SiO(2)), calcite (CaCO(3)), gehlenite (Ca(2)Al(AlSi)O(7)) and hematite (Fe(2)O(3)) being the major crystalline phases present. Different batches also milled to give consistent particle size distributions. Sintering milled incinerator bottom ash at 1110 degrees C produced ceramics with densities between 2.43 and 2.64 g/cm(-3) and major crystalline phases of wollastonite (CaSiO(3)) and diopside (CaMgSi(2)O(6)). The sintered ceramics had reduced acid neutralisation capacity compared to the as-received ash and exhibited reduced leaching of Ca, Mg, Na and K under all pH conditions. The leaching of heavy metals was also significantly reduced due to encapsulation and incorporation into glassy and crystalline phases, with Cu and Al showing greatly reduced leaching under alkali conditions.     

粉煤灰及其制备沸石对高浓度氨氮的去除比较

以粉煤灰为原料,采用改进的水热合成法制备了粉煤灰沸石,并将粉煤灰和粉煤灰沸石用于高浓度氨氮的吸附去除。实验结果表明:在粉煤灰和粉煤灰沸石的投加量分别为0.10 g/m L和0.04 g/m L、反应体系p H为5~7、初始氨氮质量浓度为500 mg/L的条件下,分别吸附660 min和60 min,粉煤灰和粉煤灰沸石对氨氮的去除率分别约为20.1%和50.7%左右,粉煤灰沸石对高浓度氨氮的去除效果明显优于粉煤灰;粉煤灰和粉煤灰沸石对氨氮的吸附动力学行为符合准二级动力学方程;Langmuir和Freundlich等温吸附模型能较好地描述粉煤灰对氨氮的等温吸附过程,而粉煤灰沸石对氨氮的等温吸附过程则更适宜用线性模型和Freundlich模型描述。