Christopher R. Cheeseman

Production of pyroxene ceramics from the fine fraction of incinerator bottom ash

Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) is normally processed to extract metals and the coarse mineral fraction is used as secondary aggregate. This leaves significant quantities of fine material, typically less than 4mm, that is problematic as reuse options are limited. This work demonstrates that fine IBA can be mixed with glass and transformed by milling, calcining, pressing and sintering into high density ceramics. The addition of glass aids liquid phase sintering, milling increases sintering reactivity and calcining reduces volatile loss during firing. Calcining also changes the crystalline phases present from quartz (SiO2), calcite (CaCO3), gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7) and hematite (Fe2O3) to diopside (CaMgSi2O6), clinoenstatite (MgSiO3) and andradite (Ca3Fe2Si3O12). Calcined powders fired at 1080°C have high green density, low shrinkage (<7%) and produce dense (2.78 g/cm(3)) ceramics that have negligible water absorption. The transformation of the problematic fraction of IBA into a raw material suitable for the manufacture of ceramic tiles for use in urban paving and other applications is demonstrated.

Challenges and opportunities associated with waste management in India

India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. This paper reports on an international seminar on ‘Sustainable solid waste management for cities: opportunities in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries’ organized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Royal Society. A priority is to move from reliance on waste dumps that offer no environmental protection, to waste management systems that retain useful resources within the economy. Waste segregation at source and use of specialized waste processing facilities to separate recyclable materials has a key role. Disposal of residual waste after extraction of material resources needs engineered landfill sites and/or investment in waste-to-energy facilities. The potential for energy generation from landfill via methane extraction or thermal treatment is a major opportunity, but a key barrier is the shortage of qualified engineers and environmental professionals with the experience to deliver improved waste management systems in India.

Clogging in permeable concrete: A review

Permeable concrete (or pervious concrete in North America) is used to reduce local flooding in urban areas and is an important sustainable urban drainage system. However, permeable concrete exhibits reduction in permeability due to clogging by particulates, which severely limits service life. This paper reviews the clogging mechanism and current mitigating strategies in order to inform future research needs. The pore structure of permeable concrete and characteristics of flowing particulates influence clogging, which occurs when particles build-up and block connected porosity. Permeable concrete requires regular maintenance by vacuum sweeping and pressure washing, but the effectiveness and viability of these methods is questionable. The potential for clogging is related to the tortuosity of the connected porosity, with greater tortuosity resulting in increased potential for clogging. Research is required to develop permeable concrete that can be poured on-site, which produces a pore structure with significantly reduced tortuosity.

Properties of ceramics prepared using dry discharged waste to energy bottom ash dust

The fine dust of incinerator bottom ash generated from dry discharge systems can be transformed into an inert material suitable for the production of hard, dense ceramics. Processing involves the addition of glass, ball milling and calcining to remove volatile components from the incinerator bottom ash. This transforms the major crystalline phases present in fine incinerator bottom ash dust from quartz (SiO2), calcite (CaCO3), gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7) and hematite (Fe2O3), to the pyroxene group minerals diopside (CaMgSi2O6), clinoenstatite (MgSi2O6), wollastonite (CaSiO3) together with some albite (NaAlSi3O8) and andradite (Ca3Fe2Si3O12). Processed powders show minimal leaching and can be pressed and sintered to form dense (>2.5u2009gu2009cm-3), hard ceramics that exhibit low firing shrinkage (<7%) and zero water absorption. The research demonstrates the potential to beneficially up-cycle the fine incinerator bottom ash dust from dry discharge technology into a raw material suitable for the production of ceramic tiles that have potential for use in a range of industrial applications.

Phosphorus recovery and leaching of trace elements from incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA)

Chemical extraction of phosphorus (P) from incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) is adversely influenced by co-dissolution of metals and metalloids. This study investigated P recovery and leaching of Zn, Cu, Pb, As and Ni from ISSA using inorganic acids (sulphuric acid and nitric acid), organic acids (oxalic acid and citric acid), and chelating agents (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylene diamine tetramethylene phosphonate (EDTMP)). The aim of this study was to optimize a leaching process to recover P-leachate with high purity for P fertilizer production. The results show that both organic and inorganic acids extract P-containing phases but organic acids leach more trace elements, particularly Cu, Zn, Pb and As. Sulphuric acid was the most efficient for P recovery and achieved 94% of total extraction under the optimal conditions, which were 2-h reaction with 0.2xa0mol/L H2SO4 at a liquid-to-solid ratio of 20:1. EDTA extracted only 20% of the available P, but the leachates were contaminated with high levels of trace elements under optimum conditions (3-h reaction with EDTA at 0.02xa0mol/L, pH 2, and liquid-to-solid ratio of 20:1). Therefore, EDTA was considered an appropriate pre-treatment agent for reducing the total metal/metalloid content in ISSA, which produced negligible changes in the structure of ISSA and reduced contamination during subsequent P extraction using sulphuric acid.

Control of Drying Shrinkage of Magnesium Silicate Hydrate Gel Cements

Cracks were observed when the magnesium silicate hydrate gel cement (prepared by 40% MgO/ 60% silica fume) was dried. This drying cracking is believed to be caused when unbound water evaporates from the binder. The shrinkage upon forced drying to 200 °C of mortars made up from a reactive magnesium oxide, silica fume and sand was measured using dilatometry. The magnitude of the drying shrinkage was found to decrease when more sand or less water was added to the mortars and can be as low as 0.16% for a mortar containing 60 wt% sand and a water to cement ratio of 0.5, which is of a similar order of magnitude as observed in Portland cement based mortars and concretes. A simple geometrical interpretation based on packing of the particles in the mortar can explain the observed drying shrinkages and based on this analysis the drying shrinkage of the hydration products at zero added solid is estimated to be 7.3% after 7 days of curing.

Change in re-use value of incinerated sewage sludge ash due to chemical extraction of phosphorus

The potential of six different extractants to recover phosphorus (P) from incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) was evaluated. Secondary effects such as the co-dissolution of Zn and Cu were also considered. The residual ISSA from each study was assessed in particular detail, focusing on the leachability of remaining Zn and Cu, major element composition, crystalline phases and overall degree of crystallinity and particle size distribution. The residual ISSA was also evaluated as a pozzolanic material using a Strength Activity Index (SAI) test with mortars containing Portland cement with a 20% substitution by ISSA. All results were compared to tests with untreated ISSA. Overall, the use of 3 of the 6 extractants could be ruled out due to poor P recovery potential and/or a serious compromise of the potential reuse of residual ISSA in Portland cement-based materials. The results highlight the added value of considering the potential reuse of residual ISSA when trying to optimize P recovery from ISSA by wet methods.

Optimising the bioreceptivity of porous glass tiles based on colonization by the alga Chlorella vulgaris

Green façades on buildings can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. An option to obtain green facades is through the natural colonisation of construction materials. This can be achieved by engineering bioreceptive materials. Bioreceptivity is the susceptibility of a material to be colonised by living organisms. The aim of this research was to develop tiles made by sintering granular waste glass that were optimised for bioreceptivity of organisms capable of photosynthesis. Tiles were produced by pressing recycled soda-lime glass with a controlled particle size distribution and sintering compacted samples at temperatures between 680 and 740°C. The primary bioreceptivity of the tiles was evaluated by quantifying colonisation by the algae Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris), which was selected as a model photosynthetic micro-organism. Concentrations of C. vulgaris were measured using chlorophyll-a extraction. Relationships between bioreceptivity and the properties of the porous glass tile, including porosity, sorptivity, translucency and pH are reported. Capillary porosity and water sorptivity were the key factors influencing the bioreceptivity of porous glass. Maximum C. vulgaris growth and colonisation was obtained for tiles sintered at 700°C, with chlorophyll-a concentrations reaching up to 11.1±0.4μg/cm(2) of tile. Bioreceptivity was positively correlated with sorptivity and porosity and negatively correlated with light transmittance. The research demonstrates that the microstructure of porous glass, determined by the processing conditions, significantly influences bioreceptivity. Porous glass tiles with high bioreceptivity that are colonised by photosynthetic algae have the potential to form carbon-negative façades for buildings and green infrastructure.

Production of Cenospheres from Coal Fly Ash through Vertical Thermal Flame (VTF) Process

Coal fly ash is a complex mixture of anthropogenic materials produced during the combustion of pulverised coal in coal fired power plants. They pose environmental concerns that lead to air and water pollution. Effort has been done to reduce the production of coal fly ash or to extract potentially valuable products from coal fly ash, such as cenospheres. Cenospheres are light, low density, thin-walled hollow ceramic microsphere with unique properties. Conventional cenosphere production methods involve the separation of cenospheres from coal fly ash. Due to its small quantities in fly ash (1 % wt.), separation process results in low production of cenospheres. In this work, an attempt by applying a vertical thermal flame (VTF) process is done to produce cenospheres from coal fly ash. Particle size of coal fly ash 63 to 90 μm and 90 to 126 μm are selected to undergo the VTF process. Effect of size of precursor, number of passes through the thermal process, density, morphology and particles size of generated spheres are evaluated. The results show that different sizes of coal fly ash and number of passes through the VTF process affect the morphology of obtained spheres and the overall real density. Further optimization of the VTF process design in terms of heat source and the feeding mechanism are required to increase the transformation of coal fly ash to cenospheres.

Characterization of Magnesium Silicate Hydrate (MSH) Gel Formed by Reacting MgO and Silica Fume

Magnesium silicate hydrate (MSH) gel was formed by reacting magnesium oxide (MgO) with silica fume (SF) in distilled water. The MSH was prepared using a MgO/SF molar ratio of 1.0 (40:60 weight ratio). Samples were analyzed during hydration process up to 300 days at room temperature. The MSH characterization has been carried out using a range of analytical techniques. Quantitative analysis was achieved using thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) with a de-convolution technology. The structure of MSH gel was characterized using solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (29Si NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate MSH microstructure. Compared with natural magnesium silicate hydrate minerals, the structure of MSH gel is highly disordered and generates on the surface of particles, producing a shell structure with cavity. The molecular structure of MSH phase is layered. The results also show that the extent of polymerization of MSH gel is related to the solution pH during hydration.