Mechanical and environmental properties of geopolymer-stabilized domestic waste incineration slag in an asphalt pavement base

Domestic waste incineration slag(WIS)includes fly ash and slag.Fly ash is classified as hazardous waste because it contains heavy metals.Most of slag are directly stacked or landfilled due to problems such as large output and low utilization rate.Harmless treatment is imminent.If WIS is used effectively in the road engineering,which can realize the high-quality and high-efficiency recycling of WIS,and it is of great significance to save resources and protect the environment.This study applies a geopolymer prepared from WIS fly ash as a stabilizing agent in WIS blending macadam for use as a pavement base mixture,and reports the mechanical properties(unconfined compressive strength,splitting strength,and resilience modulus)of the geopolymer-stabilized WIS blending macadam(GeoWIS).The leaching concentrations of harmful heavy metals of GeoWIS soaked in water were also investigated.Finally,the strength formation and heavy metal stability mechanisms were explored.The unconfined compressive strength,splitting strength,and compressive resilient modulus of GeoWIS all increased with increasing geopolymer content and decreasing WIS content.The strength of GeoWIS was derived from its geopolymerization and hydration products(C-S-H gel,N-A-S-H gel,and AFt).When the geopolymer content reached 12%–14%,the GeoWIS without natural macadam met the strength criterion of the asphalt pavement base.Through physical adsorption and chemical bonding,the geopolymer significantly reduced the leaching of harmful heavy metals.In GeoWIS with 50%WIS and stabilized with 10%geopolymer,the Cr,Ni,Cd,and Pb concentrations met the grade III groundwater standard.Concentrations of heavy metals leached from GeoWIS are low and exert little impact on environment.

Solidification Efficiency and Mechanism of Conventional Curing Agents for Sewage Sludge Stabilization and Dewatering

One of the challenges faced by sewage sludge treatment and disposal is its higher water content,and how to efficient dewater those hazardous materials properly is welcome in practice. This study stabilized the sewage sludge via the using of conventional curing agents and calcined aluminum salts,and the corresponding dewatering mechanisms and structural changes of the stabilized sludge were further comparable analyzed.Experimental results showed that wollastonite and kaolin exhibit a relative higher dewatering efficiency as compared to other conventional curing agents; however the releasing rate of heavy metals of Cu,Cr,Ni for kaolin solidification and Zn,Pb for wollastonite solidification is higher than the sludge samples solidified by other curing agents. For comparison,the sludge samples solidified by calcined aluminum salts (AS),calcium ash,Mg-based curing agent,tricalcium aluminate( C_3A) show a lower heavy metals leaching potential and unconfined compressive strength. In addition,the economic characteristics and local availability of AS,calcium ash,C_3A and CaO makes it have a broad prospect in extension and application. These findings are of great significance for stabilization and dewatering of sewage sludge.

The applicability of soil flushing technology in a metallurgical plant

Soil flushing technology is an ＇in situ＇ remediation technique involving the injection of a liquid solution. Applications of the soil flushing technique depend on the leachability of the pollutants and the environmental compatibility and total volumes of the solutions used. Therefore, experiments should consider these aspects by simulating the real phenomenon and using the most suitable reagents for the leachability of the different mineralogical forms present. Thirty- one laboratory tests were carried out （in batch and becker） to the complete exhaustion of the leaching capacity according to pH measurements. The reaction kinetics were studied by producing more than 300 solution samples during which the principal heavy metal concentrations, pH and Eh were measured. Leaching solutions containing various concentrations of hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric and acetic acids were used. Mercury was leached using potassium iodide and acetic acid （pH 2）. Analytes such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, selenium and zinc proved to be leachable in the investigated soil layer. However, high removal efficiencies could be obtained using different typological solutions, concentrations and volumes. The paper discusses the applicability of the soil flushing technique for different heavy metal contents and pH conditions of the flushing solution.