Reuse of Sintered Sludge from Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants for the Production of Lightweight Aggregate Building Mortar

Onsite treatment of wastes in municipal waste incinerator: Co-sintering of fly ash and leachate sludge into value-added ceramic granule

The leachate sludge (LS) and fly ash (FA) are the foci of hazardous wastes which generated from the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI). The current work developed a new way to use energy from MSWI process for the on-site sintering of LS and FA at a relatively low temperature. With the assistance of CaF2, granule of LS and MSWI FA were co-sintered. The influence of temperature, the mass of CaF2, and the mass ratio of LS/MSWI FA were investigated. As a result, heavy metals volatilization and leaching in the form of chlorinated salts were controlled. In addition, CaF2 improved the compressive strength of the granule under low-temperature sintering. Moreover, the scale-up co-sintering test was achieved in an MSWI chamber. The results showed that the optimum condition was sintering at 973K for 1 h. The compressive strength of sintered product reached 4.25 MPa, which met the standard of ceramic granule. Moreover, with the addition of CaF2, the volatilization rate of Pb, Zn, and Cd decreased by 6%, 7%, and 6%, respectively. This method can be a promising technique for the utilization of solid wastes.

Development of Lightweight Mortars Using Sustainable Low-Density Glass Aggregates from Secondary Raw Materials

In this study, different lightweight expanded glass aggregates (LEGAs) were produced from glass cullet and various carbonated wastes, through a thermal impact process. The effects of LEGA microstructure and morphology on both the adherence to the cement paste and the mechanical properties of mortars after 28 days of curing were studied. The properties of lightweight mortars made of either LEGAs or expanded clay aggregates were compared. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using LEGAs to produce glass lightweight aggregate mortar, with flexural and compressive strength values ranging from 5.5 to 8.2 MPa and from 28.1 to 47.6 MPa, respectively. The differences in mechanical properties were explained according to the microstructures of the fracture surfaces. Thus, arlite-type ceramic aggregates presented surface porosities that allowed mortar intrusion and the formation of an interconnected interface; although the surfaces of the vitreous aggregates were free from porosity due to their vitreous nature, the mortars obtained from different wastes presented compressive and flexural strengths in the range of lightweight mortars.

Recycling of municipal sewage sludge incineration fly ash based on (NH4) 2SO4 roasting-acid leaching and filling PP matrix process

Sludge incineration is one of the most efficient sludge treatment methods. The fly ash produced by incineration must be handled further since it has a significant number of heavy metals. In this study, the chemical composition of sewage sludge incineration fly ash (SSA) generated from Zhejiang in various months was identified by XRD, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF), and SEM analyzes. The SSA were treated by a (NH₄)₂SO₄ roasting-acid leaching process to determine its effect on the elimination performance of heavy metals. The SSA content on the mechanical properties and heavy metal leaching of modified SSA-filled PP composite were also studied. Results show (NH₄)₂SO₄ roasting-acid leaching process has a good effect of eliminating heavy metals, with the highest leaching of Zn of 86.4%. The presence of sodium stearate modifier increases activation index of SSA and then improves the compatibility of SSA particles in PP, resulting for the composites have relatively excellent mechanical properties. For the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test, modified SSA particles can be effectively encapsulated with PP resins, which have a considerable inhibitory effect on heavy metal leaching. This process from this study provides a reference for sewage sludge treatment by using modified SSA as a polymer filler to achieve the immobilization of heavy metals and the resource recycling.