Characteristics of MSWI fly ash with acid leaching treatment

The chemical and mineralogical characteristics of fly ash from a municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) in China and the influence of processing parameters on heavy metals removal during leaching were investigated in this work. The fly ash particles had complex surface structure with limited specific surface area. The alkali chloride and metal salts in MSWI fly ash showed evidently impact on leaching efficiency. Metal leachability was related to their properties and speciation in fly ash. Water-soluble salts such as KCl, NaCl and CaCl₂ in fly ash were easily washed out. In this study, removal efficiency by water washing was achieved to 93.1% for Cl, 41.4% for Na, 48.5% for K and 24.8% for Ca, respectively. Mineralogical analysis also revealed change of fly ash mineral phases and specification distribution after water washing. Under liquid to solid ratio of 40∶1 L/kg and treatment time of 120 min, the leaching process achieved high dropping yields of toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) concentrations for Cu, Zn Cd and Pb (80%−100%), moderate dropping yields for As (30%−80%) and relatively low dropping yields of Ni (< 30%). In addition, heavy metals such as Pb and Zn in fly ash with twice water washing treatment at a low liquid-solid ratio could reach lower TCLP concentrations. The result indicated that the combination process of twice water washing and one acid washing could significantly reduce the environmental risk of MSWI fly ash.