The Evaluation of the Heavy Metal Leaching Behavior of MSWI-FA Added Alkali-Activated Materials Bricks by Using Different Leaching Test Methods

Abstract

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) not only have the potential to replace cement applications in architecture and civil engineering, but also have an excellent effect on the stabilization solidification of hazardous industrial wastes. This study used two types of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI-FA)—grate firing fly ash (GFFA) and fluidized bed fly ash (FBFA)—as AAMs brick raw materials. It is discovered from this study that AAMs bricks with different weight ratios of GFFA and FBFA can both meet the required standard of GB21144-2007 (Solid concrete brick). From the results obtained from the four leaching tests, the equilibrium pH of the leachate varies, resulting in significant differences in the leaching of heavy metals in Raw GFFA, Raw FBFA, and AAMs bricks with GFFA and FBFA. The AAMs brick with the addition of GFFA and FBFA has an alkali activation system to encapsulate heavy metals. By comparing the results obtained from the CEN/TS 14429 leaching behavior test and the four batch leaching tests, it was found that the most influential factors for the heavy metal leaching concentration are whether the heavy metal has been solidified/stabilized in the samples. GFFA and FBFA tend to have consistent characteristics after being activated by alkali to form AAMs bricks. This can be confirmed by the acid neutralization ability concentrated on a specific pH range. The results obtained from CEN/TS14429 verified that the AAMs bricks with the addition of GFFA and FBFA have excellent environmental compatibility and that it provides a comprehensive evaluation on the environmental compatibility of the test materials and products. This demonstrated that the MSWI-FA is suitable for used as alkali-activated materials and its products have the potential to be commercially used in the future.