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Production of a Stable Building Material by Treatment of MSWI Bottom Ash with the Tauw EquiAsh® Process

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Abstract

A process called EquiAsh® was developed and tested on a large scale. This process aims at upgrading incinerator bottom ash into a long term environmentally safe and stable product. Driven by the agreement between the incinerator branch and the Dutch government in a ‘Green Deal’, the leaching behavior of bottom ash needs improvement. The leaching of metals and salts must be lowered. EquiAsh®, which is a combination of carbonation (accelerated aging), washing and further mineralization, realizes a safe and stable product now and in the future. The bottom ash is in equilibrium with the atmosphere and the pH is stabilized at values around 8.5. Large scale experiments with 1.000–1.300 ton incinerator bottom ash are performed. These experiments give insight into the changes in leaching of metals and salts. In the end, the bottom ash fulfills the Dutch leaching criteria for a freely applicable building material.

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Abbreviations

MSWI:

Municipal solid waste incinerator

L/S:

Liquid/Solid ratio, standard in L water/kg dry matter

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Acknowledgements

The experiments were funded by AEB Amsterdam, Inashco and Tauw BV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tauw BV, PO Box 133, 7400 AC, Deventer, The Netherlands

    Jaap Steketee & Marian Langevoort

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  1. Jaap Steketee
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  2. Marian Langevoort
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Correspondence to Jaap Steketee.

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Conflict of interest

The employer of the authors is involved in marketing of the EquiAsh process.

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Steketee, J., Langevoort, M. Production of a Stable Building Material by Treatment of MSWI Bottom Ash with the Tauw EquiAsh® Process. Waste Biomass Valor 11, 7109–7116 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-01059-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-01059-5

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