Comprehensive understanding the transition behaviors and mechanisms of chlorine and metal ions in municipal solid waste incineration fly ash during thermal treatment

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash is classified as the hazardous waste because of its high levels of heavy metals alkali chlorides, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins. Thermal treatment is widely used for fly ash treatment because of its advantages of reduction and harmless. The transformation behaviors of chlorine and metal ions during the thermal treatment of fly ash has a significant impact on the harmless and resource of fly ash.

At present, the migration behaviors of chlorine and metal ions during thermal treatment of fly ash is not clearly demonstrated. In this manuscript, the phase compositions, transformation behaviors, the variation of mass and content of chlorine and various metal ions were analyzed through diverse characterization methods under different sintering temperatures to understand the migration behaviors of chlorine and metal ions during thermal treatment.

Roasting experiments showed that the migration behaviors of heavy metals and chlorides were consistent. The chlorine, sodium, potassium and heavy metal ions can be removed sharply while the calcium, aluminum, magnesium and iron were decreased slightly when the roasting temperature was above 750 °C. The findings also suggested that removed chlorides were soluble chlorides and unstable crystals in municipal solid waste incineration fly ash were inclined to formed steady structure under high temperature.

The structure of roasted fly ash became denser and generated ceramic-like particle due to thermal agglomeration and chemical reactions.