Submicron tourmaline enhanced the solidification of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash by chemical structure reorganization and stabilized heavy metals.

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWIFA) exsits in large quantitities and contains pollutants such as heavy metal. While solidification is one of the most effective methods for treating MSWIFA, this application is limited by cost, subsequent treatment, and simultaneous immobilization of anions and cations. This research demonstrated that under a certain initial pressure (20 MPa), a gelation reaction involving ball milling-modified tourmaline powder, a small amount of cement clinker, and MSWIFA forms a stable consolidated body and significantly reduces the risk of heavy metal dissolution. The consolidated MSWIFA can easily be formed into unfired bricks in large-scale pilot production, and a response surface model was used to optimize the experimental parameters. When the mass ratio of tourmaline: cement clinker: MSWIFA was 15:15:200 (mixed with a moisture content of 13 to 15 %), the compressive strength of the consolidated body reached 13 MPa, and the amounts of Cr and Pb leached decreased from 12 mg/L to 0.1 mg/L and 25 mg/L to 0.3 mg/L, respectively. The consolidated form contained a new mineral phase (CaSiO·3HO, CaMg(SiO)OCl, and CaCl∙Ca(OH)·HO) with a high compressive strength. Notably, the soluble PbSO in the MSWIFA was converted into relatively stable PbSiO, and Cr(VI) was lattice-wrapped. This study was the first to demonstrate that tourmaline synchronously passivates Pb(II) and Cr(VI) in fly ash in the solid phase, with a low cost and requires no subsequent treatment. This study provided a novel technical path for recycling MSWIFA. Eventually, leaching of the heavy metals Pb, Cr, Cu, Cd, and Zn from the solids achieved concentrations less than 0.25, 1.5, 0.5, 0.15, and 100 mg/L.

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