Accelerated carbonation of different size fractions of bottom ash from RDF incineration

This paper investigates the effects of accelerated carbonation on the characteristics of bottom ash from refuse derived fuel (RDF) incineration, in terms of CO2 uptake, heavy metal leaching and mineralogy of different particle size fractions. Accelerated aqueous carbonation batch experiments were performed to assess the influence of operating parameters (temperature, CO2 pressure and L/S ratio) on reaction kinetics. Pressure was found to be the most relevant parameter affecting the carbonation yield. This was also found to be largely dependent on the specific BA fraction treated, with CO2 uptakes ranging from ∼4% for the coarse fractions to ∼14% for the finest one. Carbonation affected both the mineralogical characteristics of bottom ash, with the appearance of neo-formation minerals, and the leaching behaviour of the material, which was found to be mainly related to the change upon carbonation in the natural pH of the ash.