Bearing ratio and leachate analysis of pond ash stabilized with lime and lime sludge

Recycling of industrial waste is one of the effective ways to overcome their disposal problem. Ash produced by thermal power plants and lime sludge produced by paper mills require huge disposal land and may create environmental problems such as dusting and leaching of harmful heavy metals. Stabilization of the ash can improve its engineering properties and address the environmental problems. This paper reports the laboratory test results of a Class F pond ash stabilized with lime (2%, 4%, 6% and 8% by weight) alone and in combination with lime sludge (5%, 10% and 15% by weight). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron micrograph (SEM) tests were also performed to identify the possible formation of crystalline phases after stabilization. The effects of lime sludge on the unsoaked and soaked bearing ratios of pond ash with different lime contents, after 7 d, 28 d and 45 d of curing, were observed. Test results indicated that the bearing ratio increased considerably up to a 4% lime content which can be taken as the optimum lime content. Further increase in lime content increased bearing ratio gradually but at a slower rate. The effect of lime sludge was more pronounced at the optimum lime content, particularly at a low curing period. Lime sludge improved the bearing ratio in soaked condition significantly. Leachate analysis of stabilized ash was performed using toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP-1311) method. The concentrations of toxic elements Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni and Cr in the stabilized mixes were lower than those in the unstabilized waste. The results indicated that the pond ash-lime-lime sludge mixes have potential application as road subbase material.