Effect of incubation on mobility of elements in fly ash and plant residue mixture analyzed by PIXE

The study focused on determination of water-extractable concentrations of elements in incubated fly ash and plant residue mixture using PIXE. The targets for PIXE analysis were prepared using drop & dry and pre-concentration method and irradiated by 2.5 MeV proton beam from the single-end type Van de Graaff accelerator at Tokyo Institute of Technology. PIXE results revealed the presence of Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn in the water-extracts. The concentrations generally decreased with incubation for most of the elements, suggesting that the elements converted to less-mobile forms. Moreover, the pH, EC, OM and Feox contents were determined for the samples. EDX and XRD analysis were performed for determination of major elements composition and mineral fractions of fly ash, respectively.