Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Abstract

This study was aimed to determine the anthropogenic and natural factors affecting spatial and temporal changes in the physicochemical parameters and bacterial indicators of water quality in the river Białka. The impact of intensive development of the tourist infrastructure on the quality of river water and the potential health threats to tourists was also assessed. Water samples were collected over a period of 2.5 years, once per each month in four sites along the river. Temperature, electrolytic conductivity, pH, and water level were measured onsite; flow rate data were acquired from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management; chemical analyses allowed to determine the amount of fourteen ions, while microbiological indicators included total and thermotolerant coliforms, total and thermotolerant Escherichia coli, and mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria. The combination of hydrological, hydrochemical, and microbiological methods generated large amount of data, which were processed by multivariate statistical analysis. A downstream cumulative effect was observed in the contamination of the river water. Fecal coliforms and E. coli were detected in all sites, suggesting the source of fecal contamination even in the protected areas. Intensive development of a ski resort and the related infrastructure, together with the need to accommodate numerous tourists in the examined region, has an evident environmental impact. The resulting deterioration of water quality poses health risks to tourists, as water from the Białka river is used for a variety of purposes, including as a raw drinking water or for artificial snowing of ski slopes. The seasonal changes in the physicochemical parameters mainly result from varying natural factors that shape the water quality in the studied region. The differences in the number of analyzed microorganisms result from seasonal variation in touristic activity and are affected mostly by point sources of sewage inflow.

Solidification of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Fly Ash through Co-Mechanical Treatment with Circulation Fluidized Bed Combustion Fly Ash

“…The Al-OH bending vibration is detected around 788 cm −1 and always considered to be associated with FS [5,27]. The band around 875 and 1448 cm −1 are identified as the bending vibration and stretching vibration of CO 3 2− [24]. FTIR analysis further demonstrates that C-S-H, AFt and Fs are the dominant hydration products in cement and CFBCFA based solidified bodies, which is consistent with the XRD result.…”

“…MSWIFA generates from waste incinerators, which is regarded as hazardous solid waste due to the enrichment of easily leachable heavy metals and, in some cases, potentially organic pollutants [1]. To safely handle and dispose of MSWIFA, various treatment have been proposed including recovery of valuable component, stabilization with wood pellet ash, and solidification with cement [2,3]. Currently, cement solidification technology is widely proposed and investigated to deal with MSWIFA owing to its technical feasibility [4,5].…”

A Circular Economy Virtuous Example—Use of a Stabilized Waste Material Instead of Calcite to Produce Sustainable Composites

“…The material is made of the same crystalline phases already detected in similar materials, stabilized by using amorphous silica sources [11,18], which are analyzed weeks after the treatment. The XRD spectra collected on stabilized material 1 month after the material synthesis (data not shown) corresponds to the one already reported by Assi et al [21], due to the same stabilization procedure adopted.…”

“…Several technologies, such as cement based techniques, chemical stabilization treatments, washing [8] and thermal techniques have been proposed to treat FA [9]. In particular, in recent years, the idea to develop sustainable technologies for waste remediation, in the frame of Azure chemistry approach [10], has contributed to promote the use of by-products and waste materials, as stabilizing agents, instead of use natural resources [11]. For example, the COSMOS technology [12][13][14], initially based on the use of colloidal silica to stabilize leachable heavy metals (contained in FA), was improved by the replacement of commercial silica source with by-products, such as rice husk ash [15,16], silica fume [17] and sewage sludge ash [18].…”

SUNSPACE, A Porous Material to Reduce Air Particulate Matter (PM)

“…Silica powders, in terms of micro-silica, provide a promising support for the immobilization of particles with low dimensions (<10 μm) (Wan and Zhao, 2007 ). In addition, several sources of waste silica (as rice husk ash (Bosio et al, 2014 ) and silica fume (Benassi et al, 2017 ; Rodella et al, 2017 ; Pasquali et al, 2018 ) may be used to produce sustainable porous materials (Bontempi, 2017a , b ).…”