Reclamation and Reutilization of Incinerator Ash in Artificial Lightweight Aggregate

This study focused on the reclamation of ash from incineration process and development of new artificial lightweight aggregate (LWA) that have comparable properties with existing natural coarse aggregate. The main objective of this study is to examine potential use of recycled municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ash as raw material in LWA production with a method of cold-bonded pelletization. Two types of incineration ash which is bottom ash (BA) and fly ash (FA) were collected from Cameron Highland Incineration Plant, Malaysia. The properties of BA and FA are studied by means of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and microstructure of these ashes were inspected using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The properties of BALA and FALA produced in this study is examined including loose bulk density, water absorption and aggregate impact value (AIV). From the results of both types of artificial LWA, the lowest loose bulk density of BALA is BALA50 with 564.14 kg/m3 and highest is at 831.19 kg/m3. For FALA50, lowest loose bulk density is 573.64 kg/m3 and highest is 703.35 kg/m3. Water absorption of BALA and FALA is quite similar with one another in with the value of 23.8% and 22.6%, respectively. Generally, FALA have better qualities of LWA comparing with BALA with lower bulk density and water absorption and can be categorized as strong aggregate. In summary, reclamation and reutilization of incinerator ash has generated acceptable qualities for artificial LWA. Both types of BA and FA shown a great potential to be recycled as additional materials in artificial aggregate production