Municipal waste combustion ash beneficial use in construction products
The
York County, PA Solid Waste Authority recently awarded a research grant
to study potential beneficial use of their waste ash stream to
eco/Technologies LLC, Sustainable Dynamics LLC, and Columbia University
to stimulate technological and market innovations in the beneficial use
of municipal waste combustion ash in building products. The
intended result is the development of non-traditional commercial uses
– in the form of technical ceramics and compression formed
masonry blocks – based on optimum ash mixes of municipal waste
combustion ash, coal combustion fly ash, and Portland cement. The
outcome of the research will have immediate impacts in the 20+ million
ton of municipal waste combustion ash land filled annually nationwide.
Columbia’s research work will include:
defining product standards,
identifying manufacturers that are potentially interested in incorporating ash into their existing products,
characterizing
municipal waste combustion ash with respect to parameters relevant to
technical ceramics and compression-formed masonry products, and
optimizing the ash mix for each product line based on multiple rounds of production and performance testing.
