Utilization of Low-Quality Desulfurized Ash from Semi-Dry Flue Gas
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Fuel 255 (2019) 115783 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Fuel journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel Full Length Article Utilization of low-quality desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfurization by mixing with hemihydrate gypsum T Haoxin Lia,b, Hui Zhanga,b, Lin Lia,b, Qiang Rena,b, Xiaojie Yanga,b, Zhengwu Jianga,b, ⁎ Zhenlei Zhanga,b, a Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, PR China b School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, PR China ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: This work aimed to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the low-quality desulfurization ash from semi-dry flue Desulfurized ash gas desulfurization by mixing with α-hemihydrate gypsum, and then the environmental issues resulted from low- Hemihydrate gypsum quality desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfurization can be resolved, and both economic and eco- Strength logical benefits are brought to the related industries. Thus various contents of low-quality desulfurization ash Hydration property were mixed into the α-hemihydrate gypsum and these pastes with desulfurization ash were prepared, and then Microstructure the water requirements for the normal consistency, Zeta electrical potentials, setting times and strengths of the pastes with desulfurization ash were evaluated, also hydration products and microstructures of these mixtures were identified by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively in this work. The results indicate that desulfurized ash increases the water requirement for the normal consistency, and it decreases Zeta electrical potential and strengths, and it prolongs the setting times. Higher water requirement for the normal consistency, lower absolute value of Zeta electrical potential, longer setting times and lower strengths will be found as more desulfurized ash is mixed into the paste. But the strengths of the pastes with 24% desulfurized ash still meet the requirement for the building. Lower absolute values of Zeta electrical potentials imply the reaction appearance of calcium oxide to calcium hydroxide. FT-IR and XRD results indicate that dihydrate gypsum is the main hydration product, and calcium sulfite, calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide are also appeared in the hardened pastes with desulfurized ash and they do not participate in the reaction and there is not any new phase in the hardened pastes with desulfurized ash. SEM observation shows that desulfurized ash alters the dihydrate gypsum morphology and increases the pores in the hardened pastes. The crystal becomes thicker and more pores can be found in the hardened pastes as more desulfurized ash is mixed. These results will provide a reference for the desulfurized ash application into the hemihydrate gypsum and contribute to the sustainable management of low-quality desulfurized ash and find an approach for its application with a large scale. 1. Introduction various ways to prevent the harmful gases into the air. Semi-dry flue gas desulfurization, as a popular technology, is selected by these industries In recent years, sustainable development has been the global con- for its advantages such as low investment, rapid reaction speed, high cern and various industries have made their efforts to integrate these desulfurization efficiency, as well as no wastewater discharge [5,7–9]. issues into their policies [1–3]. It is not any exception for coal-fired However, it is similar to other conventional flue gas desulfurization power industry, industrial boiler and sintering plant and they consume processes such as the wet and dry ones that waste, namely desulfurized a great deal of fossil fuels every year, and meanwhile lots of sulfur ash, is always produced and becomes the greatest concern. In 2010, oxides are emitted [4–6]. Sulfur oxide can pose a considerable threat to about 10 million tons of desulfurized ash was produced, making it the ecosystems, building materials, agricultures, as well as human health. third largest solid waste in China, only after fly ash and desulfurized In particular, SO2 pollution is a very serious environmental problem in gypsum [10–12]. The annual production of desulfurized ash from newly large and mid-sized cities of China. Thus these industries have to take added by-products in China is approximately 15 million tons, and it will ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, PR China. E-mail address: [email protected] (Z. Zhang). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.115783 Received 17 February 2019; Received in revised form 28 April 2019; Accepted 7 July 2019 0016-2361/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. H. Li, et al. Fuel 255 (2019) 115783 Table 1 Chemical components of desulfurized ash and hemihydrate gypsum (wt%). Oxides SO3 CaO SiO2 Fe2O3 Na2O MgO Al2O3 K2O MnO TiO2 others Hemihydrate gypsum 48.8 33.1 0.63 0.03 ––––––18.05 Desulfurized ash 34.8 47.8 0.92 1.02 0.35 1.08 0.33 0.32 0.03 0.03 13.32 5 Low-quality desulfurized ash Alpha Hemihydrate gypsum A a B Desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfurization Alpha-hemihydrate gypsum 4 a Alpha-hemihydrate gypsum b Dihydrate gypsum a c Calcium hydroxide d Calcium carbonate ) 3 e Hemihydrate calcium sulfite % ( a 2 Volume 1 e e a a c b d a e d c d c b b 0 1 10 100 1000 5 10152025303540455055606570 Particle diameter (um ) 2 Theta Fig. 1. Particle size distributions and XRD patterns of hemihydrate gypsum and desulfurized ash. accumulatively reach several billion tons by 2020 approximately applied as a admixture into the hemihydrate gypsum based material, [13–15]. It usually contains calcium sulfite, dihydrate gypsum, calcium meanwhile the setting times of this material can be modulated to the carbonate and unreacted calcium hydroxide [7]. If it is not managed in ideal one. Therefore, the desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas de- an economically feasible and environmentally friendly manner, it will sulfurization was mixed into the α-hemihydrate gypsum, and the water not only occupy a large amount of land, and due to its large solubility, it requirements for the normal consistency, Zeta electrical potentials, also may infiltrate the soil and cause secondary pollution to soil and setting times, compressive and flexural strengths of pastes with de- groundwater resources through washing and leaching during landfill sulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfurization were evaluated, and piling [16–18]. As a result, the serious environmental problems and also the crystalline phases of the hardened pastes were analyzed by may be caused. It was reported that soot materials can be made by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scan- desulfurized gypsum, fly ash and lime, producing strength in the pro- ning electron microscope (SEM) in this work, and then the mechanism cess of consolidation reaction, which are used as pavement sub-base or responsible for the alternation of mechanical property was explored. land leveling sand [19–21]. Besides, it can be also used for cement The feasibility of using desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas de- production in a similar way to naturally-occurring gypsum for the fact sulfurization in the production of hemihydrate gypsum based material that it contains more than 90% gypsum [10,22–24]. The ash from cir- was assessed. The results from this work will provide a reference for the culating fluidized bed combustion can be applied as an admixture into resource of low-quality desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas de- blended cement for appearance of activated component with a high sulfurization, and then the expected sustainable development of the content [6,25–27]. However, desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas industries related to desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfur- desulfurization appears in a multicomponent manner, and the calcium ization will be acquired. sulfite, calcium carbonate and unreacted calcium hydroxide also pre- sent with the high contents except for the calcium sulfate. Besides, there 2. Materials and experimental methods is not any activated component such as SiO2 in it. So it can not be used fi as an admixture or modi ed components in the cement based materials. 2.1. Materials Currently, it is treated as solid waste by landfill disposal. Although it was reported that it can be resourced as a reductant to remove chro- Desulfurized ash from semi-dry flue gas desulfurization and α- mium and vanadium from vanadium industrial wastewater [7], the hemihydrate gypsum were collected from Baotian New Building waste with heavy metals is produced in the terminal and it has to be Materials Co.,Ltd. Their chemical components are shown in Table 1. ff disposed in a safe way. Therefore, it is urgent to seek a cost e ective, Desulfurized ash contains about 21.33% hemihydrate calcium sulfite, reliable and environmentally friendly resource utilization technology 18.11% calcium carbonate, 28.55% dihydrate gypsum, 25.81% calcium fl for desulfurized ash from semi-dry ue gas desulfurization. hydroxide, 1.85% calcium oxide. Particle size distributions of hemi- α Hemihydrate gypsum, especially the -hemihydrate one, has a high hydrate gypsum and desulfurized ash are given in Fig. 1 A. The specific strength as compared with others. However, it usually set quickly, surface areas of desulfurized ash and hemihydrate gypsum are 351 and leading to a short operable time of several minutes. Therefore, various 328 m2/Kg respectively. And the XRD patterns of desulfurized ash and retarders have to be used to modulate the setting time of hemihydrate α- hemihydrate gypsum are shown in Fig. 1B. gypsum based material, so as the enough operable time is ensured. Usually, alkaline phosphates, organic acids, proteins and their soluble salts are selected [28–30].