Achieving zero waste of municipal incinerator fly ash by melting in electric arc furnaces while steelmaking. (April 2017) - Yang, Gordon C.C.
Highlights: "Melting MIFA while EAF steelmaking" is an innovative treatment technology. Part of quicklime required in steelmaking can be substituted by the lime in MIFA. No new secondary pollution is derived from this novel melting technology. No discernable difference in steel quality and production rate is found. Zero waste of MSW incineration fly ash is achievable in the foreseeable future. Abstract: The main objective of this work was to promote zero waste of municipal incinerator fly ash (MIFA) by full-scale melting in electric arc furnaces (EAFs) of steel mini mills around the world. MIFA, generally, is considered as a hazardous waste. Like in many countries, MIFA in Taiwan is first solidified/stabilized and then landfilled. Due to the scarcity of landfill space, the cost of landfilling increases markedly year by year in Taiwan. This paper presents satisfactory results of treating several hundred tons of MIFA in a full-scale steel mini mill using the approach of "melting MIFA while EAF steelmaking", which is somewhat similar to "molten salt oxidation" process. It was found that this practice yielded many advantages such as (1) about 18 wt% of quicklime requirement in EAF steelmaking can be substituted by the lime materials contained in MIFA; (2) MIFA would totally end up as a material in fractions of recyclable EAF dust, oxidized slag and reduced slag; (3) no waste is needed for landfilling; and (4) a capital cost saving through the employment of existing EAFs in steel mini mills instead of building new melting plants for the treatment of MIFA. Thus, it is technically feasible to achieve zero waste of MIFA by the practice of this innovative melting technology.