Sustainable use of solid biofuel ash for the production of fertilizers and additional cementitious materials

 

Project no.: S-REP-22-2

Project description:

During the implementation of the project, an efficient waste recycling technology will be developed. The main raw material of the technology is fly ash obtained from biofuels, while the products are fertilizers suitable for industry and supplementary cementitious materials. The project envisages the integrated sustainable use of biofuel ash with different chemical composition for different industrial needs. After evaluating the possible limits of change in the chemical composition of the ash, the conditions for the treatment will be determined and their influence on the properties of fertilizer products will be investigated. If the content of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exceeds the required norms, the ash is treated by hydrothermal treatment, and the obtained products would be suitable for the production of complex fertilizers and / or supplementary cementitious materials. Synthetic chemosorbents would be used to purify liquids after heavy metal extraction, and used for the synthesis of supplementary cementitious materials. The suitability of the composition of the obtained materials for the production of complex fertilizer products and / or the influence on the properties of Portland cement will be determined, the mobility of heavy metals in the cement stone will be evaluated. The ecotoxicity and effects of the obtained complex fertilizer products on misted cereals under controlled climate conditions will be assessed and the influence of synthetic inorganic chemosorbents (after heavy metal extraction) on the properties of cement stone will be determined.

Project funding:

Research Council of Lithuania (RCL), Need-driven Research Projects


Project results:

Three scientific articles will be prepared in periodical scientific publications with a citation index (Journal Impact Factor) in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database:
1. Hydrothermal treatment of biofuel fly ash to reduce the mobility of heavy metal ions. Publication: Waste and Biomass Valorization or equivalent foreign Clarivate Analytics WoS publication (Q1/Q2 quartile).
2. Influence of hydrothermally treated biofuel fly ash on the properties of Portland cement. Intended to be published in: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering or equivalent foreign Clarivate Analytics WoS publication (Q1/Q2 quartile).
3. “Biofuel fly ash effect on agricultural crops and their ecotoxicity evaluation”. Intended to be submitted to the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research or an equivalent foreign Clarivate Analytics WoS publication (Q2 quartile).

Period of project implementation: 2022-09-01 - 2024-02-29

Project coordinator: Kaunas University of Technology

Project partners: Lietuvos agrarinių ir miškų mokslų centras

Head:
Rimvydas Kaminskas

Duration:
2022 - 2024

Department:
Department of Silicate Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology