Measurement of heat release during hydration and carbonation of ash disposed in landfills using an isothermal calorimeter

Temperatures as high as 100 °C have been reported at a few municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in the U.S. A recently published model describing landfill heat accumulation identified reactions that contribute significant heat to landfills including the hydration and carbonation of Ca-containing wastes such as ash from MSW and coal combustion. The objective of this study was to develop a method to measure heat release from Ca-containing ash by isothermal calorimetry. The method was confirmed by comparing measured heat release from hydration and carbonation of pure CaO and Ca(OH)₂ to the theoretical heat. Theoretical heat release was determined by characterizing test materials before and after experiments using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Heat recovery efficiencies with both water and synthetic leachate ranged from 79 to 90% for CaO hydration and between 65 and 74% for Ca(OH)₂ carbonation, with no effect attributable to leachate. Additionally, simultaneous hydration and carbonation of CaO/Ca(OH)₂ mixtures resulted in efficiencies of 65 to 74%. The developed method was applied to eight samples that were excavated from a landfill and known to contain coal ash, and the ratio of measured to theoretical heat was 0.5 to 4. Thus, calculation of theoretical heat release from XRD data was not a good predictor of the experimentally measured heat release. The developed method can be used by landfill operators to evaluate the heat potential of a waste, thereby facilitating decisions on the quantity of a waste that can be buried in consideration of landfill temperatures.