Simulation of municipal solid waste incinerator ash/cement systems by means of factorial experiments

In the present paper, the behavior of municipal solid waste incinerator ash in cement-based systems was simulated by spiking experiments on portland cement making use of pure compounds, including MgCl2, K2SO4, Zn(NO3)(2), and NaNO2, which were selected based on the findings from previous investigation. A 2(4-1) fractional factorial design was used to arrange the program of experiments. The evolution of physical and mechanical properties as well as acid neutralization capacity with curing time was studied with the aid of statistical analysis. Based on the results from the present work, a model was developed for prediction of unconfined compressive strength and buffering capacity of incinerator ash-portland cement mixtures. The good agreement between predicted and measured values indicated that the behavior of incinerator ash in cementitious systems is largely to be ascribed to the four selected compounds.