Contaminant retention characteristics of fly ash-bentonite mixes

It is important to determine the contaminant retention characteristics of materials when assessing their suitability for use as liners in landfill sites. Sand-bentonite mixtures are commonly used as liners in the construction of landfill sites for industrial and hazardous wastes. Sand is considered to be a passive material with a negligible chemical retention capacity; fly ash, however, offers the additional advantage of adsorbing the heavy metals present in landfill leachates. There have been few studies of the contaminant retention characteristics of fly ash-bentonite mixes. The study reported here determined the contaminant retention characteristics of different fly ashes, bentonite and selected fly ash-bentonite mixes for Pb2+ using 24 h batch tests. The tests were conducted by varying the initial concentrations of metal ions under uncontrolled pH conditions. The efficiency of the removal of Pb2+ by the different types of fly ash and fly ash-bentonite mixes was studied. The influence of multiple sources of fly ash on the retention characteristics of fly ash-bentonite mixes was investigated.