Effectiveness of fly ash on the stabilization/solidification of Zn-contaminated soil

As a solid waste, the associated disposal cost of fly ash is really high. Previous studies suggested that the utilization of fly ash to treat heavy metal-contaminated soils was a new cost-effective method of disposal of it. Therefore, the effectiveness of fly ash stabilized/solidified Zn-contaminated soils has been investigated by unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) tests. Quantitative analysis of the soil microstructure was conducted by processing the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) was carried out to illustrate the size and proportion of pore size for specimens under different ratios. The results of the tests showed an improvement in the UCS, which further increased as the content of binders was raised. Binder content would have little influence on the development of strength if the binder content exceeds a threshold value. The leached Zn2+ concentration of stabilized specimens was significantly decreased compared to that of untreated. Quantitative analysis confirmed that the addition of the binders resulted in the amount of hydration product, reduction of porosity, and a really random pores orientation, which was responsible for the improvement of the strength and leaching properties of the Zn2+ contaminated soils.