An innovative reuse of bottom ash from municipal solid waste incinerators as substrates of constructed wetlands

Jih Ming Chyan; Chien Jung Lin; Mu Jin Yu; Ruei-Feng Shiu; Da Ji Huang; Chien Sa Lin; Delia B Senoro

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135896

An innovative reuse of bottom ash from municipal solid waste incinerators as substrates of constructed wetlands

Chemosphere. 2022 Nov;307(Pt 2):135896. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135896. Epub 2022 Aug 9.

Authors

Jih Ming Chyan¹, Chien Jung Lin², Mu Jin Yu³, Ruei-Feng Shiu⁴, Da Ji Huang⁵, Chien Sa Lin⁶, Delia B Senoro⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Resources Management, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan; Department of Public Safety and Fire Science, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan; Center for Environmental Academia-Industry Collaboration, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan. Electronic address: mjmchyan@mail.cnu.edu.tw.
² Center for Environmental Academia-Industry Collaboration, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan. Electronic address: mcjlin@mail.cnu.edu.tw.
³ Department of Environmental Resources Management, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan. Electronic address: s366993@yahoo.com.tw.
⁴ Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202301, Taiwan; Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202301, Taiwan. Electronic address: rfshiu@mail.ntou.edu.tw.
⁵ Department of Environmental Resources Management, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, 71710, Taiwan. Electronic address: daji@ms19.hinet.net.
⁶ Tainan City Council, Taiwan. Electronic address: linchiensan@gmail.com.
⁷ Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering, Mapua University, Manila, 1101, Philippines. Electronic address: dbsenoro@mapua.edu.ph.

PMID: 35961454
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135896

Abstract

The incineration of municipal solid waste has been important in waste management, but it raises another environmental issue concerning residue treatment. This study describes an innovative use of naturally aged incineration bottom ash (AIBA) as an alternative substrate for horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetlands (CW). Although experimental results from a period lasting for 396 days only revealed slightly higher removal ratios in HSSF with AIBA (HSSF-E) than in HSSF-traditional pebble beds (HSSF-C), increasing from 67% to 76% for BOD, 44%-51% for TKN, 47%-54% for NH₃-N, and 44%-52% for TN. The data indicate that the use of AIBA in HSSF CW can achieves a certain removal efficiency of BOD and nitrogen species. Interestingly, the total phosphorus removal rates also increased significantly from 20% in HSSF-C to 36% in HSSF-E. These observations on the use of AIBA in HSSF CW confirmed that AIBA is a suitable alternative for use as a substrate for HSSF CWs and identified an additional way to reuse incineration bottom ash. Design criteria for a CW using AIBA as a partial substrate is proposed to improve the pollutant removal performance of HSSF CWs.

Keywords: Ammonia nitrogen; Biochemical oxygen demand; Constructed wetland; Incineration bottom ash; Total nitrogen; Total phosphorus.

MeSH terms

Coal Ash
Environmental Pollutants*
Incineration
Nitrogen / analysis
Phosphorus
Solid Waste
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Wastewater
Wetlands*

Substances

Coal Ash
Environmental Pollutants
Solid Waste
Waste Water
Phosphorus
Nitrogen