Gas Generation from Incinerator Bottom Ash: Potential Aerating Agent for Lightweight Concrete Production

Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) has great potential to be utilized for civil engineering applications. This paper is to investigate the characteristic of gas generation from IBA and to study the potential of IBA as an aerating agent. Results show the aeration capacity of IBA used in this study is approximately 1% that of pure aluminum powder by mass. Finer particles, higher alkali molarity, and higher reaction temperature encourage the reaction and more gas is generated per gram of IBA. Type of alkaline solution does not seem to be an important factor for gas generation from IBA. Several exemplary lightweight mortars were produced by incorporating IBA as an aerating agent. It is highly plausible IBA can be used as an aerating agent to replace pure aluminum powder in the production of aerated concrete.