In the U.S., about 27 million metric tons of municipal solid waste are used as fuel in Waste-to-Energy (WTE) power plants, generating about seven million tons of mixed bottom ash and fly ash (combined ash) annually, which are disposed of in landfills after metal separation. This study assessed the effect of using combined ash as a substitute of mined stone aggregates on the mechanical properties and leachability of cement mortar and concrete. The as-received combined ash was separated into three fractions: fine (<2 mm), medium (2–9.5 mm), and coarse (9.5–25 mm). The substitution of up to 100% of stone aggregate by the coarse and medium fractions of combined ash produced concrete with compressive strength exceeding 28 MPa after 28 days of curing. Similar results were obtained when the fine combined ash was used as a sand substitute, at 10 wt%, in mortar. The concrete specimens were subjected to several days of curing and mechanical testing. The results were comparable to the properties of commercial concrete products. The mechanical test results were supplemented by XRD and SEM analysis, and leachability tests by EPA Method 1313 showed that the optimal concrete products effectively immobilized the heavy metals in the combined ash.

在美国，约2700万吨的城市固体废物被用作垃圾发电（WTE）发电厂的燃料，每年产生约700万吨的混合底灰和粉煤灰（组合灰），这些废物被处理掉。金属分离后的垃圾填埋场。这项研究评估了使用混合灰分代替矿石集料对水泥砂浆和混凝土的机械性能和浸出性的影响。将收到的混合灰分为三部分：细粉（<2 mm），中粉（2-9.5 mm）和粗粉（9.5-25 mm）。养护28天后，用粗灰和中灰混合的灰分替代高达100％的骨料产生的混凝土的抗压强度超过28 MPa。当使用10 wt％的细混合灰作为砂替代品时，获得了相似的结果，在砂浆中。混凝土试样经过几天的固化和机械测试。结果与商品混凝土产品的性能相当。通过XRD和SEM分析对机械测试结果进行了补充，通过EPA方法1313进行的浸出性测试表明，最佳混凝土产品可有效地将重金属固定在混合灰中。