Waste to Wealth (W2W): A total solution for municipal solid waste incinerated ash in geopolymer concrete

ended

Human activities and urban lifestyle creates municipal solid waste (MSW) all over the world in huge volume. Proper management of MSW is one of the important requirements/ responsibilities for a healthy environment of future generation. The proposed project aims at utilizing the MSW Incinerated (MSWI) products as secondary raw materials in geopolymer concrete, thereby converting these wastes in to wealth (W2W). This also helps in satisfying the demand for raw materials in infrastructure industries. The main objectives of this project are, to optimize the treatment method for MSWI bottom ash and to understand the enhancement in the properties of treated MSWI bottom ash with advanced treatment technology, to manufacture the artificial aggregate from the treated MSWI bottom ash and to study the performance of the MSWI bottom ash aggregate as a secondary raw material in the geopolymer concrete application. This proposal involves extensive training of the candidate on treatment techniques of bottom ash in the premises of industrial secondment and advanced characterization of the treated materials in the academic secondment. The host institute helps in geopolymeric technology on pelletization of the treated bottom ash. With inter-sectoral collaboration, life cycle assessment of the products will be studied to highlight the environmental impact of the material processing. The research activities and the training of the present project will firstly provide the applicant a high scientific profile. The candidate will handle the entire project management with the support from the host. In addition to the new analytical skills, the candidate learns teaching and supervision by handling two masters thesis under this project. The obtained results will be communicated to high-impact journal which improves the profile of the candidate and makes her a competitive person in the field of 'waste utilization in civil engineering applications'.