Assessment of the operating windows of a combined solidification/stabilization and granulation treatment applied to industrial soil in the context of brownfield regeneration

Abstract

This work reports the results of a lab-scale investigation carried out to assess the effects of a stabilization/solidification-granulation treatment applied to an industrial soil sampled from a brownfield site. Preliminary tests were performed on a natural soil to investigate the effects of the operating conditions and mixture formulations on the physical and mechanical properties of the product. In a second phase, the process was tested on the brownfield industrial soil, applying the operating conditions and binder type that provided the best results in the preliminary tests. The suitability of the obtained granules for use as artificial aggregates was assessed through the analysis of the particle size distribution, mechanical strength and inorganic contaminant leaching. With regard to the industrial soil, the best mechanical performance, comparable to that of natural gravel, was achieved with the following mixture formulation: 30% wt. of cement R 52.5, a water/solid ratio equal to 0.14 l/kg and an additive/solid ratio equal to 2 % wt. The alkaline pH of the leachates as well as the leaching behaviour of the cement showed to exert a great influence on the release of some critical metals from the obtained granules, such as Ba, Cr, Mo and Cu.

Assessment of the Environmental Sustainability of a Treatment Aimed at Soil Reuse in a Brownfield Regeneration Context

“…An extended discussion of the results obtained from the S/S‐granulation treatment of the natural soil are reported in the HoMBRe project report (HoMBRe ) and Capobianco et al. ().…”

“…More recently, we performed a systematic study, developed as part of the HoMBRe project, on the influence of the initial characteristics of the industrial soil and of the composition of the binder on the properties of the final product (Capobianco et al. ; HoMBRe ).…”

Recycling of Contaminated Marine Sediment and Industrial By-Products through Combined Stabilization/Solidification and Granulation Treatment

“…However, applying S/S treatments does not allow obtaining a ready-to-use product in civil applications. In this regard, granulation processes represent viable options for obtaining a significant particle size enlargement using a rotary drum or similar device [ 15 ]. Recently, only a few studies have focused on coupling the two techniques to obtain aggregates from the treatment of waste materials such as contaminated sediment and soil [ 16 ], municipal solid waste and incinerator bottom ashes [ 17 ], and automotive shredder residues [ 18 ].…”