Each
year, combustion at municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI)
plants produces millions of tons of fly ash globally. This ash is
characterized as a hazardous material and is mostly placed in landfills
after a stabilization process or stored in hazardous waste sites.
Thus, disposal of fly ash leaves a considerable social and environmental
footprint and leads to high waste management costs. Thermochemical
energy storage (TCES) systems are considered to be outstanding because
of their high-energy density and near-zero energy loss over long periods
of time. Calcium oxide (CaO), a main MSWI fly ash component, is a
promising candidate for TCES. In this study, we investigate the potential
of fly ash as a TCES material. To do so, we analyzed representative
samples from different MSWIs using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA)
under N2, CO2, and CO2/H2O atmospheres. These analyses were supported by additional techniques
such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, inductively coupled
plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). The STA results illustrate fly ash reactivity under
different atmospheres. All samples could store heat through endothermic
reactions and one sample was able to release stored heat under selected
operating conditions. XRF analysis verified an average fly ash composition
of 27% CaO, ICP-OES analysis demonstrated the presence of different
heavy metals, and SEM analysis revealed the sintering and agglomeration
of fly ash particles at high temperatures (1150 °C). This study
shows that the use of fly ash as a TCES material is promising and
that further investigation in the field is needed to corroborate this
application.