Quentin Falcoz, Doan Pham Minh, Vincent Goetz, Nicolas Tessier-Doyen, Anca Meffre, Nicolas Lopez Ferber, Ange Nzihou, Centre de recherche d'Albi en génie des procédés des solides divisés, de l'énergie et de l'environnement (RAPSODEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT École nationale supérieure des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux (IMT Mines Albi), Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT), Procédés, Matériaux et Energie Solaire (PROMES), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), SAS Eco-Tech Ceram, Institut de Recherche sur les CERamiques (IRCER), Institut des Procédés Appliqués aux Matériaux (IPAM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de physique et chimie des nano-objets (LPCNO), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut de Chimie de Toulouse (ICT-FR 2599), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche sur les Systèmes Atomiques et Moléculaires Complexes (IRSAMC), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Axe 1 : procédés céramiques (SPCTS-AXE1), Science des Procédés Céramiques et de Traitements de Surface (SPCTS), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Céramique Industrielle (ENSCI)-Institut des Procédés Appliqués aux Matériaux (IPAM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Céramique Industrielle (ENSCI)-Institut des Procédés Appliqués aux Matériaux (IPAM), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), IMT École nationale supérieure des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux (IMT Mines Albi), and Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
International audience; Although work has been done to understand the sintering behavior and properties of Municipal Waste Incinerator Bottom Ashes to produce sintered (Bethanis et al. in Ceram Int 28:881–886, 2002; Cheeseman et al. in Resour Conserv Recycl 43:147–162, 2005; Bourtsalas et al. in Waste Manag 45:217–225, 2014; Taurino et al. in J Eur. Ceram Soc 37:323–331, 2017) or sinter-crystallized (Schabbach et al. in J Non Cryst Solids 357:10–17, 2011; Barbieri et al. in J Non Cryst Solids 354:521–528, 2008) ceramics, most of the trials reported in the literature focuses on the use of extensively milled bottom ashes powders (particle size around 1–50 µm), using processes that might not be easily transferable to industrial production at reasonable cost, and producing small cylinders with uniaxial compression technique on powders. This paper summarizes the development process of an extruded ceramic material made of gross-milled bottom ashes and waste clay, designed to be easily mass-produced using production capacities available in the building bricks industry, to be used as a high-temperature thermal energy storage material, which represents an alternative to the petrurgic ceramic previously developed for this application (Py et al. in J Sol Energy Eng 133:031008, 2011; Kere et al. in Int Conf Eng Waste Biomass Valoris, Porto, 2012; Py et al. in Stockage de l’ énergie: énergie thermique, stockage thermique haute température). Post-treated incinerator bottom ashes from a commercial incinerator has been collected, characterized and processed to form ceramic materials, using clay as a binder. Ashes were milled, dried, and mixed with various amounts of an illitic clay (produced as washing mud by a quartz quarry) prior to extrusion (cylindrical pellet) and firing at different temperatures, ranging from 1100 to 1120 °C. The sintered samples have been characterized in terms of density, mechanical strength, thermal capacity and thermal conductivity. Their mineral structure has also been studied. This work follows a study on the feasibility about the production of MWIBA based slabs with uniaxial compaction, and can be seen as an improvement regarding the shaping of the green bodies, more compatible with thermocline thermal energy storage process. The resulting sintered ceramics exhibit interesting properties such as relatively high mechanical resistance and low thermal conductivity, along with moderate density. These properties allow envisioning the use as filler material for thermocline thermal storage systems, especially considering the simplicity of the production process, relying on dry gross milling (jaw-mill), and firing at a temperature reachable within the building bricks and tiles industry. Production of adequate pieces to be used as thermal storage media seems however more relevant, the small size limiting the impact of sintering heterogeneities (formation of black bodies due to high content in fluxing agents like sodium and potassium).