Bottom ash carbonation

Viewed from the outside, bottom ash just looks like a pile of dirty scraps.

🔬 But under the microscope, an entire crystalline world reveals itself.

Take a look at their rapid transformation during CO₂ mineralization. See how cool these morphologies are?

At the top:

 • needle-like ettringite (Ca₆Al₂(SO₄)₃(OH)₁₂·26H₂O)

 • hexagonal hydrocalumite (Ca₄Al₂(OH)₁₂Cl₂·4H₂O)

As soon as they are mixed with water and CO₂, these minerals transform into carbonates, forming rhombohedral calcite (CaCO₃) shown in the bottom images.

But bottom ash is highly heterogeneous! Many other minerals can supply Ca or Mg for CO₂ mineralization: katoite, mayenite, larnite, merwinite ...

Not to mention the metals they contain. A whole world hidden in “waste”.

Hard to see ash as ‘just dirt’ once you’ve seen all this, isn’t it?