Two-Stage Processing of Fly Ash to Produce Liquid Glass and a Fenton Reaction Catalyst

A method of processing fly ash by alkali treatment to produce aluminosilicate liquid is proposed and tested in laboratory conditions. The magnetic fraction is subsequently removed from the solid residue after leaching. Leaching is accompanied by solution of a considerable proportion of the amorphous glassy material covering the magnetic fraction, which consists mainly of magnetite. As a result, an aluminosilicate crystalline product is formed in the nonmagnetic waste. It is shown that the magnetic fraction may be used as a catalyst of the Fenton reaction in the oxidation of methylene blue; the effective rate constant of this reaction is proportional to the mass of catalyst introduced.