CFBC ash hydration studies

Hydration studies on CFBC ashes have shown that the acetone technique to prevent hydration in stored samples is relatively effective, only allowing some slight degree of hydration over days in the presence of excess water. In the presence of large excesses of water sufficient to control temperature increases, the degree of bulk mixing has no effect on the degree of hydration, which is shown to be relatively slow at ambient conditions, taking hours to complete. Finally, the effect of salt addition on hydration has been shown to be negligible at the low levels typical of wastewater, but there may be effects at ion concentrations typical of seawater. This work suggests that experience gained from lime hydration should be applied with caution to studies on hydration of CFBC ashes.