Leaching evaluation of cement stabilisation / solidification treated kaolin clay

Sustainable land management often requires redevelopment of existing and often contaminated Brownfield sites over use of Greenfield or agricultural land. Stabilisation / solidification (S/S) offer a viable remediation option with particular suitability in treating heavy metal contaminants. However, uncertainties over long-term durability and previously cheap landfill disposal costs resulted in limited use in many countries. There is a need to characterise treated material and assess components containment and release, to improve S/S confidence and inform remedial design, using the evaluation of the leaching controlling mechanisms. To improve understanding of key features that will enable improvements to such designs, this paper presents an evaluation of leaching for CEM II stabilised kaolin, using the leaching behaviour of 4 main components—aluminium, silicon, calcium and sulphur. Results show no detrimental implications on chemical durability due to kaolin degradation with hydration under induced alkalinity, with increased formation of stable cementitious minerals. Availabilities for components show that aluminium and silicon had minimal leachability compared to total content, whilst calcium and sulphur show almost total leaching availability. Decreasing calcium and silicon leachability under natural chemical conditions with increased hydration duration supports the increased formation of stable cementitious products with time, using the products of kaolin dissociation.