Methodology for Evaluating the CO(2) Sequestration Capacity of Waste Ashes

The concentration of CO(2) in the atmosphere is constantly increasing, leading to an increase in the average global temperature and, thus, affecting climate change. Hence, various initiatives have been proposed to mitigate this process, among which CO(2) sequestration is a technically simple and efficient approach. The spontaneous carbonation of ashes with atmospheric CO(2) is very slow, and this is why accelerated carbonation is encouraged. However, not all ashes are equally suitable for this process, so a methodology to evaluate their potential should be developed. Such a methodology involves a combination of techniques, from theoretical calculations to XRF, XRD, DTA-TG, and the calcimetric determination of the CaCO(3) content. The present study followed the approach of exposing ashes to accelerated carbonation conditions (4% v/v CO(2), 50–55% and 80–85% RH, 20 °C) in a closed carbonation chamber for different periods of time until the maximum CO(2) uptake is reached. The amount of sequestered CO(2) was quantified by thermogravimetry. The results show that the highest CO(2) sequestration capacity (33.8%) and carbonation efficiency (67.9%) were obtained for wood biomass bottom ash. This method was applied to eight combustion ashes and could serve to evaluate other ashes or comparable carbon storage materials.