Hydrothermal Co-Processing of Coal Fly Ash Cenospheres and Soluble Sr(II) as Environmentally Sustainable Approach to Sr-90 Immobilization in a Mineral-like Form

Co-processing of radioactive effluents with coal fly ash-derived materials is recognized as a resource-saving approach for efficient stabilization/solidification of radioactive components of wastewater. In this context, the paper is focused on the hydrothermal synthesis of Sr(2+)-bearing aluminosilicate/silicate phases as analogs of a mineral-like (90)Sr waste form using hollow glass-crystalline aluminosilicate microspheres from coal fly ash (cenospheres) as a glassy source of Si and Al (SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3))(glass)) and Sr(NO(3))(2) solutions as (90)Sr simulant wastewater. The direct conversion of cenosphere glass in the Sr(NO(3))(2)-NaOH-H(2)O-(SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3))(glass) system as well as Sr(2+) sorption on cenosphere-derived analcime (ANA) in the Sr(NO(3))(2)-H(2)O-ANA system were studied at 150–200 °C and autogenous pressure. The solid and liquid reaction products were characterized by SEM-EDS, PXRD, AAS and STA. In the Sr(NO(3))(2)-NaOH-H(2)O-(SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3))(glass) system, the hydrothermal processing at 150–200 °C removes 99.99% of the added Sr(2+) from the solution by forming Sr-tobermorite and Sr-plagioclase phases. In the Sr(NO(3))(2)-H(2)O-ANA system, Sr(2+) sorption on analcime results in the formation of solid solutions (Na(1−n)Sr(n/2))AlSi(2)O(6)·H(2)O of the Na-analcime–Sr-wairakite series. The results can be considered as a basis for the development of environmentally sustainable technology for (90)Sr removal from wastewater and immobilization in a mineral-like form by co-processing waste from coal-fired and nuclear power plants.