A fly ash particles media filter for decentralized wastewater treatment systems

Abstract

The contribution of this work is twofold: (i) estimation of the hydraulic operation of a coal combustion byproduct (CCBs) through its physical filtration by developing a physical model, and in broader terms, (ii) promoting the transformation of native disposal materials into beneficial materials. We developed an experiment which examines fly ash as a CCBs for its hydraulic performance, and runs in four main stages: First, fly ash in its natural state is tested in the laboratory to check if its effective size and uniformity coefficient match with recommendations in the literature; Then, fly ash of effective grain size as recommended in the literature is derived; Further, a physical model comprised of such a derived fly ash media filter and which supports horizontal flow of the effluent is developed; Finally, the hydraulic performance of the physical model comprised of derived fly ash in presence of effluent is evaluated and proved that fly ash is an appropriate media filter for hydraulic performance. The work clearly highlights the potential of the easy to reach and costless native fly ash as a media filter for treatment of wastewater which we consider a viable future work.