Synthesis of Mullite from High-alumina Fly Ash: a Case from the Jungar Power Plant in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

In this paper, an experimental study was conducted in order to test the feasibility of sintering mullite directly from the high-alumina fly ash, without adding any extra material. The results show that the mullite contents in most sintered samples are over 70%. The samples sintered from the beneficiated fly ash have a higher content of mullite than those from the as-received fly ash under the same synthetic conditions. To obtain an equal amount of mullite, a higher sintering temperature is needed for the beneficiated fly ash than for the as-received fly ash. Considering the physical properties of sintered mullite, the favorable sintering temperature is 1400 ℃ for the as-received fly ash and 1500 ℃ for the beneficiated fly ash. A higher sintering temperature and a shorter holding time are profitable to sintering mullite. The orthogonal test confirmed that the dominant factor affecting mullite synthesis is sintering temperature, and that the most profitable matching conditions are 200 MPa-1500 ℃-3 h for the as-received fly ash and 200 MPa-1500 ℃-4 h for the beneficiated fly ash.