Personal Particulars
Research Fellow
Education
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2015.
M.Sc. Environmental Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2007.
B.Eng. Materials Engineering, School of Materials Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 2004.
Work experiences
2004-2006: Engineer, Defence Science & Technology Agency
2008-2015: Research Associate, NEWRI-R3C, Nanyang Technological University (Research area: Solid waste treatment and management)
Research Interests
Incineration bottom ash treatment through accelerated carbonation
Accelerated carbonation is a treatment method that reduces the leaching of certain heavy metals from incineration bottom ash, thereby increasing its utilisation potential in an environmentally safe manner. The focus of my research was to understand the physicochemical mechanism of accelerated carbonation and its influences on the leaching behaviour of IBA, using leaching tests and analytical methods such as mineralogical characterisation (i.e. XRD). Accelerated carbonation has shown great potential to be scale up to industrial level in an economical viable way. There is almost no waste stream produced after carbonation of incineration ash, which makes it a more environmentally sustainable treatment method compared to others. In addition, as this treatment involves the use of high CO2 gas composition (~10-20%), flue gas from industrial emission can be used, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere while treating the ash. Furthermore, accelerated carbonation treatment method can be applied to other alkaline wastes, such as incineration fly ash and steel slag, making this treatment a versatile treatment method.
Leaching Tests
In Singapore, there is no regulation, based on leaching tests, for the classification of waste for utilisation. The only regulation that is implemented in Singapore is the determination of safe disposal of incineration ash which is based on US EPA TCLP leaching test. There is a misconception on the use of TCLP as the leaching test to determine and classify the hazardous nature of a material. My research focuses on the proper selection of leaching test, with a thorough understanding on the intended application of the waste in a specific situation, and eventually carrying out the analysis of the leaching behaviour. This knowledge is crucial as countries which utilise incineration ash or other waste as secondary materials rely on leaching tests to classify the waste as safe to use.
Other Research Interest
Solid waste management and policy
Biogas purification using alkaline waste material
Metal recovery from incineration bottom ash
Journal Publications
1. Lin, W.Y., K.S. Heng, X.L. Sun, and J.-Y. Wang (2015). “Accelerated carbonation of different size fractions of MSW IBA and the effect on leaching.” Waste Management 41: 75-84.
2. Lin, W.Y., K.S. Heng, X.L. Sun, and J.-Y. Wang (2015). “Influence of moisture content and temperature on degree of carbonation and the effect on Cu and Cr leaching from incineration bottom ash.” Waste Management 43: 264-272.
3. Liu, A., F. Ren, W.Y. Lin, J.-Y. Wang (2015). “A review of municipal solid waste environmental standards with a focus on incinerator residues.” International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 4(2): 165-188.
Conference Paper
1. Lin, W.Y. and Wang, J.-Y. (2012). “Investigation on Accelerated Carbonation of MSW Bottom Ash for Application of Biogas Purification.” 3rd International Conference on Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management, 12-14 September 2012, Chania, Crete, Greece.
2. X.L. Sun, W.Y. Lin, L. Ge, I.J.R. Ho, O.A. Mohamed Noh, K.S. Heng, S.Y. Choy, M.Q. Nguyen, X.D. Zhou, T. Aung, A. Liu, J.-Y. Wang (2014). “Sampling and Characterization of Singapore’s Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Bottom Ash.” Fifth International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste, 17-20 November 2014, San Servolo, Venice, Italy.
3. K.S. Heng, W.Y. Lin, X.L. Sun, J.-Y. Wang (2014). “Effect of Washing and Accelerated Carbonation on the Leaching Behaviour of Copper from MSW Incineration Bottom Ash.” Fifth International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste, 17-20 November 2014, San Servolo, Venice, Italy.