Treatment of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash is becoming an important issue in China. A pilot-scale experiment was carried out to treat MSWI fly ash by using a diesel oil furnace (DOF) for more than 6 months. The effects of melting temperature on volume reduction, weight loss, compositional changes, and toxicity of leach water for molten slag have been investigated and reported. Results indicated that the volume reduction fraction of raw fly ash (RFA) and washed-fly ash (WFA) was 75-80% and the weight loss fraction was 23.8-30% at 1260-1350 degrees C. During the vitrification, CaO, Al2O3, and SiO2 percentages in fly ash increased as the temperature increased, especially for SiO2, which was caused by both the decomposition of carbonates or sulfates and the volatilization of metal chlorides because the main components in secondary fly ash collected from fabric filter bags were NaCl and KCl. The leaching concentrations of heavy metals in molten slag were lower than the standard values of TCLP. The releasing levels of dioxin and other pollutants (such as SO2, HCl, CO, NOx, etc.) in flue gas were all lower than the Chinese standard. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.