Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Analysis of Leachate Characteristics
to Study Coal Ash Usability
Pooja Vishnoi and M. Shambhavi Kamath
Introduction
The combustion of coal in coal-fi red power plants produces several materials,
including: fl y ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and fl ue gas desulfurization material.
Together, these materials represent what is generally referred to as coal ash, or
sometimes as CCBs. About 750 metric tonnes (MT) of total coal ash is produced per
year globally, but less than 50 % of world production is utilized (Izquierdo 2012 ).
Disposal of this huge amount of coal ash is of great environmental concern as it
has various harmful effects like air pollution, contamination of ground water, sur-
face water etc. There is a common misconception deeply rooted in the minds of
general public that the coal ashes are simply the waste by-products of thermal power
generation industry and that they are harmful and hazardous to the social life. In
order to eliminate such misconceptions and bring in more clarity, many Government
sponsored projects have been initiated and are being motivated. The quality of coal
depends upon its rank and grade. Anthracite is of highest grade and peat is of lowest
grade. Indian coal is mostly sub-bituminous rank followed by bituminous and lig-
nite (brown coal). The ash content in Indian coal ranges from 35 to 50 %. Many
researchers and organisations, in India and abroad as well, have studied the charac-
teristics of coal ashes in detail (Sridharan and Prakash 2007 ).
The results from such continued and collaborative efforts have proved that coal
ash possess many physical, chemical and engineering properties that are benefi cial to
the society (Pandian et al. 2001 ; Prakash and Sridharan 2009 ; Sridharan and Prakash
2008 ). These benefi cial properties of coal ashes make possible their bulk utilization in
the fi eld of geotechnical engineering, contributing to an effective and effi cient sus-
tainable development of the region/country. Various research on properties of coal ash
Search WWH ::




Custom Search