A study on the potential uses of bottom and fly ash in Mauritius

Abstract

Faced with demographic explosion and fuelled by its endeavours to become developed, Mauritius has seen a hike in its electricity consumption pattern. The bulk of electricity is generated by burning solid fuels which are namely coal and sugarcane bagasse. Consequently, ash is produced as waste product. Till date, both coal and bagasse ashes are being disposed of in a very unsustainable manner. Due to the availability of numerous studies on coal ash, focus has been laid on bagasse ash. This study analyses the possible ways of valorising bagasse bottom ash (BBA) and bagasse fly ash (BFA) better suited for the Mauritian context. A series of laboratory tests namely moisture content (MC), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), loss on ignition (LOI) and monitoring of the leaching behaviour of phosphate and nitrate were carried out. To monitor the leaching behaviour of nitrate and phosphate, a leaching model has been developed. Following the experimental analysis, several potential utilisation are put forward.