Environmental Impacts of Pond Ash Dumping at Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant (KTTP) – Physico-chemical Characterization of Pond Ash

Abstract

One of the major sources of pollution in the modern world of industrialization and urbanization is the generation of large quantities of Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) from the combustion of coal in thermal power plants. CCRs include fly ash, bottom ash and pond ash. When pulverized coal is burnt to generate heat, the residue collected from different rows of electrostatic precipitators in dry form contains 80% fly ash. It is an important resource for production of Portland Pozzolana Cement, a replacement of ordinary Portland cement. 20% of residue of burnt coal, collected in the water-impounded hopper below the boilers is called bottom ash. It is generally used for fills, embankments and road construction. Pond ash is a mixture of bottom ash and fly ash as available in ash ponds. It is a resource material for manufacturing clay ash bricks, filling material for area development, construction of embankments etc.