III.7 Coal combustion waste

Abstract

Coal combustion residues are one of the most abundant high-volume waste materials. Their proportion in the total waste stream highly depends upon the role of coal in power production, and is, as a rule, the highest in coal producing countries. Coal-based power production results in generating a huge amount of coal combustion waste (CCW) worldwide. Coal statistics reflect on one hand, the range of CCW in the total waste stream and on the other hand, non-uniformity of the distribution of this waste in particular countries, producers, and the users of coal. The beneficial properties of CCW make it suitable for a wide array of commercially and technically proven applications. The traditional leading markets for CCW use are cement and concrete production, structural fills, road base and sub-base, and blasting grit/roofing granule. Traditional ways of CCW disposal are surface ponds (lagoons) or landfills. In dry compacted landfills, CCW are disposed pneumatically. For both disposal systems—that is, ponding and landfilling—a long-term environmental evaluation of disposed fly ash (FA) in relation to the actual field conditions is necessary because it has direct environmental and economic consequences.