Coal Slurry Solids Research Articles

Coal slurry solids/coal fluidized bed combustion by-product mixtures as plant growth media

Fine-textured, pyritic waste produced by coal cleaning is stored in slurry settling ponds that eventually require reclamation. Conventionally, reclamation involves covering the dewatered coal slurry solids (CSS) with 1.3 m of soil to allow plant growth and prevent acid generation by pyrite oxidation. This study was conducted to determine the feasibility of a less costly reclamation approach that would eliminate the soil cover and allow direct seeding of plants into amended CSS materials. Potential acidity of the CSS would be neutralized by additions of fluidized-bed combustion by-product (FBCB), an alkaline by-product of coal combustion. The experiment involved two sources of CSS and FBCB materials from Illinois. Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.) were seeded in the greenhouse into pots containing mixtures of the materials. CSS-1 had a high CaCO3FeS2 ratio and needed no FBCB added to compensate for its potential acidity. CSS-2 was mixed with the FBCB materials to neutralize potential acidity (labeled Mix A and B). Initial pH was 5.6, 8.8, and 9.2 for the CSS-1, Mix A, and Mix B materials, respectively. At the end of the 70-day experiment, pH was 5.9 for all the mixtures. Tall fescue and sweet clover grew well in all the treatments, but birdsfoot trefoil had poor emergence and survival. Elevated tissue levels of B, Cd, and Se were found in some plants. Salinity, low moisture holding capacity, and potentially phytotoxic B may limit the efficacy of this reclamation method.

CODISPOSAL OF FBC BY-PRODUCTS AND COAL SLURRY SOLIDS: CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS

The preparation and combustion of high sulfur coal generates many waste products including cleaning and combustion wastes. Pyrite is associated with coal cleaning wastes and it makes them potentially acidic. Coal slurry solids (CSS), the finest textured cleaning wastes, are stored in large impoundments. After the impoundments are retired, they must be reclaimed with a 1.2 in soil cap. Reclamation of abandoned CSS impoundments by direct revegetation would avoid costs associated with the required soil cap. However, CSS have physical and chemical limitations for plant growth including undesirable pH, surface temperatures, and moisture holding capacity. Fluidized bed combustion is a coal combustion technique designed to reduce smoke stack emissions of SO{sub 2}. It results in a highly alkaline by-product (FBC). The combination of CSS and FBC may allow direct revegetation of CSS materials. This would possibly be a more cost effective method of reclaiming CSS materials than using a soil cap while creating an economic value for FBC by-products. This will also preclude the necessity of disturbing a borrow area for the soil cap. An experiment was designed to evaluate the potential for CSS/FBC mixtures to support direct revegetation. Three test blocks with 18 plots each were established on amore » temporarily inactive portion of an active coal slurry impoundment. The addition of FBC increased the pH of the potentially acidic CSS. Soil fertility analyses indicated Al, B, Ca, Mg, Zn, and soluble salts increased with additions of FBC, while Cu, Fe, K, P, and S remained relatively unchanged, and Mn and Na concentration decreased. Direct revegetation of CSS materials may be facilitated by the addition of FBC by-products. However, other treatments in addition to FBC amendments may be necessary to optimize conditions for plant growth.« less