Characterization of Coal Combustion By-Products (CCBs) for their Effective Management and Utilization

Abstract

The main use of coal in India is for generation of electricity, both currently and apparently also in the future. In India approximately 70% of power generation has been through coal-fired thermal power plants. About 60% of produced coal is used for power generation. The coal which is used in power plants has an ash content of about 30-50%. The Coal Ash Administration that was established in 1993 with the objective of coordinating the effort at a national level to solve the problem of ash accumulation at the power plants, chose to deal with the problem by advancing the use of coal ash as a resource having economic value, in various sectors, as is done in most of the developed countries in the world.
This site is intended to provide information regarding coal ash characteristics, beneficial uses of coal ash, both currently and in the future, in construction, infrastructures, industry and agriculture in India, to provide information on environmental quality issues, and to describe what is being done in this area to prevent damage to the environment and to improve it. Since coal fly ash consists of predominantly silt-sized particles, there is sometimes a concern about the possible frost susceptibility of fly ash as an embankment or structural backfill material, which can provide scope for environmentally safe. The major challenge with the introduction of the fly ash is its generation in unmanageable volumes which creates environmental problems in terms of land degradation, and degradation of air and water quality. The problem of storage and disposal of the fly ash creates a considerable pressure on land availability particularly in a densely populated country like India. Many researchers are working towards the large scale utilization of fly ash. The approaches include intermixing the fly ash with cement for civil construction work, manufacture of bricks, and utilization as a road pavement material and application as soil amendment medium for the plant growth.