Displaying items by tag: Ash

Belarus: Belarusian Cement Company subsidiary Krasnoselskstroimaterialy has reported total costs savings across its operations of Euro1.34m in 2020. Belarus: Daily News has reported that the company undertook several and diverse measures to achieve the reduction.

The company said, "We have replaced imported bottom ash mix with high-aluminium clay from our own deposit.” It added, “The coal content of the fuel mix rose to 85%. We have also optimised the use of raw materials in the production of cinder blocks. This has helped to reduce the cost of their production by means of decreasing the usage rates for cement, lime and thermal energy."

US: Charah Solutions has been awarded a marketing contract by Dominion Energy for the beneficiation and utilisation of up to 8.1Mt reclaimed ponded coal ash at its Chesterfield Power Station in Chester, Virginia. The contract will run from 2021 until 2032. It follows local state legislation requiring the power company to remove coal ash from sites at the Chesterfield Power Station within 15 years.

As part of the agreement, Charah Solutions will install processing and transportation infrastructure in 2021 to facilitate rail transportation of the ash from Chesterfield Power Station to cement kiln feed markets. The beneficiated ash product will replace other currently utilised virgin raw materials in the production of Portland cement at multiple cement kiln locations in the eastern US for the next decade and beyond, and help supply the growing demand for concrete in the construction industry.

US: Georgia Power will begin dewatering three ash ponds at its Mitchell power plant in Albany, Georgia. The company says that the coal ash will be used in local cement production.

Environmental and natural resources vice president Mark Berry said “As we begin the dewatering process at Plant Mitchell, we continue to focus on safety and meeting all requirements throughout the process to fulfill our longstanding commitment to protect the environment, our local communities and water quality every step of the way." He added “Throughout the process, clear communication to our customers and the community about our progress remains a priority."

With the Plant Mitchell project, approximately 2Mt of stored coal ash will be removed from the existing ash ponds for reuse in cement manufacturing. The project at Plant Mitchell marks the first time that stored ash from existing ash ponds at sites in Georgia will be excavated for beneficial reuse as part of an ash pond closure project. At present Georgia Power recycles more than 85% of all ash and gypsum, including more than 95% of fly ash, it produces from current operations for various beneficial reuses such as concrete production as well as other construction products.

Philippines: Aboitiz Group food and agriculture subsidiary Pilmico Foods says that it has developed a waste ash-based concrete mix that contains 20% less cement than its previous mix and that “can be used for all of the company’s construction needs.” The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that the ash is sourced from burnt rice husks, a fuel source for Pilmico’s food production and itself a by-product of its operations. Central Maintenance Department mechanical supervisor Michael Cayabyab said, “When we started using the biomass boiler almost two years ago, we saw process improvements and reduced costs. But in Pilmico, we know that the challenge does not stop there." The company has yet to commercialise the concrete, however it hopes to inspire others with its “demonstration of the circular economy demolishing the divide between industries.”

India: State-owned energy supplier NTPC Limited has announced the shipment of 3450t of fly ash from its 3.0GW Rihand power station in Uttar Pradesh to Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC Cement’s 3.0Mt/yr Tikaria grinding plant, also in Uttar Pradesh. The Orissa Diary newspaper has reported that the shipment – the first from a new purpose-built rail depot – over 458km is part of NTPC Limited’s commitment to 100% total fly ash utilisation, up from 73% in the 2020 financial year, ended 31 March 2020. ACC supply chain head Suresh Rathi said, “This will pave the way for efficient and safe transportation of all fly ash from power plants to cement production units located at a distance in larger quantity.”

NTPC Limited generates some 60.5Mt/yr of fly ash alongside 62.9GW of power.

US: Charah Solutions has secured a contract with energy supplier Entergy for provision of environmental services to three coal-fired power plants in Louisiana and Arkansas. The gives Charah Solutions the right to dispose of or market 0.9Mt/yr of coal combustion residuals (CCR), including to cement producers in the region for use as a cement additive.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has installed an ash washing facility at a waste incineration plant in Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture for desalination and lowering of chloride content. After rinsing, the installation will supplement cement production at Taiheiyo Cement’s 1.8Mt/yr integrated Kumagaya plant with up to 69,400t/yr of ash. The total cost of investment was US$7.17m.

Brazil: A research team at the University of São Paolo (USP) has concluded a study of cement hydration and pozzolanic activity when using 10% sugarcane bagasse (SB) and bamboo leaf ash (BLA) mixture. A paper released by the team has stated that the additive lowered the calcium hydroxide and heat required for hydration, saving on costs and emissions in cement production. Both binary and ternary concretes had higher compressive strengths with than without the mineral-rich additive. The study was supported by public and private funding.

US: Elixsys has completed a 100hr continuous pilot test to extract ammonium sulphate and calcium carbonate from flue gas desulphurisation solids at a coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania. Products made using the company’s proprietary process meet the specifications for fertiliser-quality ammonium sulphate and technical-grade calcium carbonate.

The company intends to start a commercial-scale project of its technology in 2019 once it finds a utility partner. Full-scale operations are planned by 2022. The company is also starting pilot testing on another process to extract metals from coal ash.

Poland: Lafarge Poland officially opened the Siekierki ash separation plant in July 2018. The unit was developed with local power generation company PGNiG Termika. The plant uses technology from the US’ Separation Technologies, using its proprietry electrostatic process.

The unit converts fly ash into two products: ProAsh containing less than 5% flammable parts and HiCarbon fuel containing about 30 - 50% flammable parts. ProAsh ash is used as a construction product used in cement production, ready-mix concrete and prefabricated construction. HiCarbon is used as a fuel because it contains significant amounts of unburnt carbon and so it can be reused in furnaces.

The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP&WM) awarded the project a loan of around Euro9m. PGNiG Termika operates a 2078MW coal-power plant at Siekierki.