COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MORPHOLOGY OF VARIOUS FLY ASHES AND POND ASHES FROM DIFFERENT THERMAL POWER STATIONS IN MONGOLIA

Abstract

In Mongolia coal fired thermal power stations produce over 90% of the country’s electricity. Three thermal power stations located in Ulaanbaatar city produce more than 80% of all electricity produced in Mongolia. The annual output of fly ash and bottom ash from these thermal power stations is about 600,000 tons. The thermal power plants in Ulaanbaatar city use coal from Baganuur and Shivee-Ovoo deposits. This research was conducted to compare morphologies of various fly ashes and pond ashes from TPS in Mongolia. Fly ashes from TPS4 and pond ashes from TPS3 and TPS4 of Ulaanbaatar city were characterized by x-ray fluorescence (XRF), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), laser particle size distribution analyzer, specific surface area measurement (BET), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical compositions of the fly ashes and pond ashes indicate that they are class C ashes. Specific surface areas of the fly ashes and pond ashes varied from 1.04 to 25.2 m2/g. Radiation measurements that were performed by γ-spectroscopy indicate that the radium equivalent changed from 292 to 761 Bq/kg in the various ashes.