Reuse options for coal fired power plant bottom ash and fly ash

Abstract

Reuse options for coal fly ash and coal bottom ash are reviewed in this paper. Although, significant quantities of coal fly ash and coal bottom ash are produced worldwide every year, less than 30 % of coal ash produced is reused. Coal ash is mainly reused in civil engineering applications such as road construction, embankments, construction materials, geo-polymer applications and in cement production. Other potential reuse options for coal ash include applications such as glass ceramics, water and wastewater treatment, agriculture as well as for making high value products (e.g. telescope mirrors, break-liners, fire proof products etc.). Considering that only a small fraction of coal ash is reused, other reuse options for commercial applications need to be explored.