Coal Ash Enrichment with Its Full Use in Various Areas

Abstract

Increasing the percentage of recycling of various industrial waste is an important step towards caring for the environment. Coal ash is one of the most large-tonnage wastes, which is formed as a result of the operation of thermal power plants. The aim of this work is to develop a technology for the complex processing of coal ash. The tasks to achieve this aim are to develop a technology for the complex enrichment and separation of coal ash into components, with the possibility of their use in various applications, in particular: processing the aluminosilicate part as a pozzolanic additive to cement; carbon underburning for fuel briquettes; the iron-containing part for metallurgy and fertilizers. Complex enrichment and separation into components of coal ash were carried out according to the author’s technology, which includes six stages: disintegration, flotation, two-stage magnetic separation, grinding, and drying. The aluminosilicate component has a fairly constant granulometric composition with a mode of 13.56 μm, a specific surface area of 1597.2 m2/kg, and a bulk density of 900 kg/m3. The compressive strength for seven and twenty-eight daily samples when Portland cement is replaced by 15% with an aluminosilicate additive, increases to 30–35%. According to the developed technology, high-calorie fuel briquettes are obtained from underburnt with a density of 1000–1200 kg/m3, a calorific value of 19.5–20 MJ/kg, and an ash content of 0.5–1.5%. The iron-containing component, recovered by two-stage magnetic separation, has the potential to be used in metallurgy as a coking additive, in particular for the production of iron and steel. In addition, an effective micro-fertilizer was obtained from the iron-containing component, which: is an excellent source of minerals; improves the quality of acidic soil; helps soil microorganisms decompose organic matter faster, turning it into elements available to plants; promotes rooting of seedlings; helps to more effectively deal with many pests and diseases. As a result, the complete utilization of coal ash in various applications has been achieved.