Life cycle assessment of fly ash bottom ash in coal power plants: A review

Abstract

Fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) from coal combustion give environmental impacts and health problems. As the demand for coal increases, FABA quantity and environmental impacts will also increase. Thus, to reduce the environmental impact, the utilisation of FABA is key. To properly utilise FABA as a sustainable material, FABA’s life cycle in Indonesian power plants needs to be studied. For initial work and comparison, this study conducted a literature review related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of FABA from coal-fired power plants. The literature review used descriptive method, with the criteria for the main articles’ selection are published papers within the last ten years. This paper discusses system boundary, inventory, environmental impact, improvement efforts, and challenges. The main beneficiaries of FABA are construction and geotechnical industries, other studies have also shown a wider range of uses in various fields. The wide utilisation of FABA faces challenges from the intrinsic character variation, non-technical issues, standards, and knowledge for proper utilisation in composite materials.