Usage of Ash from Coal incineration in Wuhai, China

Abstract: This master thesis has been carried out at Industrial Ecology at Royal Institute ofTechnology, KTH, in cooperation with Swedish Environmental Research Institute, IVL.This thesis discussed the usage of the ash from coal incineration in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia,China by studying and analyzing the fly ash from the case plant, the North Power Company.In the first part, there are some background information about the study area, like Wuhaicity and the case plant, the North Power Company. The study focused on the application ofthe fly ash as the fly ash is the main fraction of the ash from coal incineration. Besides, thecurrent situation of the coal fly ash application in whole China including some regions inChina like Shanghai and some applications of fly ash worldwide, are investigated.The chemical properties of the fly ash samples collected from the case plant have beenanalyzed in two main parts, the mass fraction and the trace elements. The concentrations ofseveral metal elements in the fly ash that have the highest toxicity have been comparedwith that in the fly ash from Shanghai and the Netherlands. The leaching possibilities of themetals from the fly ash are also compared with related Chinese standards and Europeanstandards to see if the fly ash in the North Power Company has the potential to exceed the standards. According to the natural condition in Wuhai and the properties of the fly ash, the potential application areas for the fly ash from the North Power Company are: cement andconcrete, bricks, ceramic, road construction and extraction of aluminum oxides. An evaluation of those possible applications have been made by considering theinformation from technology aspects, economical aspects, environmental effects, health andsafety effects and social aspects. Using the fly ash in cement and concrete is the most suitable application among those potential applications, and the usage of the fly ash inceramic production is not a good choice under the current situation. The other three applications are also suitable to use if some tests or pretreatments have been done. At the end, there are also some suggestions for future study and recommendations for the decisionmakers. Therefore, the order of the priority of those potential applications is as follows:Cement and concrete>Bricks and Extraction of aluminum oxides>Roadconstruction>Ceramic.