Economic benefits such as reduced costs associated with coal ash disposal, increased revenue from the sale of coal ash, and savings from using coal ash in place of other, more costly materials.

Environmental benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced need for disposing in landfills, and reduced use of other materials.

Reusing coal ash can create many environmental, economic, and product benefits including: According to the American Coal Ash Association's Coal Combustion Product Production & Use Survey Report, nearly 130 million tons of coal ash was generated in 2014.

Others may discharge it into a nearby waterway under the plant's water discharge permit.Ĭoal ash may also be recycled into products like concrete or wallboard.Ĭoal ash is one of the largest types of industrial waste generated in the United States. Some power plants may dispose of it in surface impoundments or in landfills. the regulations the power plant has to follow.Flue Gas Desulfurization Material, a material leftover from the process of reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from a coal-fired boiler that can be a wet sludge consisting of calcium sulfite or calcium sulfate or a dry powered material that is a mixture of sulfites and sulfates.Ĭoal ash is disposed of or used in different ways depending on:.Boiler Slag, molten bottom ash from slag tap and cyclone type furnaces that turns into pellets that have a smooth glassy appearance after it is cooled with water.Bottom Ash, a coarse, angular ash particle that is too large to be carried up into the smoke stacks so it forms in the bottom of the coal furnace.Fly Ash, a very fine, powdery material composed mostly of silica made from the burning of finely ground coal in a boiler.Coal ash includes a number of by-products produced from burning coal, including: EPA finalized the first federal limits on the levels of toxic metals in wastewater that can be discharged from power plants on November 3, 2015.Ĭoal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals or CCRs, is produced primarily from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants.EPA published regulations to address the risks from the disposal of the wastes generated by electric utilities and independent power producers.

How to dispose of slag