STRATEGY FOR BENEFICIAL USE OF STOKER-BOILER COAL ASH

Commercial coal ash makes up a large amount of the material in United States landfills. Studies to promote recycling of these materials are conducted on a case-by-case basis. The objective of the present work i s to provide ash generators with a strategy for developing ash-recycli ng options in order to reduce landfill usage and create profits from t he sale of their by-products. A protocol is used to identify beneficia l use options for many types of nonhazardous, industrial-process by-pr oducts. In the present paper, the protocol is demonstrated with stoker -boiler coal ash recycled in construction products, mainly concrete an d concrete block. The protocol contains five steps: a preliminary char acterization. a market survey, screening tests and pilot production, a n environmental-impact assessment, and a cost analysis. These steps ar e required before any potential use can be recommended to a generator.