The current state of the coal ash handling problem in Russia and abroad

One of the key targets contributing to the implementation of the goal of developing the energy sector of the Russian Federation and listed in the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2035 is reduction of the negative impact of the fuel and energy complex on the environment.
In this regard, the coal ash handling problem is given special attention, which is increased by the tightening of environmental legislation with the transition to the principles of the best available technologies, the greening of coal energy, the exhaustion of the ash and slag disposal sites, etc. Utilization of the ash, slag, as well as the ash and slag mixtures produced from combustion of coal, peat and oil shale, is one of the main problems of the modern Russian solid-fuel thermal power plants, numbering 172 ones in our country. The average age of the coal-fired thermal power plants is about 50 years, which significantly affects the technical and environmental performance of the TPP ash removal systems. At the Russian TPPs, the ash and slag is mostly conveyed using hydraulic ash and slag removal systems, being technically obsolete, uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly.
Annually in the Russian Federation 25…30 million tons of coal ash are produced. Currently, more than 1.5 billion tons of coal ash have been accumulated at the ash and slag disposal sites of thermal power plants; and these figures are growing every year. About 2/3 of all ash and slag disposal sites are close to their design filling or are already full. Elimination of the facilities (the ash and slag disposal sites) representing the accumulated environmental damage is one of the conditions for Russia's transition to the standards of a "green" economy. The problem of coal-fired thermal power plants in terms of eliminating the accumulated environmental damage can only be solved through the implementation of the large-scale projects of the integrated processing of the coal ash in order to obtain demanded products.
The article provides statistical data on the volumes of production and utilization of the coal ash in different countries of the world community in 2019. It presents an overview of the various applications of the coal combustion byproducts in Russia, the U.S., India, China, and the EU countries. The article contains data on the applicability of the coal ash for various technologies for their use according to the data of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. The paper contains a review of different sources of scientific and technical information on the prospects for the use of the coal ash in hydrogen energy industry for the sorption and storage of hydrogen, as well as a review of traditional hydrogen storage methods. The terminology in the field of coal combustion by-products handling, found in scientific and technical sources of information, is considered, and the classification of the coal combustion byproducts in Russia and abroad is given. The main recommendations contributing to an increase in the level of coal ash utilization in Russia are given.

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