Complex utilization of treatment wastes from thermal power plants

Abstract

The paper investigates present-day challenges related to accumulation, processing and disposal of the coal combustion wastes. The analysis of technogenic materials beneficiation practices using gravitation, magnetic and flotation beneficiation methods has been carried out. Quantitative and qualitative microscopic analysis of materials has been conducted. The study target were ash and slag wastes (ASW) from thermal power plant and coal combustion ash. Most metals are contained in coals and coal ashes in fine-dispersed (1-10 μm) mineral form. Various native metals and intermetallic compounds, sulfides, carbonates, sulfates, tungstates, silicates, rare earths phosphates and niobates have been discovered. Each metal may occur in several mineral phases, for instance tungsten may be in the form of wolframite, stolzite, ferberite, scheelite and represented by impurities. Not only composition of compounds is diversified, but also morphology of grains: well-defined and skeleton crystals, aggregates and polycrystalline structures, crystal twins and fragments; druses, globules and microspherules; porous shapes, flocculous and splintery clusters, lumpy aggregations, etc. Based on chemical silicate analysis of main ASW components the petrochemical properties of material have been assessed. Preliminary analyses have shown that concentration of ferrum-bearing components in ASW is around 5-11 %. The magnetic method of technogenic waste beneficiation with the help of high-gradient magnetic separation has been studied. The obtained evidences show that fine ASW are most efficiently separated in separators with high-gradient magnetic system. The studies provided justification of a process flow for complex treatment of technogenic carbon-containing material, including flotation, gravitation separation, magnetic heteroflocculation enrichment and high-gradient magnetic separation. The determined complex utilization ratio has proven the efficiency of complex processing.