Coal fly ash and the circular economy

Blissett, Robert (2015). Coal fly ash and the circular economy. University of Birmingham. Eng.D.

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Abstract

Coal fly ash (CFA) can be regarded as a unique material with the potential to be a showcase waste to illustrate the concept of the circular economy. The application of a processing scheme to power station CFA allows the exploitation of multiple components of the product. The CFA can be separated into low density, carbon, and magnetic concentrates as well as the residual fly ashes. This work contributes to a growing body of research that suggests multi component utilisation of CFA is technologically, environmentally, and economically imperative. The thesis explores five separate but related themes that attempt to increase the exploitation of CFA. In the first it is shown that CFA products that are derived from a commercial scale processing scheme exhibit differences in bulk chemistry, mineralogy, and particle size. In the second theme, a study of the rheology of CFA suspensions was conducted. The third aspect of the thesis explores the current method of recovering cenospheres from bulk CFA. The fourth part of the thesis covers the separation of carbon from CFA using an environmentally benign waste material such as vegetable oil. Finally, a silver activated titanium dioxide floating photocatalyst has been manufactured using cenospheres as an industrially derived substrate.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Eng.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Eng.D.

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