EVSC 201 Environmental Pollution & Control

Case Study of Restoration of land due to disposal of Fly Ash

Amol Kashid
M.Sc. Environmental Science - I
(Roll No. 5409)

Date:-
• Fly ash is one of the residues created during the
combustion of coal in coal-fired power plants.
• Fine particles rise with flue gasses and are
collected with filter bags or electrostatic
precipitators
• Fly ash is a waste by-product material that must
be disposed of or recycled
Chemical Composition
• Because fly ash is a by-product material chemical
constituents can vary considerably but all fly includes:
• Silicon Dioxide (SiO2)
• Calcium Oxide (CaO) also known as Lime
• Iron (III) Oxide (FeO2)
• Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3)
• Depending on source coal may include on or more
toxic chemicals in trace amounts:
• Arsenic, Beryllium, Boron, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt,
Lead, Manganese, Mercury, Molybdenum, Selenium,
Strontium, Thallium, and Vanadium.
• Case Study of Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant,Purba Medinipur,West Bengal
• The Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant (KTPP) is situated on the right bank of
the Rupnarayan river in the district of
• Purba Medinipur, West Bengal. This power project was established during
the sixth plan period (1980-85) with only
• one 210 MW unit. It was in 1985 when the West Bengal Power
Development Corporation Limited took charge
• and subsequently added another five 210MW units in two stages. The KTPP
covers about 900 acres of land out of
• which 871.89 acres lie in the Panskura-II block and the rest in the Sahid
Matangini block, Tamluk. Although the
• plant has a number of benefits, the lack of treatment of the fly ash
generated from this plant has been detrimental to
• the productivity and quality of the main commercial crops of the
surrounding area and is also responsible for some changes in the landuse
pattern.
• It has been learnt from the plant authority that for its usual disposal
of fly ash one acre of land is required for each megawatt of electricity
produced in the whole life of the plant, which is about 30 years
(Source: KTPP Office, 2009). So the KTPP requires 1250 acres of land
for the disposal of fly ash generated in its whole life span.
• Presently the plant has only 325 acres of land located 4-5 km away
from it. Five ash ponds are now operating on it. The fly ash which is
coming out of the chimneys generally subsides in the surrounding
areas generally 3 – 4 km away. The effect of fly ash on agriculture and
social conditions of the local people can be explained through a flow
diagram (Fig 1)
• Study Area:
• The village Borodangi is located about 4 km away from Kolaghat
Railway station and 4 km (air distance) north of Kolaghat Thermal
Power Station. The village is connected through bus route with
Kolaghat, the nearest town. A number of trekkers
are also running from Jhashar to Kolaghat which
touches the village (Map 2). The village’s economy has been mainly
based on agriculture where a substantial share of population is
engaged in this activity. Some are land owning farmers, some are
share croppers and some are daily wage labourers.
• People engaged in the business sector, industrial sector, and service
sector are comparatively few.
• Objectives of the Study
• The major objectives of the study are:
• To examine the salient characteristics of land use pattern of the study
area.
• To assess the impact of fly ash on the production of major commercial
crops and the cropping pattern.
• To identify the change in land use pattern and nature of land
degradation in the study area due to fly ash.
• To recommend some measures in order to minimize the effect of fly
ash on the land.
• Data Base
• The primary data has been collected from two
• sources— (a) Field Survey and (b) Kolaghat Block Office.
• Data related with land holding details along with mouza map were
collected from Block Office.
• The production data of tuberose has been collected from Purba
Medinipur Flower Traders’ Association,Kolaghat. The data related to
the cropping pattern, crop production and type of irrigation facilities
available were collected from the field by questionnaire survey and as
well as from the Block Development office.
• The data on different types of fly ash and their utilization have been
collected from Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant Authority and Pond
Marketing Agency.
• Findings
• Land use characteristics of the Study Area
• The selected area belongs to the Borodangi Mouza the area of the
total mouza is 118.4 hectares (292.45acres).
• Agricultural Profile of the Study Area
• The study area has an agricultural economy. It is suitable for paddy
and flower cultivation. Besides, vegetable cultivation is also found in
private land but commercial vegetable cultivation on large scale is not
practised.
• A questionnaire survey was done among the farmers in order to know
the reasons behind the loss of soil fertility.
• According to the respondents, the fertility of land has decreased
mainly due
1) to intensive use of chemical fertilizer (47.92%)
2)followed by fly ash problem (63.64%).
3)Poor application of agricultural technologies (2.08%) has been
regarded as a factor which has much less impact on soil fertility.
• Changes in Land use and its impact
• Borodangi village has been facing a severe problem due to “fly-ash”
originating from the “Kolaghat Thermal Power Station” that has an
adverse impact on agricultural production, especially the production
of flower like tuberose which is the major commercial crop of the
study area. These have induced a change in land use. There is an
appreciable change in flower cultivation where there is almost 70%
decline in area compared to the 1975-76 situations. It clearly
indicates the level of impact of fly ash on the flower cultivation. The
vegetation cover has also reduced to 10% with the growth of
settlements. A certain percentage of land under flower cultivation is
now devoted to paddy cultivation. By this, the agricultural land has
increased approximately by 5% during a period of more than 30
years.
• Recommendations
• The KTPP authority has planted trees surrounding one ash pond. But
there are four more such ash ponds which also require dense
plantation immediately.
• The cultivation of flowers such as sunflower, china rose is possible on
the ash mixed soil. The plant authority may employ some private
agencies to examine the possibility of cultivation of such flowers on
some parts of ash pond by making a layer of soil on it. If it is possible,
it will be extremely helpful to stabilize the ash on the ash pond.
• The technological development on ash disposal and management in
different developed countries should be taken into consideration for
examining its feasibility in our country.
• Utilization of Fly Ash:
UTILIZATION OF FLY ASH IN BUILDING MATERIALS
Fly Ash could be used as prime component for a variety of construction materials. Since Fly Ash is a Pozzolanic
material containing silica in good proportion. It has tremendous potential to be used as an alternative material for
building construction. Some potential areas of building construction where Fly Ash can be used effectively and
economically are described below:
A. Ready-Mixed Fly Ash Concrete B. Precast Fly Ash Concrete Units C. Clay Fly Ash Bricks D. Lime Fly Ash Bricks
E. Lime Fly Ash Cellular Concrete F. Sintered Fly Ash Light Weight Aggregate G. Fly Ash Sand Lime Bricks H. Cement

MINE FILLS
Utilization of Fly Ash in Mine fills has potential to consume large quantity of Fly Ash. This single application of Fly
Ash can utilize about 1/4th of total Fly Ash generation . It will not only save scarce river sand but also enable us to
enhance coal recovery from the mines.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

METALLURGY
The Fly Ash contains about 20%-25% alumina. CPRI Bangaluru has developed a process to extract alumina from Fly
Ash. About 1 tone of Fly Ash with 400 kg of other additives like lime and gypsum can produce 150 kg of alumina
and 1250 kg of Pozzolanic cement, which is a good raw material for quality bricks [15]. In some cases other metals
like Zinc, Selenium etc. can also be extracted in substantial amount.
• ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
• A. Absorbent
• The absorbents are prepared by hydrothermal conversion of glass residue of Fly
Ash with aqueous alkaline earth matter. These absorbents are suitable for
purification of waste gases, drinking water purification, waste water treatment
and even include NH3 removal from waste water. In addition Fly Ash based
absorbents can be directly used to purify the waste water and a material for
absorption for gases like ammonia from waste water.
• B. Silage
• Organic silicon synthesized from Fly Ash had been tried to clean the sea water
from oil pollution in UK. The products were prepared by treating Fly Ash with
upstream of air flow cottoning silanes or organic silicon. This technique is very
cheap. Organic silicon was also prepared by another method in France. The
silicon Fly Ash was scattered on the sea surface, to absorb the oil agglomerates
and precipitate would finally settle at sea bottom together with the pollutants.
• C. Alkaline resistant fibres
• Fly Ash was utilized as a raw material for making various structural materials and
alkaline resistant fibres useful infiltration of aggressive chemicals.
• ENERGY SAVING AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENIFITS
• Most of developing countries face energy scarcity and huge housing and
other infrastructure shortage. Ideally in these countries, materials for
habitat and other construction activities should be energy efficient (having
low energy demand).
• Major pathway and opportunity for resource efficient, low carbon inclusive
growth is shown in Table
• ADVANTAGES OF FLY ASH UTILIZATION
• There are numerous advantages of Fly Ash utilization some of them
are follows:
• 1 Saving of space for disposal
• 2 Saving of scare of natural resources
• 3 Energy saving, firstly because the material is automatically
produced as a by-product and no energy is consumed for its
generation and secondly because it can replace material which
otherwise would need to be produced by consuming energy
• 4 Protection of environment, as in construction it can partly replace
cement, production of which entails energy consumption and CO2
emissions.
• SUGGESTIONS
• In a free economy the objective of Power Plants organizations in terms of business administration should be
the cost effective disposal of Fly Ash and its utilization from the point of view of a nation’s economy the
utilization of Fly Ash by-products involves various advantages which justify proceeding with the utilization
despite higher costs. This additional expenditure however should be initiated following policy interventions:
• State governments should provide land in the vicinity of thermal power plants on lease basis to the
entrepreneurs for setting up of Fly Ash based building material plant.
• Capital required for conversion coal ash into eco-friendly products intermediates should be included in the
capital cost of thermal power plants.
• Fly Ash should be incorporated in all relevant documents as a material fit for use in landfills and other
construction uses.
• The Fly Ash utilization industries should be given fiscal concessions being eco-friendly.
• Regular supply of adequate quantity of proper quality Fly Ash.
• Specifications for Fly Ash based building materials should be standardized and their use must be promoted.
• Fly Ash based industries must be exempted from import and custom duties on all imported equipment and
spare parts.
• Price difference between ordinary and Portland cement (OPC) and Pozzolana Portland cement (PPC) should
be brought back and all Government agencies should promote use of PPC.
• All new power plants should have facility for dry collection of Fly Ash and its disposal to consuming industry
and old must build these.
• All roads constructed in the vicinity of the thermal power plants should use Fly Ash.
• Use in landfill with top soil in the cities around power plants must be encouraged.
• CONCLUSION
• A number of environmental problems have been brought to light. Ways to control
these problems have been critically analyzed and it was deduced that huge amount
of Fly Ash is available as a by-product of coal-based thermal power plants. Its safe
disposal is a great problem. At present Fly Ash is dumped in ponds. Use of Fly Ash in
civil engineering construction and others have been taken up. Some new materials
viz., fiber glass reinforced plastics and glass reinforced gypsum have also been
discussed.
• Fly Ash has become an important material for various industrial and construction
applications. It is widely used in manufacturing of bricks, cement, asbestos-cement
products and road/embankments. The studies are carried out for improvement in
yield of agricultural crops, wastelands, etc. It can also be used in reinforced concrete
construction since the alkaline nature will not corrode steel. This not only solves its
disposal problems, but also helps in conserving the precious top soil required for
growing food crops. On the basis of the studies carried out on Fly Ash utilization, it is
sighted that use of Fly Ash in building construction poses great gains. If we make
proper arrangement of safe disposal and optimum use in civil engineering
construction, agriculture, etc. Utilization of Fly Ash also creates significant benefits
in terms of energy saving as well as environment.
• References
• 1. Census of India, District Census Hand Book, Purba Medinipur, 2001
• 2. Dhadse S, Kumari P and Bhagia LJ (2008),Fly ash Characterization,
Utilization and Govt. initiative in India – A Review, Journal of Scientific and
Industrial Research, Vol. 67,pp.11-18.
• 3. District Statistical Handbook, Purba Medinipur, Bureau of Applied
Economics &Statistics, Government of West Bengal,2006.
• Case Study Abstract from:
• The Indian Journal of Spatial Science-Vol.II No.2-2011 Article-2-Fly Ash
and its Impact on Land: A Case Study of Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant,
Purba Medinipur, West Bengal by Dr Arindam Dasgupta & Suman Paul
• International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and
Technology Vol. 2, Issue 10, October2013- Disposal and Utilization of Fly
Ash to Protect the Environment- By Nawaz Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering &
Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamianagar, New Delhi-110025, India