Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium
The Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium (CBRC) program was developed as a focused program to remove and/or minimize the barriers for effective management of over 123 million tons of coal combustion byproducts (CCBs) annually generated in the USA. At the time of launching the CBRC in 1998, about 25% of CCBs were beneficially utilized while the remaining was disposed in on-site or off-site landfills. During the ten (10) year tenure of CBRC (1998-2008), after a critical review, 52 projects were funded nationwide. By region, the East, Midwest, and West had 21, 18, and 13 projects funded, respectively. Almost all projects were cooperative projects involving industry, government, and academia. The CBRC projects, to a large extent, successfully addressed the problems of large-scale utilization of CCBs. A few projects, such as the two Eastern Region projects that addressed the use of fly ash in foundry applications, might be thought of as a somewhat smaller application in comparison to construction and agricultural uses, but as a novel niche use, they set the stage to draw interest that fly ash substitution for Portland cement might not attract. With consideration of the large increase in flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum in response to EPA regulations, agricultural uses of FGD gypsum hold promise for large-scale uses of a product currently directed to the (currently stagnant) home construction market. Outstanding achievements of the program are: (1) The CBRC successfully enhanced professional expertise in the area of CCBs throughout the nation. The enhanced capacity continues to provide technology and information transfer expertise to industry and regulatory agencies. (2) Several technologies were developed that can be used immediately. These include: (a) Use of CCBs for road base and sub-base applications; (b) full-depth, in situ stabilization of gravel roads or highway/pavement construction recycled materials; and (c) fired bricks containing up to 30%-40% F-fly ash. Some developed technologies have similar potential in the longer term. (3) Laboratory studies have been completed that indicate that much higher amounts of fly ash could be added in cement-concrete applications under some circumstances. This could significantly increase use of fly ash in cement-concrete applications. (4) A study of the long-term environmental effects of structural fills in a surface mine in Indiana was completed. This study has provided much sought after data for permitting large-volume management options in both beneficial as well as non-beneficial use settings. (5) The impact of CBRC on CCBs utilization trends is difficult to quantify. However it is fair to say that the CBRC program had a significant positive impact on increased utilization of CCBs in every region of the USA. Today, the overall utilization of CCBs is over 43%. (6) CBRC-developed knowledge base led to a large number of other projects completed with support from other sources of funding. (7) CBRC research has also had a large impact on CCBs management across the globe. Information transfer activities and visitors from leading coal producing countries such as South Africa, Australia, England, India, China, Poland, Czech Republic and Japan are truly noteworthy. (8) Overall, the CBRC has been a truly successful, cooperative research program. It has brought together researchers, industry, government, and regulators to deal with a major problem facing the USA and other coal producing countries in the world.
- Research Organization:
- West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-98FT40028
- OSTI ID:
- 982245
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium
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