Fly ash of the Pechora basin, Russia: Waste as a resource

The fly ash, a by-product of coal combustion in thermal power plants, is one of the most complex and
abundant of anthropogenic materials, which large accumulations represent a serious environmental
threat. To reduce the environmental burden and improve the economic benefits of energy production,
the science and industry focus on the transformation of coal combustion by-products into new
functional materials. The fly ash from power plant burning coal of Pechora basin (Russia) and
synthesized products were studied by modern analytical methods. As a result of the hydrothermal
reaction several types of zeolites were synthesized from the fly ash: analcime, faujasite (zeolite X)
and gismondine (zeolite P). It was shown that the experimental conditions (temperature, reaction time
and alkali concentration) have a significant influence on the type of zeolite and its content in the
reaction products. The series of experiments resulted in schematic diagram of zeolites crystallization.
New data on the sorption-structural characteristics and cation-exchange parameters for uranium,
radium, thorium, ammonium, strontium, barium were obtained.
Keywords: Coal Fly Ash; Sinthetic Zeolites; Sorption; Radionuclides; Uran; Thorium; Radium; Barium;
Strontium; Ammonium