Conveying CCR to a Dry Landfill

摘要

Conveying Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) from a power plant to a dry landfill is easy to justify because the operating cost difference between trucking and conveying is so large. This differential generates a large amount of money that can be used in time zero to pay for the capital cost of the conveying system. Trucking the CCR for years creates a costly environmental footprint and huge operating costs per ton. An economic rate of return on the capital required for conveying can be calculated with ease and accuracy. In many cases conveying saves millions of dollars per year. The key variable is the annual volume of CCR material to be moved to the landfill. For most projects three materials comprise the CCR volume - bottom ash, fly ash and gypsum. If conveying is contemplated then a plan how to collect all CCR materials should be made so that a conveying system can efficiently gather them, ideally without double handling. Once the annual volume and layout is known answers to key questions such as type of conveyor needed, conveying capital cost, conveying operating cost and rate of return on investment versus trucking can be calculated. Preparing a proper study to analyze a plant's incentive to convey the CCR is usually necessary to verify what most people know - that they are wasting money by trucking. Plant operators are often surprised by the high rate of return on capital a conveying system provides.