UTILIZATION OF FLY ASH IN MINERAL WOOL PRODUCTION

摘要

Yugoslav thermal power plants (TPP) generate about 7.5 Mt of ash per year. Only 15 percent of it is used in various industries whilst the remaining quantities are disposed in ash disposal sites. Disposed fly ash causes serious environmental problems primarily due to land water and air pollution. It is therefore important to find ways to utilize fly ash rather then to dispose it. Most Yugoslav TPP use lignite as fuel and among them the thermoenergetic complex Kosovo is one of the largest producers of fly ash with over 1.5 Mt/year. Intensive research has been done on Kosovo TPP fly ash utilization but the recent work dealing with the use of fly ash as a raw material for mineral wool production is attractive. The objective of this paper is to present a short review of the new technology that can be successfully applied in fly ash utilization. Necessary investigation carried out on the fly ash from Kosovo A TPP included determination of physical, chemical and mineralogical properties, laboratory tests of mineral-ash fiber production and the analysis of obtained fibers. Results showed that mineral wool could be produced from fly ash using quartz sand as a corrective component. The fibers produced were of good quality in terms of homogeneity and structure of the fibers, smoothness of the surface and sulfur content. These results were applied for the preliminary design of a mineral-ash wool processing plant.