Technical Basis for Codisposal of Gasification and Combustion Ash from the Plants at Beulah, North Dakota

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe technical hasis for codisposal of gasification ash from the Great Plains Gasification Associates plant, combined with cementitious “scrubber ash” and bottom ash from the adjoining Antelope Valley generating station, both located in Beulah, North Dakota, has been explored. Nine blends containing only the ashes and tap water were fabricated into cylinders and tested for compressive strength and other physical properties. A blend having the ash proportions of the two plants was tested for leachability with respect to several regulated and minor elements. Mineralogical characterization by XRD was performed on the individual waste solids and the cured mixes. Most of the blends had compressive strengths greater than 400 psi after 7-day/38 C and 28-day/21 C curing. The 7-day treatment led to better consolidated test cylinders. Leaching behavior, evaluated by the EPA-EP and ASTM tests, was determined for As, Se, B, V, Mo, Ba, Sr, and K. Average fixation factors (the ratio of leaching expected from a weighted average of its components to the actual leaching of the specimen) of 2 to 4 were observed for the 7-day cured specimens and 1 to 2 for the 28-day specimens. Not all elements had reduced leaching in the fabricated specimens; Se and V leaching increased in the fabricated specimens. In addition to ash proportions, curing conditions (T, pH2O, time) and water to solid ratio appear to key parameters in obtaining well-consolidated and lower leachability products. XRD indicated that ettringite and minor calcite were the only crystalline reaction products of the cementitious reactions in the cured codisposal mix.