Evaluation of the reusability of fly ash and wastewater from thermal power plants

One of the foremost efforts of countries is to produce energy and ensure its continuity. While today there is a goal to achieve this with renewable sources, coal-fired thermal power plants are still a primary source of energy production for many developing countries, including our own. During the operation of all these thermal power plants, in addition to the waste fly ash resulting from the combustion of coal, there is also a significant amount of wastewater generated due to the use of water in the cooling system and for the storage of ash. If these wastes and wastewaters are not managed properly, it is inevitable that they will cause environmental pollution, as well as socio-economic damage and harm to living organisms. Considering the amount of coal burned in these massive structures of thermal power plants, the amount of ash generated in return is also substantial. To achieve the goal of net zero carbon by 2053, the foremost task is to prevent the construction and operation of more coal-fired thermal power plants. However, it is not sufficient to simply refrain from building new coal-fired thermal power plants. It is crucial to also keep the existing ones under control in accordance with National and International Legislation, to improve them technologically, and to reevaluate the management of generated wastes, especially focusing on their reusability. This thesis investigates the reusability of fly ash generated as a result of coal combustion in thermal power plant operations, and the National and characteristic requirements for its use as an alternative raw material. Additionally, the characteristics of the fly ash generated in the landfill facility of a thermal power plant and the water used during the storage of this fly ash were determined and the reusability of the wastewater in question was evaluated. When the analysis results obtained from the leachate sample are compared with the discharge limit values in Table-2 and Table-9.3 in the Annex list of SKKY, it is seen that only the pH value does not meet the discharge standard. In addition to this; other parameter values other than pH were found to be well below the limit values specified in the Regulation.