Browsing by Author "Fatoba, Olanrewaju O."

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    Chemical, mineralogical and morphological changes in weathered coal fly ash: A case study of a brine impacted wet ash dump
    (Elsevier, 2013) Eze, Chuks P.; Nyale, Sammy M.; Akinyeye, Richard O.; Gitari, Wilson; Akinyemi, Segun A.; Fatoba, Olanrewaju O.; Petrik, Leslie
    The mobility of species in coal fly ash (FA), co-disposed with brine using a wet ash handling system, from a coal fired power generating utility has been investigated. The study was conducted in order to establish if the wet ash dump could act as a salt sink. The ash was dumped as a slurry with 5:1 brine/ash ratio and the dam was in operation for 20 years. Weathered FA samples were collected along three cores at a South African power station’s wet ash dump by drilling and sampling the ash at 1.5 m depth intervals. A fresh FA sample was collected from the hoppers in the ash collection system at the power station. Characterization of both fresh FA and weathered FA obtained from the drilled cores S1, S2 and S3 was done using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for mineralogy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for chemical composition and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphology. Analysis of extracted pore water and moisture content determination of the fresh FA and the weathered FA obtained from the drilled cores S1, S2 and S3 was done in order to evaluate the physico-chemical properties of the FA. The XRD analysis revealed changes in mineralogy along cores S1, S2 and S3 in comparison with the fresh FA. The SEM analysis revealed spherical particles with smooth outer surfaces for the fresh FA while the weathered ash samples obtained from cores S1, S2 and S3 consisted of agglomerated, irregular particles appearing to be encrusted, etched and corroded showing that weathering and leaching had occurred in the ash dump. The moisture content (MC) analysis carried out on the fresh FA (1.8%) and the weathered FA obtained from the drilled cores S1 (41.4-73.2%), S2 (30.3-94%) and S3 (21.7-76.2%)indicated that the ash dump was water logged hence creating favourable conditions for leaching of species. The fresh fly ash (n = 3) had a pH of 12.38 ± 0.15, EC value of 4.98 ± 0.03 mS/cm and TDS value of 2.68 ± 0.03 g/L, the pH of the drilled core S1 (n = 45) was 10.04 ± 0.50, the EC value was 1.08 ± 0.14 mS/cm and the TDS value was 0.64 ± 0.08 g/L. Core S2 (n = 105) had pH of 10.04 ± 0.23; EC was 1.08 ± 0.06 mS/cm and TDS was 0.64 ± 0.04 g/L, while core S3 (n = 66) had pH of 11.04 ± 0.09; EC was 0.99 ± 0.03 mS/cm and TDS was 0.57 ± 0.01 g/L. The changes in pH values can be attributed to the dissolution and flushing out of alkaline oxides like CaO and MgO from the dumped ash. The variations in pH values shows that the fly ash is acidifying over time and metal mobility can be expected under these conditions. The large decrease of EC in the drilled ash cores S1, S2 and S3 compared to the fresh ash indicated a major loss of ionic species over time in the ash dump. The XRF analysis showed the progressive dissolution of the major alumi-nosilicate ash matrix which influenced the release of minor and trace elements into the pore water enhancing their mobility as the ash dam acidified over time. Brine co-disposal on the ash may have been responsible for the slight enrichment of some species such as Na (0.27-0.56%), SO4 (0.06-0.08%), Mg (0.57-0.96 %) and K (0.02-0.34%) in the disposed weathered FA. However, there was no significant accumulation of these species in the disposed FA despite continuous addition of large volumes of highly saline brine over the 20 year period that the dump existed, indicating that the ash dam was incapable of holding salts and continually released elements to the environment over the lifetime of the dam.
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    Comparison of CO2 capture by ex-situ accelerated carbonation and in in-situ naturally weathered coal fly ash
    (Elsevier, 2013) Muriithi, Grace N.; Petrik, Leslie; Fatoba, Olanrewaju O.; M. Gitari, Wilson; Doucet, Frederic J.; Nel, Jaco; Nyale, Sammy M.; Chuks, Paul E.
    Natural weathering at coal power plants ash dams occurs via processes such as carbonation, dissolution, co-precipitation and fluid transport mechanisms which are responsible for the long-term chemical, physical and geochemical changes in the ash. Very little information is available on the natural carbon capture potential of wet or dry ash dams. This study investigated the extent of carbon capture in a wet-dumped ash dam and the mineralogical changes promoting CO2 capture, comparing this natural phenomenon with accelerated ex-situ mineral carbonation of fresh fly ash (FA). Significant levels of trace elements of Sr, Ba and Zr were present in both fresh and weathered ash. However Nb, Y, Sr, Th and Ba were found to be enriched in weathered ash compared to fresh ash. Mineralogically, fresh ash is made up of quartz, mullite, hematite, magnetite and lime while weathered and carbonated ashes contained additional phases such as calcite and aragonite. Up to 6.5 wt % CO2 was captured by the fresh FA with a 60% conversion of calcium to CaCO3 via accelerated carbonation (carried out at 2 h, 4Mpa, 90 o C, bulk ash and a S/L ratio of 1). On the other hand 6.8 wt % CO2 was found to have been captured by natural carbonation over a period of 20 years of wet disposed ash. Thus natural carbonation in the ash dumps is significant and may be effective in capturing CO2.
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    Recovery of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ from coal fly ash
    (University of the Western Cape, 2016) Sedres, Grant; Petrik, Leslie F.; Fatoba, Olanrewaju O.
    Most of the world's energy production is still mainly achieved by the combustion of coal in power stations. Coal fly ash is the inevitable waste product that accumulates to metric ton volumes each year. These vast volumes pose a problem in the disposal of the coal fly ash which conventionally is loaded onto ash dumps located near the coal power stations. Alternatives need to be investigated for the use of the coal fly ash in applications that would make the coal fly ash useful and thereby help to mitigate the environmental strain imposed by conventional ash dump disposal. This study focussed on investigating the extraction of Si and Al from CFA. The investigation into the removal of the magnetic iron oxide content and calcium content from coal fly ash was also carried out to enhance the extraction of the Si and Al from CFA e.g. the removal of calcium was attempted to promote the leaching of aluminium from the ash. The rationale for this process was that by removing and recovering these major constituent elements from the ash, it would be easier to concentrate and isolate the trace elements especially the rare earth elements that are present in the CFA. Coal fly ash sourced from Matla coal power station was characterised using x-ray diffraction to determine the mineral phases present in the raw coal fly ash and elemental composition determined by x-ray fluorescence and laser ablation ICP-MS. The main mineral phases in coal fly ash were determined to be quartz, mullite, magnetite and lime (CaO). Magnetic extraction was initially carried out on the coal fly ash to remove the iron rich magnetic material. Extraction tests were then performed on the coal fly ash using alkaline and acidic media namely; NaOH, HCl and H₂SO₄. The extraction tests were assessed and a sequential extraction experimental procedure developed to achieve the highest extraction yield for Si, Al, Fe, Ca, and Mg from the coal fly ash. Lastly the rare earth element content in coal fly ash was tracked from the beginning till the end of the sequential extraction procedure to ascertain whether the rare earth elements partitioned to the leachates or the solid residues. The total element recoveries for Al, Si, Ca Fe, Mg were 53.36 %, 39.96 %, 93.8 %, 25.6 % and 67.3 % respectively using the sequential extraction procedure developed in this study. The rare earth elements contents were not affected by the sequential extraction procedure and on the whole remained in the solid residues at the completion of the sequential extraction, resulting in a residue with enriched levels of recoverable or extractable REE content after the removal of the major oxides from the CFA. The lowest enrichment being approximately 5 % for Thulium and the highest being approximately 76 % for Erbium.