Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination and Geochemical Characteristics of CCPs in Korea

The coarse solid residues resulted from burning of coal are called coal combustion products (CCPs). As coal-fired power generation increases, the amount of CCPs is about 10 million tons per year in South Korea. These CCPs have been recycled and reused in several ways, but about 3 million tons of these byproducts have been stored in retention ponds or sent to landfills every year. There are lots of researches to increase the recycling rate of CCPs. However, due to concerns about environmental safety, recycling of CCPs has been limited. To increase its recycling rates, it is needed to understand the characteristics of CCPs and to evaluate its influence on environment. In this study, basic geochemical characteristics and heavy metal contaminations of CCPs from two coal-fired power plants in South Korea were evaluated. In order to find out the geochemical properties of CCPs from each power plant, various test including XRF, XRD and SEM analysis were performed. The heavy metal contamination was measured by heavy metal contents test and leaching test to evaluate environmental safety. The results showed that the contents of CaO and K2O in CCPs are higher than in normal soils. It was found that the levels of heavy metal contamination of CCPs from all power plants were below the safety standards of soil pollution. Leaching test also showed that the contents of heavy metals of CCPs were lower than the safety standards.