Environmental consequences of coal combustion

Coal will be a dominant energy source in both developed and developing countries for at least the first half of the 21st century. Environmental problems associated with coal, before mining, during mining, in storage, during combustion, and post-combustion waste products are well known and are being addressed by ongoing research. The connection between potential environmental problems with human health is a fairly new field and requires the cooperation of both the geo-science and medical disciplines. The necessity of minimizing environmental impacts of coal combustion, particularly those with potentially worrisome global effects, is perhaps the greatest challenge resulting from the twentieth century's energy advances.

The combination of reducing and reusing coal combustion by-products (CCB’s) can be economic attractive. Stringent regulations and high penalties on dumping of CCB’s forces one to turn a waste product into a valuable raw material.

KEMA is involved in every step: from the generation of CCB’s to the implementation for regular utilization. Our involvement includes:
- quality control of CCB’s like sampling, characterization and testing
- thermodynamic calculations to achieve maximum conversion rates
- assessing occupational health & safety aspects of CCB’s
- dispersion modeling of trace elements
- certifying fly ash, bottom ash and gypsum for trade and further use.