This article is 19 years old. Images might not display.
Working under a $US7.2 million US Department of Energy cooperative agreement, Universal Aggregates converted the CCB to a lightweight aggregate material for use in manufacturing concrete block.
The CCB was sourced from Birchwood Power Partners’ facility in Virginia, where Universal has now constructed its own plant to manufacture the aggregate. The company expects to produce about 167,000t of the material each year at the plant.
The plant design was based on technology originally tested at a six-ton per hour pilot plant located at Consol Energy in South Park, Pennsylvania.
Traditionally, the Birchwood plant has paid to have more than 100,000t of ash disposed of in a county landfill. With the construction of its plant, Universal Aggregates has saved Birchwood operators some landfill costs.
Although the cost of landfilling can vary considerably, estimates place the operating and maintenance costs at $US2-$US4 per ton and capital costs at an additional $US8-$US17/t.
