Technical and radiological characterisation of fly ash and bottom ash from thermal power plant

Abstract Huge quantities of fly ash and bottom ash are generated from thermal power plants and it presents great concern for country, mainly due to the environmental effects. In this study, fly ashes and bottom ash were characterized from technical and radiological aspects. Health effect due to the activity of radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K was estimated via radium equivalent activity (Raeq), external hazards index (H ex ), the external absorbed dose rate (D) and annual effective dose rate (EDR). The specific surface area (40.25 m 2 g−1 ), particle density (1.88 g cm −3 ) and LOI (23.49%) were typical for bottom ash. Siliceous fly ash contained 32% reactive silica. The annual effective dose rate for all ashes is ≤ 0.2 mSv y −1 . Both, fly ash and bottom ash present potential secondary raw materials to be used for building purposes as result of their technological and radiological assessment.