Analysis Of Light Weight Aggregate ( LWA )

Clean coal technology usually addresses atmospheric problems resulting from burning coal. Historically, the primary focus was on sulfur dioxide and particulates, since it is the most important gas in the causation of acid rain. More recent focus has been on carbon dioxide (due to its impact on global warming) as well as other pollutants. Concerns exist regarding the economic viability of these technologies and the timeframe of delivery, potentially high hidden economic costs in terms of social and environmental damage, and the costs and viability of disposing of removed carbon and other toxic matter. More, the byproducts of coal power production range from fly ash sludge ponds full of mercury, arsenic, and sulfur in unlined ponds that can leak into the water supply.

Coal ash is known to contain a number of different toxic metals, the exact content dependent upon the coal it is formed from. Containing this potential pollution hazard is an expensive problem, as approximately 75% of all ash generated is stored in landfills. In these sites, rainwater can leach out toxic metals including mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, molybdenum, lead and selenium. As over 500 million tons of ash are produced each year, there’s an increasing environmental health hazard to the surrounding water systems of these landfills. Pollution can spread to municipal water systems and potentially poison humans. As such, figuring out a better solution to deal with the unused coal ash is of significant importance. Current uses of coal ash primarily include the formation of concrete due the pozzolanic properties of coal

Coal ash also contains selenium which is already needed in our body, but excess amounts can lead to impaired vision, paralysis, and even death. The ash contains a lot of lead, exposure to lead can cause numerous issues in your brain affecting your nervous system and can cause brain swelling. Arsenic which is found in the ash can be harmful, if ingested it can lead to nervous system damage and cardiovascular issues. If arsenic that is found in the ash is absorbed through the skin can cause skin cancer. Coal ash contain boron also can cause damage to the intestines and even death. The EPA is responsible for protecting the environment from these types of spills, but in the case of properly disposing the ash the EPA ruled that coal ash was classified as a non-hazardous material leaving it up to the companies to dispose of it as they want

When a large magnitude earthquake strikes, roads might buckle, dams sometimes fail, and buildings can collapse. As more earthquakes occur, building regulations have been altered to ensure that buildings experience minimal damage. The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS), which transports oil from Prudhoe Bay to the Gulf of Alaska, had engineering in place so when the earthquake struck the Denali fault in Alaska in 2002, the pipeline didn’t leak any oil (Nyman, Johnson, and Roach, 2003). The success of the pipeline came from its supporting structures. The engineering used in the TAPS should be applied to buildings in areas that are also prone to large magnitude earthquakes, such as Washington and California. California is home to the San Andreas fault, a major transform fault, just like the Denali, and Washington is home to the Seattle Basin, whose geometry and geological units amplify main and aftershock waves. Washington and California should first implement better building regulations, and if the premise is successful, it could be applied anywhere large magnitude earthquakes occur.

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a response update to assess potential impacts to human and aquatic life (2014). The method the EPA employed was to analyze surface water and sediments for contaminants and compare those results to its screening levels. To assess impact to human health, the EPA compared the sediment data to health risk screening levels and compared drinking water samples to Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) as well as to other indicators. Overall, the EPA found those levels found in sediment data and water samples to not exceed human health screening levels and thus determined that there wasn’t significant risk to human health, although the EPA did recommend that people do not come in direct contact with coal ash as it could still pose health risks. These findings were consistent with that of Dr. Shea.

P. Engelbrecht et al., 2009). Geological dust exists naturally in the environment and is difficult to control on a large scale in arid conditions such as Afghanistan where dust storms are typical. However, watering, laying gravel or asphalt, and limiting movement can be used to limit the amount of airborne geological dust that enters the breathing zone. Burn pits are doctrinally used early in U.S. military deployments when waste management systems such as recycling, land-filling, and incinerations is not an option to dispose of the majority of solid waste (mixed waste) (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Disposing of mixed waste (metal, plastic, rubber, electronics, batteries, fuel etc.) through the use of burn pits creates a plume of smoke that may include lead, zinc, and cadmium as airborne particulates and cause potential health effects if inhaled (Johann P Engelbrecht, McDonald, Gillies, & Gertler, 2008). Health conditions related to the inhalation of air with elevated PM has been correlated to events where temperature inversions occurred. Meteorological conditions in Afghanistan where inversions are most likely occur from fall to spring (Johann P Engelbrecht et al.,

The downsides to these materials are that using too much of them can be wasteful. Products like sand can easily be tracked into your house. Ash can be harmful to vegetable and fruit gardens as it contains heavy amounts of metal. And to top it off, the prices of these materials are more expensive to buy in bulk than

The author states that Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals and is produced from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. The different types of coal ash described by the EPA is, fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas material. The kind of ash released from the dike in the Kingston Fossil Plant was fly ash stated in previous sources. The EPA also provides us with information about what the power plants do with the coal ash such as, the disposing of the coal ash into landfills or recycled into products used in everyday life. Coal can also be used for environmental benefits, economic benefits, and also product benefits. The EPA regulates coal ash because it contains dangerous contaminants such as mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Without proper regulation these contaminants can pollute waterways, drinking water, air, and ground water. The need for these regulations were found during the coal ash spills occurring in Kingston, TN and Eden, NC. This source is credible because it comes from a government website that is factual and

The third largest coal ash spill in United States history has left some citizens in North Carolina fearing their water is not safe to drink. This fear is a result of anywhere between 50,000 and 82,000 tons of coal ash and up to twenty-seven million gallons of contaminated water being dumped into the Dan River in Eden, North Carolina on February 2, 2014. The spill was caused by a busted storm drain pipe that ran under an unlined coal ash pond at Duke Energy’s Dan River Combined Cycle Station (“Duke Energy’s Grievous”). Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal for energy and contains substances such as arsenic, lead, and mercury. These toxic chemicals are not only harmful to the environment but to the human population as well (Christian).

According to the Appalachian Voices Organization, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that iron and manganese concentrations surpass drinking water guidelines in at least 40% of wells on the Appalachian Plateau, and in about 70% of the wells near reclaimed surface coal mines of the region.This proves that many communities local drinking water are being poisoned by the chemicals and waste left behind from the mountaintop removal sites that has entered their water supply and many water streams. Coal slurry, a waste left after washing and processing coal with water and chemicals, also gets into to their drinking supply and extremely dangerous because it is highly toxic and it can leach into groundwater. Furthermore, “On August 20, 2004, a bulldozer pushed a boulder weighing half a ton from a mountaintop removal site in Appalachia, Virginia. The falling boulder crashed into the side of a residence, crushing 3 year-old Jeremy Davidson in his sleep.” This demonstrates that mountaintop removal is terribly dangerous most especially to local communities affected by it because the debris and explosions from mountaintop removal can destroy nearby buildings and potentially kill someone. Mountaintop removal should be banned because it is a threat to many local

The very first open-pit mines that were built in the world started around when men began to develop tools and constructing massive stone monuments to their gods. They were known as quarries. Quarries are open-pit mines that produce building materials and dimension stone, such as granite, marble, limestone, and other tangible rock building materials. However, these open-pit mines produced little to no pollution at all because the technology to extract every last gram of ore from rack has not been developed. The process basically involves pulverizing every rock that comes out of a mine with any trace of ore within it. This produces what is known as tailings. Tailings are one of the biggest pollutants of the world to date. They are so toxic that they have to be mixed with water to produce sludge and are pumped into ponds (known as tailings ponds) so that they are rendered “obsolete”.

The state of California is home to notorious fault lines such as the infamous San Andreas fault. In Northern California, there are six significant Bay Area active faults: Calaveras, Concord-Green Valley, Greenville, Hayward, Rodgers Creek, and San Gregorio Fault [1]. After the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, propagating from the Santa Cruz Mountains, caused approximately $6 Billion dollars in damages [2]. Many infrastructure agencies altered their design and operations standards to prepare themselves for the next major earthquake. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) and The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have made changes so above and below ground infrastructures are prepared to withstand potential damages from seismic

Fly ash is recognized as a hazardous material to living organisms. During combustion of coal at very high temperature, heavy metals present in coal emitted into the atmosphere with flue gas, and they can also be reabsorbed onto particle matters and pooled there (Yuan, 2009). Different leaching methods give the information about the elements present in fly ash (Nerin, 1992; Andres, 1996). Due to the huge amount produced and the great amount of toxic chemical compounds, the disposal or storage of fly ash from coal power plants can pose a significant environmental problem (Herck, 2000). Fly ash contains several toxic elements, such as lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and arsenic (As) that may leach out and contaminate

Aggregate is one of the basic constituents of concrete. Its quality is of considerable importance because about three-quarter of the volume of concrete is occupied by aggregates. One of the physical properties of aggregate that influence the property of concrete is the grading of aggregate. The grading of aggregate defines the proportions of particles of different size in the aggregate. The grading of fine (size < 5 mm) and coarse (size > 5 mm) aggregates are generally required to be within the limits specified in BS 882: 1992.

M.C. Nataraja and Lelin Das studied different properties compressive strength, split tensile strength, bending strength and water absorption of paver block made by concrete mix 1:1.5:3 consisting of crushed granite, unconventional materials such as kadapa and broken paver in different percentage replacements of coarse aggregate. Author were test 5 different type of replacement of natural aggregate as 100% natural aggregate,100% broken paver aggregate,100% kadapa aggregate & combination of natural and broken paver aggregate in 50-50% and another combination of natural and kadapa aggregate also in 50-50 % in design mix. Authours concluded that combination of natural and kadapa