Laboratory of Solid-fuel Power Waste Recycling

Scientific results:

1. The main methods of minimizing the carbon footprint are identified. The international standards used to determine the carbon footprint are considered: international standards for accounting of greenhouse gases GHG (Greenhouse Gas) protocol and ISO 14064 standard. The main features of "green" technology and "green" products are identified, the methodology for assessing their impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the stage of production and use of products is studied. It is shown that to assess the carbon footprint of the production of "green" products, information is used on the mode and volume of manufactured products, production technology and equipment used, advantages compared to traditional products, emissions of pollutants and methods of their purification.
2. Two directions for solving the problems caused by the existence of waste are proposed: reducing the harmful effects of waste on humans and the environment and reusing waste as an alternative source of energy and raw materials. The possibilities of involving ash and slag waste (ASW) of thermal power plants, as well as overburden and host rock formed as a result of coal mining, in the processes of manufacturing building materials are considered. The most promising area of ​​application is their use in construction work or in the production of building materials as a raw material. The cost of production of building materials when using ash and slag is reduced by 12-25%.
3. Physicochemical studies of large-tonnage energy waste (waste from the extraction, enrichment and combustion of coal fuels) were carried out using the example of selected objects in the Southern Federal District to establish the possibility of using coal combustion waste from the Novocherkassk State District Power Plant and detrital (host) rock formed during underground coal mining in the Rostov Region for the production of geopolymer materials; it is necessary to establish their chemical composition. Seven types of technogenic materials were used as test samples: ash, ash and slag mixture, slag (Novocherkassk State District Power Plant), detrital rock (Novoshakhtinsk, waste heap No. 1), detrital rock (Novoshakhtinsk, waste heap No. 2), detrital rock (Krasnosulinsky district, Gukovo, Almazny settlement, waste heap No. 1), detrital rock (Krasnosulinsky district, Gukovo, dump No. 2). The choice of Novocherkassk State District Power Plant as the main source of coal combustion waste is justified by the fact that this power plant is the only one in the South of the Russian Federation that runs on coal. The analysis of the chemical composition showed that the content of SiO 2 in the waste under study is 45.09–56.12%, Al 2 O 3 – 11.35–23.59%. This allows us to classify the studied waste as aluminosilicate materials suitable for obtaining geopolymers, since the latter are materials consisting of Si–O–Si and Al–O–Si chains.
4. X-ray phase analysis of coal generation waste such as ash and slag mixture, fly ash and slag was carried out. They contain identical crystalline phases in the form of α-quartz and hematite. X-ray phase analysis of detrital (host) rocks showed that rock N.-1.1 (slag heap No. 1, Novoshakhtinsk town, Rostov Region) is formed by quartz, albite, muscovite, clinochlore; rock N.-1.3 (Nesvetaevsky settlement, Novoshakhtinsk town, Rostov Region) is characterized by a similar composition except for the presence of ankerite; burnt rock G.-2.1 (slag heap No. 1, Almazny settlement, Gukovo town, Krasnosulinsky District, Rostov Region) mainly consists of hematite, mullite, opal, cordierite; whereas the G.Sh.-1 rock (waste heap No. 2, Sherlovskaya-Naklonnaya mine, Gukovo town, Krasnosulinsky district, Rostov region) is made of quartz, muscovite and microcline
5. Radiological studies. Analysis of the radiological studies results showed that the waste in question complies with the uniform sanitary-epidemiological and hygienic requirements for the value of the effective specific activity of natural radionuclides Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and is characterized by the following values ​​of Aeff, Bq/kg: ash – (282±28); ash and slag mixture – (267±26); slag – (287±29); detrital rock (Novoshakhtinsk town, waste heap No. 1) – (165±18); detrital rock (Novoshakhtinsk town, waste heap No. 2) – (220±24); detrital rock (Krasnosulinsky district, Gukovo town, Almazny settlement, waste heap No. 1) – (205±22); detrital rock (Krasnosulinsky district, Gukovo town, waste heap No. 2) – (244±24). Thus, the fuel waste of Novocherkassk State District Power Plant and detrital (host) rock during underground coal mining in Rostov Region are characterized by Aeff less than 370 Bq/kg, which allows them to be classified as class 1 materials and used for all types of construction.
6. The methods and approaches for developing a computer design of hierarchical geopolymer materials and modeling mass transfer in a porous medium of energy waste geopolymerization products, including impurity elements, are presented. The parameters of geopolymer structure models based on the sodalite framework with different Si/Al ratios have been developed. To compensate for the excess charge, alkali metal ions and water molecules corresponding to normal conditions have been introduced. The patterns of mass transfer in the porous medium of geopolymerization products have been established. The mechanism of immobilization in hierarchical geopolymer materials, which determines mass transfer in the porous medium of geopolymerization products, has been studied. The possibility of structural rearrangement of water molecules allows them to occupy positions that ensure increased stability of the aluminosilicate framework.
7. A technology has been developed for low-temperature carbon-neutral synthesis of functional porous geopolymer materials based on waste from mining, enrichment and combustion of coal fuels with their content of at least 70 wt. %, including a method for preparing waste, additional raw materials, the main technological stages and temperature-time modes of synthesis

Education and personnel occupational retraining:

Two new additional professional programs were developed and implemented:

1. "Green Technologies of the Future", 16 hours;
2. "Advanced Materials Based on Industrial Waste", 18 hours.

Three candidate dissertations were defended:

1. Yatsenko Lyubov Aleksandrovna "Development of the technology of porous silicate materials based on natural amorphous siliceous rocks and a complex blowing agent" (supervisor PhD, associate professor B.M. Goltsman), date of defense 02/15/2023
2. Fanda Anna Yuryevna "Vitreous and glass-crystalline enamel coatings for steel cladding panels" (supervisor PhD, associate professor A.V. Ryabova), date of defense 04/11/2024
3. Yatsenko Alexander Ivanovich (supervisor PhD, associate professor N.A. Vilbitskaya) "Efficient wall ceramics based on high-calcium waste from fuel energy and natural clay raw materials", date of defense 04/25/2024

Cooperation:

Northwest Normal University (China), Head: Doctor of Sciences, Professor Wensheng Li