Coal combustion products (CCPs) like fly ash, furnace bottom ash and cenospheres are solid by-products of coal fuelled electricity.
At Vales Point Power Station dry fly ash is collected from dust collection plant and transported to an onsite facility where it is processed for reuse. Bottom ash is collected at the ash dam from a wet sluice stream for processing and sale for reuse. Cenospheres are minute floating spherical particles found in the ash dam are also harvested and processed for sale
Delta is supporting innovation and environmental sustainability in collaboration with UniqueCem Pty Ltd by utilising fly ash from Vales Point and slag from steel mills as a cement replacement in low carbon concrete products.
The UniqueCem product provides an affordable alternative to traditional cement and delivers the same durability and strength, ensuring high-quality results without compromising on environmental responsibility.
Delta has co-sponsored a research project with University of Newcastle and Daracon Group at the Smartcrete CRC to develop a new concrete mix using bottom ash as supplementary cementitious material and partial sand replacement.
This concrete utilises industrial by-products resulting in a lower embodied carbon content compared to traditional concrete and reduces the need to source natural and finite sands.
There is currently a modest market for fly ash reuse as a cement replacement as well as in road construction and other building materials uses. Delta continually reviews opportunities to recycle fly ash with the excess ash wet sluiced to the ash dam for storage.