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Measurement of Yield Stress and Flow Potential of Fly Ash Slurries Using a Rheometer

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Abstract

Failure of coal ash slurry impoundments generally results in an expeditious flow of toxic waste materials for several miles with detrimental impacts. To date, many studies have been undertaken to analyze failure causes and the failed ash materials. Yet, the flow and rheological behavior of fly ash slurries when an impoundment fails is still not yet well understood. In this study, rheological test results of six fly ash slurries at different solids content were used to investigate fly ash slurry flow behavior and yield stresses. In addition, anionic polyacrylamide was used to investigate the influence of a flocculant on the yield stress of fly ash slurries. It was found that flow behavior and yield stress of fly ash slurries mostly depend on the chemical properties of fly ash, the state and degree of hydration (when received), and solids content of fly ash slurries. The inter-connection between these influencing parameters is complex, and the influence of a single parameter was difficult to establish. Some hydrated fly ash slurries showed similar rheological behavior as non-hydrated fly ash slurries, whereas other hydrated fly ashes showed diagenesis behavior, turning into a hard, solid-like material that did not flow. The measured yield stresses showed an increasing trend with increasing solids content of all fly ash slurries. The use of the anionic polyacrylamide noticeably increased the yield stress of hydrated fly ash slurries by 10–50 times and 190 times for non-hydrated fly ash slurry. This is a very promising result, and this approach can be used to minimize the flow of fly ash slurries if an impoundment fails.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ms. Jacqueline R Corbett (Department of Earth and Environmental Science) for helping with the X-ray fluorescence of the fly ash. The study was partially funded by the Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2019) from Syracuse University and Geosynthetic Institute Fellowship (2019–2020) of Geosynthetic Institute (GSI), which is greatly appreciated.

Funding

The study was partially funded by the Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2019) from Syracuse University and Geosynthetic Institute Fellowship (2019–2020) of Geosynthetic Institute (GSI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MC Squared, LLC, Kennesaw, GA, USA

    Nuzhath Fatema, Shobha K. Bhatia & Angelica M. Palomino

  2. Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA

    Shobha K. Bhatia

  3. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    Nuzhath Fatema

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  1. Nuzhath Fatema
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Contributions

NF conceptualized, designed, and carried out the experiments, analyzed the results, and contributed to the writing of original document. SKB and AMP contributed to conceptualization and review and edit the writing.

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Correspondence to Nuzhath Fatema.

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Fatema, N., Bhatia, S.K. & Palomino, A.M. Measurement of Yield Stress and Flow Potential of Fly Ash Slurries Using a Rheometer. Indian Geotech J 54, 514–529 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-023-00789-2

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