Abstract
The rapid economic development in China places a large demand for energy, and as a result, thermal power plants in China are producing an enormous amount of coal fly ash (CFA) which causes severe environmental pollution. This paper briefly describes the current production and utilization status of CFA in China and identifies the challenges confronting sustainable CFA utilization as the Chinese economy is being transformed. These issues include a regional imbalance in supply and demand, reducing demand in the real estate industry as well as stricter laws for environmental protection. Viable directions for future CFA utilization are proposed, for example, production of CFA-based ceramic tiles, recovery of elemental resources, agricultural melioration, treatment of wastewater and flue gas, and production of high-volume CFA concretes. This paper has some guiding significance for sustainable and cleaner utilization of CFA in China and even worldwide.
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Funding
The work was funded by the City University of Hong Kong Strategic Research Grant (SRG) (No. 7005105), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Funds (GRF) (No. CityU 11205617), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51774261), and the Major Science and Technology Project of Inner Mongolia (Preparation and application of fly ash-based soil conditioner).
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Shili Zheng and Paul K. Chu had the idea for the article.
Yang Luo and Yinghong Wu performed the literature search and data analysis.
Yang Luo drafted the work.
Shuhua Ma and Yi Zhang critically revised the work.
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Highlights
• Sustainable utilization of CFA has been attracting intensive attention in China.
• Current status of production and utilization of CFA in China is described.
• Sustainable utilization of CFA in China is facing challenges.
• Viable directions for future CFA utilization are proposed.
• This paper has guiding significance for more sustainable CFA utilization.
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Luo, Y., Wu, Y., Ma, S. et al. Utilization of coal fly ash in China: a mini-review on challenges and future directions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 18727–18740 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08864-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08864-4