Debangsu Bhattacharyya, GE Plastics Material Engineering professor of chemical and biomedical ‎engineering, received a $2.5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop an online ‎monitoring tool, using AI, for boiler systems at coal-fired and natural gas power plants.‎

Due to frequent and rapid loading, power plants are subjected to excessive creep and fatigue ‎damages, which often lead to the failure of critical boiler components, Bhattacharyya said. This ‎causes power plants to operate inefficiently.‎

Here’s how power plants work: Coal or natural gas is combusted inside to produce high-pressure ‎steam that is then used in a steam turbine to generate electricity. A boiler incorporates a furnace to ‎burn fuel and generate heat, which is transferred to water to make steam.‎

‎“The boiler is at the heart of the power plant,” Bhattacharyya said. “During startup, the boiler is ‎gradually heated up increasing the steam temperature and pressure to their nominal values.”‎

With power plant boilers, there’s a lot of starting up and shutting down.‎

Depending on the length of the idle time before the startup is initiated, startups can be categorized ‎as hot, warm or cold startups. Cold startups can cause significantly more damage to the boiler ‎health in comparison to hot or warm startups. During shutdown, the boiler is gradually cooled and ‎the steam pressure is decreased.‎

Many power plant boilers start up and shut down several hundreds of times a year.‎

This is where AI can play a in role, in predicting the behaviors of the boilers by “learning” the inner ‎workings of the system, Bhattacharyya said.‎

‎“AI models will be used to describe the complex phenomena in the boilers that are time-varying,” ‎he said. “For example, external fouling of boiler tubes by fly ash and slag is an extremely complex ‎phenomenon being affected by various operating conditions such as the gas flow field, coal and ‎ash particle shape and size distribution and hardware design.”‎

A tool to monitor the online health of the boiler can be developed to understand the impacts of ‎load-following and can eventually help plants develop advanced process control strategies for ‎improved flexibility, higher profitability and reduced forced outage without compromising safety or ‎reliability, Bhattacharyya said.‎

‎“As the system learns, it eventually keeps improving the estimation accuracy,” he said.‎

The project is part of a larger initiative from the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy that allocated $39 ‎million toward a total of 17 research projects aimed at improving the reliability, performance and ‎flexibility of the nation’s existing coal-fired power fleet.‎

Bhattacharyya’s model will be tested at Barry Power Plant, a coal- and natural gas-fired electrical ‎generation facility in Alabama.‎

‎“Even though each boiler is different, the framework proposed can be readily adapted to the ‎monitoring of practically any power plant,” he said. “A key goal of the project is to develop the ‎framework so that it is easy to understand and implement for broader acceptability by and ‎applicability to a large number of power plants.”‎

research from the University of Alberta has put a B.C.-based company one step closer to ‎developing a green alternative to fly ash used in cement.‎

Progressive Planet, a mineral exploration company with its flagship Z1 zeolite Quarry in B.C., ‎announced its project with the university to modify the rheology of its zeolite mixture has been ‎successful. Rheology, or slump, refers to the flow of something, a key aspect of properly pouring ‎cement.‎

Researchers found the mixture, which includes zeolite, recycled glass that has been pulverized and ‎other proprietary ingredients, has been able to achieve a slump better than targeted. Now the team is ‎working to get CSA testing conducted so the product can be ready for commercial use as a ‎supplementary cementing material.‎

Steve Harpur, CEO of Progressive Planet, said he not only sees an opportunity to fill in a gap as the ‎coal plants that supply fly ash are phased out, but also put a dent in one of the globe’s worst ‎sources of pollution.‎

Large amounts of glass end up in landfills that could easily be used in a cement mix. And the ‎cement making process is less polluting as well.‎

Harpur explained that traditional fly ash must be heated to over 1,000 degrees several times, ‎requiring a large amount of energy and releasing almost half of the fly ash material as carbon ‎dioxide.‎

‎“This is the main reason that the production of Portland cement is the second biggest man-made ‎cause of CO2 pollution,” said Harpur. “It’s absolutely monstrous. It’s a tremendously destructive ‎force in global warming.” ‎

Harpur explained natural pozzolans like zeolite are volcanic in origin and have already been rapidly ‎heated and cooled. This makes them amorphous in structure rather than crystalline. They only need ‎to be ground into a fine powder to be used in a cement mixture rather than heated.‎

The material’s use in construction is ancient. Harpur explained pozzolanic ash was famously used ‎in the roman concrete that makes up the Parthenon’s dome. The structure remains the world’s ‎largest and oldest unreinforced concrete dome.‎

Harpur said he anticipates being able to soon sell a product that could be used to reduce the amount ‎of Portland cement in a mix by 20 per cent.‎

But first the product must go through several CSA tests that measure compressive strength, alkali-‎silica reaction, sulphate resistance and freeze-thaw resistance. In addition, one American Society ‎for Testing and Materials test will be completed to analyze air voids.‎

The company will be targeting the 2021 construction season to have a commercial product that it ‎can offer as a competitive alternative to fly ash to the ready mix and pre-cast concrete industries in ‎B.C. and Alberta.‎

Harpur explained traditional fly ash is already becoming scarce. Coal plants that produce electricity ‎and fly ash are already starting to get phased out and by 2029 they won’t be allowed in some ‎provinces.‎

Harpur hopes the technology can go even further than just a supplementary material. Progressive ‎Planet is already in the early stages of researching a geopolymer mix without any Portland cement ‎and even developing a way to reverse the cement making process to sequester carbon.‎

‎“Concrete is the most consumed building material in the world,” said Harpur. “We don’t have a ‎perfect solution but it’s a better solution. Our corporate values are to continue to find better ‎solutions. That’s why we were so excited to be taking a product, glass, that is basically single use ‎and it can be involved in structures for decades.”‎

The fly ash market accounted to US$ 6,863.5 Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ‎‎7.9% during the forecast period 2019 – 2027, to account to US$ 13,502.7 Mn by 2027.‎

The Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share in the global fly ash market. The growth of ‎fly ash market in this region is primarily attributed to the rising spending on infrastructure and ‎increasing growth in the construction sector. Moreover, higher population rate in the countries such ‎as China and India has led to increased demand for residential as well as commercial construction. ‎The growing population of these countries is the main driver for the growth of the construction ‎industry in the region. This would influence the fly ash market growth during the forecast period. ‎Furthermore, the availability of vast coal reserve in this region and government initiatives for the ‎disposable of fly ash are the major factors that provide a lucrative growth opportunity for the fly ‎ash market players.‎

Under application segment, the Portland cement & concrete is the leading segment. Fly ash, ‎commonly as pulverized fuel ash, is a byproduct of coal combustion, comprised of the particulates ‎driven out of coal-fired boilers combined with the flue gases. Fly ash used in Portland cement ‎concrete (PCC) has numerous advantages and enhances concrete performance in both the fresh and ‎hardened state. The use of fly ash in concrete progresses the workability of plastic concrete and the ‎strength and toughness of hardened concrete. However, the quality of fly ash must be carefully ‎examined when the material is used in PCC. Furthermore, road & embankment construction ‎segment is anticipated to grow at a faster pace, which is anticipated to boost the demand for fly ash ‎over the forecast period.‎

Fly ash is obtained from one of the biggest sources of air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions ‎on Earth. The main reason that fly ash is considered to be eco-friendly when used in construction is ‎that it is recycled material. Fly ash concrete has the ability to simultaneously curb global carbon ‎emissions while developing better and more durable infrastructure. Fly ash products do not require ‎the high-temperature processing of cement and have the same compressive strength as cement. ‎Furthermore, it requires only a small fraction of the sodium-based activation chemicals used to ‎harden the cement. The researchers are focusing on developing new and innovative products of fly ‎ash that can be used in a variety of applications. For instance, the researchers from Rice University ‎have developed a new composite binder that can completely replace cement and also reduce waste ‎from power plants. Fly ash is composed of airborne particles created as coal is burned in power ‎plants. This material is usually captured, and while some are recycled, most ends up in the ‎landfill.  In the developed and developing nations such as the United States, Germany, China, and ‎India, among others, the building and constructing industry is prospering on the back of rapid ‎urbanization. For the construction sector, cement is an important material, and the consumers are ‎looking for more environment-friendly versions of it in order to build robust skyscrapers and other ‎concrete structures. Therefore, fly ash has emerged as a premium substitute for Portland cement for ‎the building and construction industry.‎

The market for fly ash is concentrated with some very well-established players. Some of the key ‎players in the fly ash market include Ashtech India Pvt Ltd, Boral Limited, CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V, ‎Hi-Tech FlyAsh (India) Private Limited, LafargeHolcim Ltd., Salt River Materials Group, Sephaku ‎Cement, Tarmac, The, SEFA Group, Titan America LLC, Charah Solutions, Inc., and FlyAshDirect.‎

Strategic Insights

Merger & acquisition were observed as the most adopted strategies in global fly ash market. Few of ‎the recent developments in the global fly ash market are listed below:‎

‎2019: Boral Resource acquired marketing rights for fly ash produced at two large coal-fueled ‎power plants in Mexico. The power plants are capable of producing more than 1 million tons ‎annually of concrete quality Class F fly ash that will be available for distribution through Boral’s ‎extensive western United States network.‎

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‎2018: Charah Solutions, Inc signed a partnership agreement with Oklahoma Construction Materials ‎and also completed the installation of new fly ash storage silos at Oklahoma Construction Materials ‎rail terminal near Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Construction Materials is a leading provider of ‎transload and aggregate supply services.‎

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‎2018: Charah Solutions, Inc. launched the proprietary fly ash thermal beneficiation technology that ‎improves the quality of fly ash. Charah Solutions’ new MP618 Multi-Process technology reduces ‎the loss on ignition (LOI), ammonia, activated carbon and moisture in fly ash.‎