Coal Ash Reclamation System for Moisture Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Coal ash landfills accumulate significant volumes of wet coal ash, primarily bottom ash, which has limited value and requires effective reclamation methods to reduce volume and enhance usability.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for coal ash reclamation involving a harvester, screen, dryer, crusher, classifier, dust collector, and cooling system to process raw coal ash into dried, crushed, and classified fine particulate ash, reducing water content and optimizing material characteristics for storage and use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If coal ash is stored in land fill as is, then storage volume is maintained, but water content remains high (8-20%) and material value is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by transforming the physical and chemical state of coal ash through a multi-step process: drying reduces water content from 8-20% to below 3%, crushing changes particle size distribution, and classification separates ash into different size fractions. These parameter transformations convert low-value wet ash into high-value dry fine particulate ash suitable for concrete applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements discarding and recovering by separating unwanted components (non-ash material, oversized particles) from the valuable fine particulate ash. The screening process discards non-ash material, while the classification process recovers fine particulate ash for reuse in concrete, preventing material value loss.
2Quantity of substance
If wet coal ash is processed through drying and crushing, then material value increases and water content decreases, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the coal ash processing into distinct sequential stages: screening to remove non-ash material, drying to reduce moisture, crushing to reduce particle size, and classification to separate size fractions. Each stage is handled by dedicated equipment, making the complex process manageable and efficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements universality through the classification system that produces multiple useful products from a single input stream. The classifier separates crushed ash into different size fractions, with fine particulate ash suitable for concrete and coarser material potentially usable for other applications, maximizing the utility of the processing system.
3Volume of stationary object
If fine particulate ash is collected through dust collector, then storage volume is reduced, but fine particulate material is lost to atmosphere
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of fine particulate ash escaping to atmosphere into a beneficial outcome by using the dust collector to capture these particles and redirect them to storage. The dust collector, which would otherwise just exhaust particles, is integrated into the system to recover and store the fine particulate ash, eliminating atmospheric pollution while preserving material value.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively reduces water content from 18-20% to below 3%, transforming raw coal ash into valuable fine particulate ash suitable for concrete and other products, reducing storage and transport burdens while increasing material value.
Implementation Method 1
a dryer for drying the raw coal ash thereby creating dried coal ash and fine particulate ash
Implementation Method 2
a cooling system for cooling the fine particulate ash
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for coal ash reclamation from a land fill, the system comprising: a harvester; a screen for screening non-ash material from ash collected by the harvester; a dryer for drying raw ash thereby creating dried coal ash and fine particulate ash; an exhaust pipe to direct the ash to a dust collector; a crusher for crushing the dried ash; a classifier for classifying the crushed dried ash; and a storage container for storage. The method comprising: harvesting raw coal ash from a land fill; screening the raw coal ash to remove oversize materials; drying the screened ash to remove water; crushing the stream of dried ash; classifying the crushed ash into fine particulate ash and large particulate ash, the second stream being directed for further crushing; streams of fine particulate ash being cooled; and storing the fine particulate ash.