Comparative study of coal combustion residues from pulp and paper mills of Assam

In the present work, the physicochemical, mineralogical, and morphological characteristics of coal combustion residues (CCRs) collected from two different Pulp and Paper Mills of Assam, India, have been investigated. CCRs from both the sources were mechanically sieved to obtain various size-classified fractions and their physical properties were determined using standard methods. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) etc. techniques were employed to study the mineralogical and morphological characteristics of each size classified fraction. The loss on ignition (LOI) values of the coarser fractions were found to be unexceptionally high, implying the presence of a huge amount of unburned carbon, and indicating the incomplete combustion of feed coal. From the utilization point of view, coarser fractions may be recycled (as domestic fuels) and less-coarse fractions may be used as adsorbents of toxic organic chemicals. Due to th...