Is there scope for exporting the fly-ash generated by coal-based thermal (CBT) power plants in the country?
The idea may make diehard environmentalists snigger.

But already the business is fast catching up in the country and some Gujarat firms, which have entered into a tie-up with the thermal power plants there, are doing a roaring business of exporting fly-ash to the Gulf countries.

The Middle-East countries, which have no deposits of lime (a major ingredient of cement), are using the ash to make puzzalona cement.

Enquiries received

The Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd, which has a super thermal power plant at Shaktinagar in Raichur, and is setting up another CBT plant at Bellary, has received enquiries from some firms in Gujarat. According to top KPCL sources, these firms too are interested in exporting  the ash to the Gulf.

“The discussions are at a preliminary stage. But as the demand for cement is growing the world over, more particularly in the Middle East, there is a big scope for exports,” they told Deccan Herald.

According to power sector experts, the demand for fly-ash is also growing within the country. Gone are the days when disposal of fly-ash was a big headache for thermal plants.

Growing demand

“As fly-ash is rich in lime, cement companies are now vying with one another to lift it. As there is a big construction boom, demand for fly-ash is also growing in the country,” they say.

The ash is also being used in manufacturing bricks, asbestos sheets, pavement tiles etc, by small-scale industries.

According to KPCL Director (Technical) Murlidhar Rao, the seven units of the Raichur station (RTPS) produce a total 16-17 lakh tonnes of fly-ash and about 4.5 lakh tonnes of botton ash annually. The ash utilisation at RTPS is around 60-65 per cent.

Lifting it by rail

Around 200 closed tankers daily transport the ash from RTPS to the ACC factory at Wadi, the Vasavadatta cement unit at Sedam and Rajashree Cement Factory at Malkhed.

“As transportation by road is creating problems, these cement units propose to lift the ash through rail tankers. So, for the purpose, separate rail tracks are being laid and the new lines are slated to be commissioned by end-December,” Mr Rao told this paper.

The KPCL has already received proposals from various firms, including the above three, for lifting ash from the Bellary Thermal Power Station unit I,  scheduled to begin power generation this August.