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Case Study
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December
2007
AmerenUE's Labadie Power Plant has four units that burn about 11 million
tons of PRB coal a year and have a collective capacity of 2,400 MW. The plant,
located 35 miles west of St. Louis, also generates about 200,000 tons ofbottom
ash a year. Courtesy: AmerenUE
PRB Tech Notes
AmerenUE teams with Charah and Home Depot to market ash for concrete mix
Burning Powder River Basin (PRB) coal
can be a curse or a blessing, depending
on your attention to the details of plant
design and operations. One disadvantage
of PRB coal combustion is the abundance
of bottom ash and fly ash generated as
a by-product. Handling and properly
disposing of the ash can be challenging
and costly. Both kinds of ash have
commercial value, however. Last year,
the 2,400-MW Labadie Power Plant in
Missouri burned about 11 million tons of
PRB coal, generating about 200,000 tons
of bottom ash, so they understand both
the challenges and the profit opportunity.
In September, the largest of AmerenUE's
coal-fired stations, Labadie, celebrated
the first anniversary of the opening
of a concrete packaging facility that
is now recycling more than 60,000
tons of fly ash and bottom ash into
2 million bags of high-quality concrete
mix every year.
Partners in Ash
The unique project is the product of a
partnership among AmerenUE (www.
ameren.com); the ash management
specialist Charah, Inc. (www.charah.
com); The Quikrete Companies; and The
Home Depot (Figure 3). The concrete mix
is prepared at the facility and packaged in
recyclable, two-handled plastic bags from
Charah. It is then distributed to Home
Depot stores in the St. Louis metropolitan
area for sale to customers under the
Quikrete brand name.
The 60,000 tons ofbottom ash being reused
as a concrete aggregate represents less
than half of Labadie's annual production.
Ultimately, AmerenUE officials hope to
recycle all of it.
In addition to the ash being used to
make concrete mix, more than a year's
worth of Labadie's bottom ash was used
as structural fill for the state-of-the-art,
The partnership of AmerenUE', Charah, Inc; The Quikrete Companies; and The
Home Deport just celebrated its first year of operation.
Courtesy: Charah, Inc.
The facility is designed to recycle more than 60,000 tons of fly ash and bottom
ash into 2 million bags of high-quality concrete mix.
Courtesy: Charah, Inc.
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PRB Tech Notes
Case Study
19
The concrete mix product is available in Home Depot stores in the St. Louis
metropolitan area under the Quikrete brand name.
Courtesy: Charah, Inc.
35,000-ft2 packaging facility. Charah
launched its first bottom ash/plastic
packaging plant in Virginia, but the one in
Missouri is the first in the U.S. on power
plant property. Charah, Inc. annually
processes 250,000 tons of bottom ash
and markets it to the concrete block and
concrete mix industries in North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
and Virginia.
Because ash is not classified as ahazardous
waste by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Ameren and
other coal-burning utilities have long
reused it for various products and applications—such as blasting grit, roofing shingles, cement and concrete
manufacturing, structural fill, and snow and ice control. "This is the best example yet of Ameren's ongoing
initiative to find beneficial uses for the materials that result from burning coal to generate electricity," said
R. Alan Kelley, Ameren's senior vice president for generation.
Bottom Ash is Tops
This July, the Missouri Waste Control Coalition presented AmerenUE with an Outstanding Achievement
Award for the AmerenUE/Charah concrete packaging facility at Labadie Power Plant. The coalition is
a 400-member, not-for-profit entity for citizens, businesses, and organizations concerned about the
environmental impact of waste management and disposal.
Charah and Ameren are charter members of the U.S. EPA's Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2),
which encourages beneficial use of coal by-products. In April 2005, Charah earned a prestigious C2P2
Innovation Award for its efforts to increase the amount of coal combustion products put to good use instead
of being landfilled. Charah's award was for its development of concrete mix and packaging.
"Charah's packaging is the most exciting, powerful innovation in the bagged concrete industry in 70 years,"
said Giles Bowman, merchandising vice president for building materials at Home Depot. "The sealed plastic
bag is sturdy, and the two handles make it very easy for our customers to lift and carry. At the same time,
this packaging is less likely to break than traditional paper bags."
Submitted By: Charles Price, President and CEO
Charah, Inc.
cprice@charah.com
Unit M, Suite 100
307 Townepark Circle
Louisville, KY 40243
Reprinted by permission from the September/October 2007 issue of Coal Power Magazine.
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