GUIDELINES FOR LOADING, UNLOADING AND

NUISANCE FREE TRANSPORTATION OF ALL

TYPES OF FLYASH, INCLUDING BOTTOM ASH
ETC. GENERATED BY THERMAL POWER STATIONS

Central Pollution Control Board

Delhi
December 2013

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr.No. Chapter Page Nos.

1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 The Committee 4
3.0 Flyash utilisation 4
4.0 Current Practice for Handling & Disposal of 5
Flyash& Bottom ash (within the power plant )

5.0 Modes for loading, unloading and transportationof 6

flyash, bottom ash & pond ash for utilisation
(Outside the power plant)

6.0 Environmental issues 8

7.0 Guidelines for loading, unloading, storage , 8

transportation of flyash

7.1 Maximise dry collection of fly ash and bottom ash 8

7.2 Loading, unloading and storage 9

7.3 Transportation 10

7.4 Code of practice for general maintenance of 11

Haulage roads, vehicles and conditioning of flyash

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1.0 Introduction
Indian coal is generally of low grade having high ash content ranging from 40 –
48 % and thus large quantity of ash is being generated at coal/lignite based
Thermal Power Stations in the country, which is the source of pollution of both
air and water. During 2012-13 about 163 million tonnes of flyash was
generated. It is expected that during 12th& 13th Plans, more than 100000 MW
power generation capacity is likely to be added which would be resultingin an
increase of ash generation by about two folds by the year 2022. The quantum
of fly ash to be handled, therefore,would be much more than in the past.

As per the conventional practices, ash is disposed in slurry form to the ash
ponds and the overflow from the ash pond after adequate settling time used to
be discharged in nearby water bodies. This mode of ash disposal wasnot only
causes air & water pollution but also requires large land area for its
disposal.However, after implementation of the recommendations made under
Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection (CREP) in the year
2003, power plants have been asked to stop discharge of ash pond overflow
water and recycle it back to the plant for different usages.

1.1 To protect the environment, conserve top soil and prevent dumping & disposal
of ash generated from coal/lignite based fired thermal power plants on land
and for restricting the excavation of top soil for manufacturing of bricks and
building materials, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of
India,issued directions vide Notification nos. S.O 763 (E) dated September
14,1999 and as amended in the years2003 &2009 (S.O. 979( E) &2804 (E)
dated August 27, 2003 &November 03, 2009 respectively) touse hundredper
cent of flyash generated by thermal power plants in a time bound
manner.The Notification also emphasized that flyash shall be utilised for
manufacturing of bricks, tiles, cement, concrete etc., construction of roads
within 100 kms radius from thermal power pants and backfilling/reclamation
of abandoned mines/ quarry ( both underground and open cast) shall be done
with flyash, if located within 50 kms radius from thermal power plants.

1.2 As per the 2009 Notification onflyash utilisation, transportation of flyash

should be in an environmentally sound manner.Fflyash is categorised as
high volume low effect waste under Hazardous Waste (Management&
Handling) Rules, 2008( S.O. 2265( E) dated September 24, 2008) and thus
excluded from the category of Hazardous waste. The guidelines for
transportation offlyash havenot been prepared by Central Pollution Control
Board, so far. However, the consent under Air ( prevention& Control of
Pollution ) Act, 1981 issued by State Pollution Control Boards envisagesthat
flyash should be transported in an environmentally friendly manner.

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1.3 The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its Order dated August 13, 2013
&September 24, 2013, in the matter of DamodarValley Corporation&Ors Vs
BKB Transport (P) Ltd.& Company, SLA No. 30381of 2011, directed CPCB
to frame guidelines for loading, unloading, utilization and nuisance free
transportation of all types of flyash, including flyash, bottom ash etc.
generated by thermal power stations prepared at the earliest. In line with the
directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court, CPCB accordingly constituted a
Committee to prepare the desired guidelines.

2.0 The Committee

To evaluate and suggest all aspects of handling and transportation of flyash
like, in plant handling/storage, transportation to the user’s/disposal site, road
and rail tankers, transfer by boats, barges for export, closed tankers etc, a
Committee under the chairmanship of Sh. T.K. Dhar, Former Executive
Director (Environment and R&R), NTPC wasconstituted vide Office Order
dated October 07, 2013.The composition and Terms of Reference (ToR) of
the Committee are given in Annexure I.

The committee met on October 23, 2013 & November 21, 2103 at CPCB,
Delhi. The committee discussed the current practices for handling and
disposal of flyash& bottom ash, its utilisation and transportation modes and
environmental issues involved. Based on the suggestions and
recommendation of the Committee, guidelines onloading, unloading and
transportation of flyash, bottom ash & pond ashwere prepared.

3.0 Flyash Utilisation

3.1 Utilisation of Flyashgained momentum only after enactment of Notification by

the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India in the year 1999.
During the past decade, flyash utilisation has increased by more than six folds
from 9 % (1996-97) to about 61% in the year 2012-13 (source :CEA). The
major modes of flyash utilisation are as under:-

Cement manufacturing 41%

Ash Dyke raising 12%
Reclamation of Low lying areas 11%
Road construction 6%
Brick manufacturing 9%
Backfilling in Mines 10%
Others 11%

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 Flyash is also being exported at few thermal power plants to nearby countries
such as BanglaDesh and Dubai.

The balance flyash is stored into ash ponds. The filled - in abandoned ash
ponds or ash mounds are reclaimed with top soil cover and development of
green belt (by planting local species)over it.

3.2 Though, flyash utilisation has gained momentum progressively over the
years, however, still further efforts required to explore new areas of ash
utilisation.With suitable safeguards, mine backfilling including disposal of
flyash in abandoned quarries and road construction especially in the
Construction of National Highways and Expressways could be the major
mode of flyash utilisation in the near future as these areas have vast
potential.It would perhaps be desirable that Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Government of India with feedbacks from CPCB and other SPCBs takes
periodic reviews with the concerned Ministries for sorting out the bottlenecks
such as declaring a list of abandoned mines, making adequate provisions in
respective schedules for flyash utilisation by the Indian Road Congress
&construction agencies etc.

4.0 Current Practice for Handling & Disposal of Flyash& Bottom

ash (within the power plant )
Flyash is collected in dry form from ESP hopper and disposed either in dry
form or through wet slurry form. While, bottom ash falls from the bottom of the
boiler is disposed in wet slurry form into the ash ponds.

Coal/Lignit Coal   Boiler  Electrostatic Precipitator 

Pulverizer or bag filter

Flyash Silo   Transfer 
Dry storage  system 

Ash Pond 

Utilisation  Conditioned flyash to 
utilisation or disposal Utilisation 

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 Following technologies are conventionally used for handling & disposal of
flyash and bottom ash from ESPs Hoppers and Boiler bottom within the plant
or upto the ash pond area:

• Pneumatic conveying
• Lean slurry disposal system
• Medium Concentration slurry disposal system
• High Concentration slurry disposal system
• Dry (moist) Conveying system through belt conveyor/tube belt
conveyor.

Amongst the above technologies, Pneumatic conveying, Medium

Concentration slurry disposal system, HighConcentration slurry disposal
system, Dry (moist) Conveying system through belt conveyor/tube belt
conveyor are recommended.

The dry ash is typically conveyed pneumatically from the ESP or filter fabric
Hoppers to storage silos where it is kept dry, pending utilization or further
processing, or to a system where the dry ash is mixed with water and
conveyed (sluiced) to an on-site storage pond.

The dry ashcollected is normally stored and handled using equipment and
procedures similar to those used for handling portland cement:

• Fly ash is stored in silos, domes and other bulk storage facilities
• Fly ash can be transferred using air slides, bucket conveyors and screw
conveyors, or it can be pneumatically conveyed through pipelines under
positive or negative pressure conditions

Dry fly ash collected can also be suitably moistened with water and wetting
agents, as applicable, using specialized equipment (conditioned) and hauled
in covered dump trucks for such special applications as structural fills. Water
conditioned fly ash can also be suitably stockpiled at jobsites. Exposed
stockpiled material must be kept moist or suitably covered to prevent
fugitiveemission.

5.0 Modes for loading, unloading and transportation of flyash,

bottom ash & pond ash for utilisation (Outside the power plant)
Existing practices

Flyash is generally transported either from flyash Silo or from ash pond upto
distances varying from less than 1 Km to 50 Kms using the following modes of
transportation:

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5.1 Flyash or pond ash is generally transported by tractor trollies or trucksby the
brick manufacturers and road construction agencies depending upon the
requirement and distance of transport. Loading and unloading of flyash or pond
ash is done mechanically which are likely to cause pollution by way of fugitive
emission or spillages during loading, un- loading and transportation.

5.2 As cement plants need dry flyash,some of the power plants earlier made
arrangement for loading of flyash in the trucks directly from ESP hoppers which
used to cause severeair pollution due to fugitive dust emission. To overcome
the fugitive dust emission problem, cement plants thereafter constructed silos
for intermediate collection and storage of flaysh on their own inside the
premises of thermal power plants whereby flyashwas transferred directly from
ESP hoppers pneumatically and loaded into the trucksthrough telescopic chute
which curbs fugitive emission during loading. As a follow up of the
recommendations of CPCB under Corporate Responsibility for Environmental
Protection (CREP), thermal power plants subsequently took initiatives to
construct silos for intermediate storage of dry flyash and made arrangements
for proper loading of flyash to the trucks.Flyash from these silos after loading is
transported to the cement plantseither by Bulkers or by Trucks covered with
tarpaulins.

Photograph showing flyash loading into truck & bulker through

telescopic chute avoiding fugitive emission

5.3 Flyash is also transported to abandoned mines by trucks covered suitably with
tarpaulins.TalcherThermal Power Plant of NTPC is currently transporting fly
ashslurry to theabandoned mine pitthrough a pipeline toa distance of about 9
kms . However, due to non-availability of abandoned mines, mine backfilling
usingflyash is being done in very few thermal power plants.As per the 2009
notification, flyash disposal in abandoned mines or quarry should be done

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 under the guidance of Director General of Mine Safety (DGMS) and the power
plant authorities shall regularly monitor the ground water in the surrounding
area to assess ground water contamination , if any.

6.0Environmental issues

During transportation of flyash, fugitive dust emission is bound to arise if proper

and adequate measures are not taken. Loading, unloading of flyash in carriage
vehicles, movement of vehicles on haulage road if water sprinkling is not
resorted to and wheels of vehicles are major sources of fugitive dust emission.
Flaysh may also become air borne, if trucks/tankers are overfilled, and
notadequately covered at top.

7.0 Guidelines for loading, unloading, storage, transportation of

flyash

Based on the present modes of flyash utilisation and to augment flyash

utilisation in future, the committeeis of the view that there isan imperative need
to explore future possibilities in other areas which are yet to be exploited to
increaseflyash utilisation. The power plants need to maximise dry collection of
fly ash& bottom ash besides adopting adequate measures to prevent fugitive
dust emission during loading, unloading, storage, transportation and various
uses of dry as well as ash from ash pond.Following guidelines are, therefore,
suggested for prevention of pollution and augmentation of flyash utilisation

7.1 Maximise dry collection of fly ash and bottom ash

The implementation of following suggestionsdepend upon the requirement of

end users of flyash/ bottom ash.
a. Coarse fly ash from first field of ESP Hoppersneed to be collected and
storedseparately into the coarse fly ash silo.

b. Fine flyash from second field onwards of ESP Hoppersshould be collected

separately. For some specific usage, fine flaysh may be passed
throughClassifier for further separation of fine fly ash and stored in separate silo.

c. Bottom ash which is not utilised presently could alsobe collectedin dry form and
converted into a valuable resource if processed to match the end use
specification. The dry bottom ash removal and its transportation is certainly more
environment friendly, compared to that of wet ash removal and transport system.
Wet collection & disposal of bottom ash should be minimised as far as possible .

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7.2Loading,Unloading and Storage

Installation of Bag Filters with dry flyashcollection and storage in Silos at loading
and unloading points are standard practices at both locationsi.eloading at power
plant site as well as at the unloading point at user’s site. Suggestions for further
improvement in existing practices are as under:

a. Current practice of loading of fly ash in Bulkers / Tankers requires

improvement at the stage of loadingof fly ash in Tankers.The opening
telescopic chutes should beclosed and confined to avoid fugitive dust
emission .

b. The Pollution Control Equipment / Cascade Filters, attached with fly

ash loading Chuteshould be periodicallycleanedalong with regular
scheduled maintenance of Bag Filter to avoid choking and
malfunctioning of Bag Filter. It would mitigate the dust emission during
loading of fly ash.

c. Malfunctioning of level sensorscan be avoided, with regular

maintenance, to prevent over filling of fly ash in Tankers.

d. The Weigh Bridge tobe installed under fly ash loading chute to fill just
the required quantity of fly ash in Tankers so that rejection and
emptying out of fly ash in open areasis avoided which otherwise results
in heavy fugitive emission all around.

e. Opening of Tankersneed tobe closed and properly locked during

transportation of fly ash. Automatic opening / close system need tobe
installed without fail.

f. Current practice of unloading of fly ash from Tanker to Storage Hopper

through pneumatic system is certainly good.But it has, however, been
observed that the leakage of fly ash occur at bends and joints of
transportation pipe line. The fly ash beingabrasive in nature causes
damage at bends and joint locations.Fly ashshould , therefore be
transported through PVC coated MS pipes to avoid the abrasion
otherwise it may lead to leakage of flyash. The mechanical unloading
system should be envisaged to avoid high pressure, more power
consumption and dust leakage from unloading pipe lines.As far as
possible, number of bends should be minimised.

g. The fly ash storage silo should tobe made up of anti-abrasive or anti
corrosive material.It is preferred to provide concrete silo/hopper to
avoid leakages.

h The bottom ash dischargedfromboiler bed, may be transported

pneumatically in dry form / in slurry form to the ash pond.

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 i. Proper functioning of all the level sensor of Storage Hopper has to be
ensured to avoid any possible spillage from Hopper opening.

j. The Bag Filter made of anti-abrasive material/cloth be provided with

telescopic chute.

k. Dumping of ash in Ash pond should be loaded mechanically in moist

condition so that the ash doesnot get air borne and pose fugitive dust
problem.

7.3 Transportation

Flyash transportation has many challenges like distance to be transported, form

of ash i.e. dry or wet ash, user’s requirement , economic feasibility , requirement
of surrounding vicinity and many more site specific issues. Over and above, in
any case control of dust emission during transportation is prime concern and
more challenging being a non-point source of pollution and larger area coverage
due to movement from one place to other passing through various receptors.As
flyash is used by different users for different purpose such as cement
manufacturing, brick manufacturing, mine back filling, road construction and filling
of low lying area, the handling and transportation have to accordingly suggested.
Following modes of transportation and precautions, to avoid fugitive dust
emission are, therefore, suggested for different end usersof flyash or bottom ash
as the case may be:

a. Cement/ Asbestos manufacturing

I. Specially designed Road Tankers/ Bulkers or mechanically designed covered

Trucksand provided with automatic loading and unloading through
compressor / vacuum pumps mounted on the tankersneed only to be used
II. Special designed railway wagons similar to Bulkers/Tankers need to be used
for transportation
III. Dedicated boats and bargers should only carryflyash containers for
transportation of flyash . Specially designed jetty with automatic loading and
unloading system for transportation of flyash from silo to container should be
developed.

b. Flyash based Brick, Tiles, Blocks etc. manufacturing:

I. Tankers/ Bulkers or mechanically designed covered Trucksneed to be used

II. Tractor trolleys with box type cover on top with hydraulic unloading system
needonly to be deployedfor transportation of dry or wet fly ash, while
traversing through habilitated areas otherwise, Tractor trolleys suitably
covered with good quality of tarpaulin (made of HDPE)could be allowedto
transport flyash for shorter distance say upto a distance of about 10 Kms.

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 c. Mine/ abandoned quarry back filling

I. Tankers/ Bulkers or mechanically designed covered Trucksneed to be used

II. Pipe conveyors, wherever feasible, based on the topography of the area
should be used.
III. Thermal Power Plants using wet ash disposal, if permitted can transport ash
slurry directly to abandoned mine through ash slurry pipe line.

d. Road construction and filling of low lying area

I. Tankers/ Bulkers or mechanically designed covered Trucksneed to be used.

e. Other miscellaneous purposes

I. Tankers/ Bulkers or mechanically designed covered Trucksneed only to be

used

7.3.1 The user agency shall obtain prior approval of design of Road Tankers/
Bulkers or mechanically covered Trucks, as the case may be, from the
concerned State Pollution Control Board.

In no case, flyash or bottom ash shall be allowed to be transported by open

trucks / trollies irrespective of distance or end use.

7.4 Code of Practicesfor general maintenance of roads, vehicles and

conditioning of flyash

a. Thermal power plants and use agency collectively shall ensure that flyash is
transported in environmentally sound manner following the guidelines
prescribed by CPCB

b. Roads inside power plant and that of flyash user agency should be paved
and plantationof adequate width should be done at both sides. Mechanised
Road Sweepers should be deployed. In addition, adequate arrangementsfor
water sprinkling should be made to suppress fugitive dust emission, if any
generated.

c. Thermal power plants and user agencies should make arrangements (two
stages) for washing of wheels of the vehicles (Bulkers/trucks) before they
leave out for the main road.

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 d. Pond ash to be traansported should bee condition
ned with wwater to maintain
m
minimum 15% moissture at th he disposa
al point so that ash does not get air
borne and cause fug
gitive emisssion.

e. Adequate free board

d in trucks should be kept to avvoid overflo
ow/spillage
e during
transporta
ation.

f. In case off any spilllage enroute during g transporttation of flyyash, the agency
shall ensure that spilled ash is collected and transp
ported to thhe disposa al/usage
site immeddiately

g. All the Buulkers and trucks ressponsible for carryin

ng flyash sshould hav
ve valid
Pollution Under
U Control certificcates.

h. The speedd limit of vehicles

v ca
arrying flya
ash should be strictlyy enforced
d and in
no case sa
ame shall exceed
e 40
0 km per hoour.

i. State Pollu
ution Contrrol Boardsshall indica
ate clearly mode of transportation and
method off loading an
nd unloading while granting the e consent.

j. Transporta
ation of flyashthroough thickklythrough thickly populated areas
populated areas sho
ould be avo
oided as fo
or as possib
ble.

k. General awareness/
a / training programmes be orgganised reg gularly forr tanker
operating staff like drivers and cleaners on
o the impact of hazzards of fly ash.

Me
echanically designed truck Small bulkers designed for
transporta
t ation of fly
yash by tractors

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 FINAL REPORT
OF THE
COMMITTEE FOR PREPARATION OF “GUIDELINES
FOR LOADING, UNLOADING AND NUISANCE FREE
TRANSPORTATION OF ALL TYPES OF FLYASH,
INCLUDING BOTTOM ASH ETC. GENERATED BY
THERMAL POWER STATIONS”

Central Pollution Control Board

Delhi
December 2013

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