Coal

TransAlta finds a use for its landfilled coal fly ash

The flyash will include waste from TransAlta’s coal-fired generation activities near Edmonton, Alberta, which ended last year.
TransAlta finds a use for its landfilled coal fly ash
(Ash-TEK fly ash production line. Credit: Ash-TEK)

TransAlta Corp. and Lafarge Canada will repurpose landfilled fly ash to replace up to 25% of the cement used in concrete manufacturing. The flyash will include waste from TransAlta’s coal-fired generation activities near Edmonton, Alberta, which ended last year.

Lafarge was awarded C$15 million ($11.17 million) from the Government of Alberta through Emissions Reduction Alberta to advance the project.

Landfilled fly ash must first go through a beneficiation process to be used in concrete. The project will use the Ash-TEK Ponded Ash Beneficiation System (PABS) technology. A statement said that tests produced high quality ash during trials and proved to have a low carbon footprint and an economical operating cost. Lafarge said it plans to use this approach to remove moisture from the ash, mill it, and remove excess carbon.

The Ash-TEK PABS technology is designed as a multi stage, modular ash beneficiation plant that converts ponded, carbon rich out of specification ash into a consistent ASTM class C or F Fly Ash. Each PABS line is designed to produce 100,000 tons of fly ash per year.

Geocycle, a waste management services provider, and a Lafarge subsidiary in Canada, will also take part in the initiative. 

In 2021, TransAlta said it would shut down the Highvale mine, suspend the Sundance Unit 5 repowering project, and retire Sundance Unit 4 and Keephills Unit 1. 

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