Land Disposal of Coal Gasification Residue

Solid wastes produced in all stages of the coal fuel cycle (mining, processing, beneficiation, and utilization) may represent a major fraction of the total solid waste. The Stored Solids Study has as its objective the provision of design criteria for geologic disposal of solid wastes at coal gasification facilities. The major emphasis is directed toward alerting the specific emerging coal technologies of possible environmental impacts of ground-water leachate from coal conversion residues in land disposal sites, as well as in runoff from rainfall on coal storage piles. The studies represent an engineering-oriented approach to attenuation of the dissolution and subsequent movement of coal conversion solid wastes by using suitable geologic media and a knowledge of the geochemical interactions between leachate and local soils. First-order dissolution rates have been determined for components of some of these wastes. The experimental program utilizes a three-step approach: characterization, evaluation, and prediction.