Specialized Seminar: Thermal Power Ash, Trends in Construction Materials Production

Attending the workshop were representatives from state agencies, including Mr. Pham Van Bac - Director of the Department of Building Materials - Ministry of Construction; Mr. Dinh Quang Khoi - General Secretary of the KC02 Program; representatives from various associations and societies; representatives from cement plants under the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation; and Nghi Son Cement Company.

Representing VIBM were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Trung Thanh – Director of VIBM and Chairman of the Vietnam Concrete Association, Dr. Thai Duy Sam – Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Building Materials Association; experts, scientists, the state-level project team, and interested parties.

Currently, in Vietnam, the demand for raw materials and fuels for the production of building materials, as well as the potential for using industrial waste as alternative raw materials in building materials production, is very large. Therefore, increasing the use of industrial waste as alternative raw materials in building materials production will have great significance for saving mineral resources and protecting the landscape and the environment.

Following the Prime Minister's directive in Decision No. 452/QD-TTG dated April 12, 2017, on the plan to promote the processing and utilization of fly ash and gypsum from thermal power plants, chemical plants, and fertilizer plants as raw materials for the production of building materials and construction projects, the specific goal is to use approximately 8 million tons of thermal power plant fly ash and slag to replace clay in the production of cement clinker by 2020. Thus, the reuse of thermal power plant fly ash as a raw material for the production of building materials has become an urgent need for the building materials and construction industries.

In his opening remarks at the workshop, Director Le Trung Thanh stated that VIBM is a research institute specializing in various types of building materials such as cement, concrete, refractory materials, ceramics, glass, organic materials, etc. Recently, VIBM researchers have focused on the field of thermal power plant fly ash, a pressing issue for the construction industry. The Government, as well as the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Science and Technology, have directed numerous research programs and assigned many research tasks on fly ash to VIBM. To date, VIBM remains confident in its research results and is implementing many activities to promote the application of science to practice.

According to VIBM Director Le Trung Thanh, as of now, there are nearly 30 coal-fired thermal power plants in the country. Currently, the ash and slag from pulverized coal-fired plants are relatively well treated; however, the ash and slag from fluidized bed coal-fired plants contain a significant amount of SO3, making treatment difficult. The amount of thermal power plant ash and slag accumulated and discharged annually is approximately 18 million tons, but we only process about 30% of it. It is estimated that by 2030, the amount of residual ash and slag will exceed 400 million tons.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Pham Van Bac, Director of the Construction Materials Department – ​​Ministry of Construction, stated that along with the overall development of the country, industrial sectors have experienced strong growth over the past seven years, simultaneously generating significant industrial waste that negatively impacts the environment. The Ministry of Construction has also launched a program to research the use of fly ash, slag, and gypsum as construction materials. Therefore, he hoped that experts, scientists, research institutes, and factories would put the research results into practice and widely apply them in construction material production to contribute to waste consumption and reduce environmental pollution.

At the workshop, speakers presented on topics such as: Enhancing the use of waste as raw materials and fuel in building materials production; Selection and use of fly ash as a clay substitute in clinker production - points to note; Research on fly ash as a clay substitute for cement clinker production and technical issues to be addressed; Points to note when operating cement clinker kiln systems with fly ash-containing raw materials; Research on using fly ash from Vinh Tan thermal power plant and red sand from Binh Thuan for rural road foundations; Using fly ash to manufacture seawater-resistant concrete…

According to Dr. Thai Duy Sam, the demand for raw materials and fuels for building materials production in Vietnam is very large and increasing with the development of the building materials industry; the potential for using industrial waste and by-products as alternative raw materials and fuels for building materials production in Vietnam is quite large and diverse; due to many reasons, the current use of industrial waste and by-products as alternative raw materials and fuels for building materials production has not yet reached its full potential and has not met expectations; increasing the use of industrial waste and by-products as alternative raw materials and fuels in building materials production will have great significance in saving non-renewable mineral resources and protecting the landscape and environment; to ensure that the use of industrial waste and by-products as alternative raw materials and fuels for building materials production reaches its full potential and meets expectations, a comprehensive set of solutions is needed regarding: policy mechanisms, science and technology, engineering, communication, and training.

After listening to the speakers' presentations, the delegates attending the conference discussed and contributed many ideas to improve the aforementioned scientific topics.

VIBM highly values ​​the contributions of scientists, and scientific research is a never-ending process. Therefore, we hope that scientists and relevant ministries and agencies will continue to collaborate with VIBM in researching and applying the development of the building materials industry in particular and the construction industry in general. The workshop was a great success.

According to the Institute of Building Materials