Modeling of Reactive Chemical Transport of Leachates from a Utility Fly-Ash Disposal Site

by John A. Apps, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,
Ming Zhu, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,
Peter K. Kitanidis, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,
David L. Freyberg, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,
Anne Dudek Ronan, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,
Sachiko Itagaki, Univ of California, Berkeley, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Symposium on Ground Water

Abstract:

Fly ash from fossil-fuel power plants is commonly slurried and pumped to disposal sites. The utility industry is interested in finding out whether any hazardous constituents might leach from the accumulated fly ash and contaminate ground and surface waters. To evaluate the significance of this problem, a representative site was selected for modeling. FASTCHEM, a computer code developed for the Electric Power Research Institute, was utilized for the simulation of the transport and fate of the fly-ash leachate. The chemical evolution of the leachate was modeled as it migrated along streamtubes defined by the flow model. The modeling predicts that most of the leachate seeps through the dam confining the ash pond. With the exception of ferrous, manganous, sulfate and small amounts of nickel ions, all other dissolved constitutents are predicted to discharge at environmentally acceptable concentrations.

Subject Headings: Computer models | Fly ash | Leachates | Power plants | Electric power | Water discharge | Transport phenomena

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