Evolution of fly ash management strategies — a review of selected value-added fly ash utilization approaches

The current state of industrial activity indicates that there would not be any remarkable drop in fly ash generation in near future. Despite the fact that there are many noticeable technological innovations for effective fly ash management, the problem still persists. The quantum of fly ash generation is huge and the available methods for its management appear to be inadequate. Though, it has been widely used in different sectors, its use has been found to be limited and hence, an attempt has been made in this study to review the various approaches used by the researchers. The literature published in the standard journals was reviewed using the principles of deductive reasoning. The many approaches used by researchers are testimony to the fact that fly ash management is very complex, especially because of the quantity of fly ash generation, which is the function of quality of coal burnt (and the ash content of coal). On the basis of the review, the study concludes that the few attempts made to study the fly ash management mainly focus on its (fly ash) physical management (backfilling and reclamation). In addition to this, the literature strongly indicates that phytoremediation can be successfully used for fly ash management, as numerous plant species have been reported as possible agents for facilitating the bio-transformation of the fly ash.