NONINVASIVE METHOD FOR MAPPING BURIED COAL ASH
Abstract
Coal Combustion Products (CCP) are one of the largest industrial waste streams in the world and, in some cases, the final disposition of this toxic material is not carefully controlled resulting in undocumented landfills, illegal dump sites, and mixing with Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). A new approach for discovering and mapping CCP sites based on radiation measurements has been tested in a historicaly inducstrial on the east coast of the United States where CCP was extensively used as fill material.
References
United States Army Corps of Engineers. "Logan (Feltonville) Sinking Homes Study Philadelphia, PA." Philadelphia District, July 2000, p. 6.
Mora, J.C., Baeza, A., Robles, B., Corbacho, J.A., and Canico, D. "Behavior of Natural Radionuclides in Coal Combustion." Radioprotection 44, no. 5 (2009): pp 577-578. DOI: 10.1051/radiopro/20095106
Lauer, N.E., Hower, J.C., Hsu-Kim, H., Taggart, R.K., and Vengosh, A. "Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material in Coals and Combustion Residuals in the United States." Environmental Science & Technology 49, no. 18 (2015): 11230, p.6. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b01978
Habib, M. A., Basuki, T., Miyashita, S., Bekelesi, W., Nakashima, S., Techato, K., Khan, R., Khan Majlis, A. B., & Phoungthong, K. (2019). Assessment of natural radioactivity in coals and coal combustion residues from a coal-based thermoelectric plant in Bangladesh: implications for radiological health hazards. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191, Article 27, p. 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-7160-y
International Atomic Energy Agency. Extent of Environmental Contamination by Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and Technological Options for Mitigation. Technical Reports Series No. 419, Vienna: IAEA, 2003, p.30. https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/TRS419_web.pdf
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. "SOURCES AND EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION, UNSCEAR 2000 Report to the General Assembly, with Scientific Annexes VOLUME I: SOURCES, Annex B," p.115. https://www.unscear.org/unscear/uploads/documents/unscear-reports/UNSCEAR_2000_Report_Vol.I.pdf
Papastefanou, C., and Charalambous, St. "On the Radioactivity of Fly Ashes from Coal Power Plants." Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A 34a (1979): pp. 533-534. https://doi.org/10.1515/zna-1979-0502
Lippincott Engineering Associates, Inc. "Geotechnical Investigation, Study of Soil Conditions, Logan Area, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," August 1986. Appendix C,
Chirico, P.G., and Epstein, J.B. "Geographic Information System Analysis of Topographic Change in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, During the Last Century." Open File Report 00-224. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2000. Plate 2. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr00224.
Luo, Y., Wu, Y., Ma, S. et al. "Utilization of coal fly ash in China: a mini-review on challenges and future directions." Environmental Science Pollution Research 28 (2021): 18727, p. 106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08864-4.
Harris, D., Heidrich, C., and Feuerborn, J. "Global Opportunities and Challenges for Coal Combustion Products with a Circular Economy." Ash Development Association Australia, 2021, p 11. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1081&context=woca
Walsh, D.C., and LaFleur, R.G. "Landfills in New York City: 1844–1994." Ground Water 33, no. 4 (July-August 1995): p.556. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.1995.tb00310.x
Boyadjian, P. "Coal Ash Mapping Using Electromagnetic Technology." Power, February 1, 2016, p. 1. https://www.powermag.com/coal-ash-mapping-using-electromagnetic-technology.
Alsaaideh, A. S. Q. (2017). Imaging a fly ash landfill using non-invasive technologies (ERT and MASW) [Doctoral dissertation, Missouri University of Science and Technology]. pp 3-4. Scholar’s Mine. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2757
Al-khawlany, A. H., Pathan, J. M., & Fatema, I. (2020). Determination of Attenuation Coefficients of Some Selected Soil Samples by Using Gamma Energy at 0.360 MeV. To Chemistry Journal, 6, p.9. ISSN: 2581-7507. Retrieved from https://purkh.com/index.php/tochem
Al-khawlany, A. H., Khan, A. R., & Pathan, J. M. (2019). Investigation of Radiation Shielding Properties for Some Soil Samples for Use in Shields against Gamma-Rays from Different Nuclides. Bulletin of Pure and Applied Sciences, 38D(1), p.44. https://doi.org/10.5958/2320-3218.2019.00006.X
Hunter, J. D. (2007). Matplotlib: A 2D graphics environment. Computing in Science & Engineering, 9(3), 90-95. 10.1109/MCSE.2007.55
Views:
27
Downloads:
11
Copyright (c) 2025 Julian Grauer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published in open-access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Hence, authors retain copyright to the content of the articles.
CC BY 4.0 License allows content to be copied, adapted, displayed, distributed, re-published or otherwise re-used for any purpose including for adaptation and commercial use provided the content is attributed.
