A Review of Coal Fly Ash Utilization to Save the Environment

Due to rapid development and urbanization, electricity demand is increasing daily. Coal-based thermal power plants are one of the major sources of electricity. A by-product of thermal power plants is fly ash; every year, huge amounts of fly ash are generated globally. Disposal of fly ash in landfills needs a vast area and poses various environmental problems. So, various processes and new technology are needed to develop to utilize this gigantic amount of waste material to save the environment. The objective of this review paper is the eco-friendly utilization of fly ash powder to solve various environmental problems and to diminish disposal issues. This paper reports the fly ash utilization in the field of geopolymers, silica aerogels, zeolites, lightweight aggregates, and natural fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites, respectively. Further, the review also reports the various process parameters and the work done by various researchers.