NRMCA Member to Build Fly Ash Recycling Plant, Will Discuss Process at Sustainability Conference

NRMCA Associate member The SEFA Group, Inc., is building a $40 million facility to recycle high-carbon fly ash using new proprietary recycling technology. The facility, to be located in Georgetown, SC, will consume 100% of the coal fly ash produced at Santee Cooper’s Winyah Electric Power Generating Station. The facility will also recycle fly ash previously located in ash ponds located at Winyah Station. The new facility can recycle up to 400,000 tons of fly ash per year. The SEFA Group will use the fly ash located at Winyah Station as a primary ingredient in its proprietary STAR® (Staged Turbulent Air Reactor) process to produce a pure mineral product, free of organic contaminants. The SEFA Group operates two other STAR® Plants, which are located in Columbia, SC, and Newburg, MD. However, the Georgetown plant will be the first to also recycle fly ash from settling basins.

The SEFA Group’s Hank Keiper will present a paper titled The Future of Fly Ash is Under Our Feet at the International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 12-15 in Boston. He will discuss the dwindling availability of coal fly ash suitable for use as supplementary cementitious material in the U.S. due to environmental regulations and market factors. To ensure a future supply of high-quality, Class F fly ash, The SEFA Group has modified its proprietary thermal beneficiation process to accept fly ash reclaimed from disposal sites, including both landfills and settling ponds. This new adaptation of a proven technology will create a consistent supply of premium fly ash, prevent future disposal of fly ash and at the same time remediate existing fly ash disposal sites.