V.Y. Putilov, I.V. Putilova, E.A. Malikova, National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute”, Moscow, Russia

 In 2010 total production of coal combustion products (CCPs) of the energy sector of the countries world–wide made about 800 million tons, the main of them are ash and slag. In the energy sector in many countries, coal is one of the main fuels and its share in the fuel mix in recent years tends to grow. In this regard, the issues concerning the efficient addressing the coal ash handling problem are becoming more relevant. The situation in Russia is exacerbated by the fact that ash ponds of the vast majority of coal-fired power plants and other solid-fuel power stations (hereinafter - coal-fired power plants) are close to their design filling. This puts the Russian power engineers before the urgent need to take effective measures to address the coal ash handling problem, despite the fact that they are by-products of TPPs.