ASTM E3355
Full Name
ASTM E3355 – Standard Guide for Characterization of Coal Combustion Products (CCPs) in Storage Area(s) for Beneficial Use
Scope
With the transition away from coal-fired power generation and tighter environmental regulations governing coal ash basins (such as the U.S. EPA’s Coal Combustion Residuals [CCR] rule under 40 CFR Part 257), utilities and developers increasingly seek to harvest historically stored ash.
ASTM E3355 provides structured guidance for:
- Characterizing the quality, consistency, and spatial distribution of CCPs located in active or inactive storage units.
- Evaluating CCP suitability against commercial specifications for beneficial use applications (e.g., supplementary cementitious materials [SCMs] in concrete, raw feed for cement clinker, engineered fill, road base, and soil amendment).
- Identifying whether raw harvested materials require post-extraction processing (beneficiation) such as drying, carbon reduction, or air classification before meeting target end-use specifications.
- Providing a risk-informed decision-making process to support regulatory permitting, asset valuation, and engineering design.
Resources
Keywords
Coal Combustion Products (CCPs); Beneficial Use; Characterization; Storage Area(s) / Unit; Harvesting; Beneficiation; Fly Ash; Loss-on-Ignition (LOI); Fineness / Particle Size Distribution; Stratigraphy / Spatial Variability; Sampling (Core / Discrete / Composite); Environmental Leaching / Trace Constituents; Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM); Bottom Ash / Boiler Slag