OREANDA-NEWS  On 01 November was announced, that JSC Irkutskzoloproduct is developping technologies of the use of fly ash, slag, fly ash aggregate and slag sand at production of building materials instead of a part of natural raw materials. As the company informed Siberian News, fly ash may be used at production of cement, foam concrete, gas concrete, concrete and mortar and also dry mix and asphalt concrete; slag and slag sand, at production of concrete, lagging and slag blocks. Fly ash aggregate is also used at production of concrete, and, besides, at pad work and in the landscape design; unfired fly ash aggregate, at production of light aggregate concrete, because it has a lower specific weight than its natural analogues. Gas concrete produced with the use of fly ash or ash-and-slag mix (gas-ash concrete) has high heat-insulating properties, and this is very important in the climatic conditions of Siberia.

However, till the present moment ash-and-slag products are not used widely in the Irkutsk Region. The company members think that it is connected with an unstable granulometric and element structure of ash-and-slag waste and with the fact that ash-and-slag materials look dirty and "unsalable" and are considered to be worthless.

This year JSC Irkutskenergo provided Irkutskzoloproduct with a working area in Angarsk, where in 2009 the company will launch production of unfired fly ash aggregate. At the present time the site is being equipped. The next year the enterprise plans to launch production of marketable concrete with the use of ash. Besides, Irkutskzoloproduct is performing a research work: it is developping technologies of roads construction with the use of slag.

JSC Irkutskzoloproduct was established in 2005 as a subsidiary of JSC Irkutskenergo for large-scale recycling of ash-and-slag wastes generated at thermal power stations.