The West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University has received $725,000 in federal funding for its Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium (CBRC).

The money, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE-NETL), will be used to help fund 10 projects across the nation.

The CBRC , managed by the Water Research Institute, has proven to be a very useful vehicle for conducting research and development projects to identify and examine the potential for new and expanded markets for coal combustion byproducts,said William Aljoe, DOE -NETL project manager for CBRC .

U.S. power plants produce 120 million tons of combustion byproducts annually, Aljoe noted. He said the agency seeks economically and environmentally attractive uses that will minimize their contribution to the waste stream.

CBRC seeks to find beneficial uses for coal ash and other solids left over after coal is burned in power plants. Projects include using these coal combustion byproducts in construction materials like concrete, flowable fills, pavement, road stabilizers and mine reclamation.

In addition to proving the technical and economic feasibility of beneficial uses, we need to ensure that they are environmentally safe,said Paul Ziemkiewicz, WVWRI director.

Since its inception in 1998, the CBRC has funded 52 projects with a total program value totaling nearly $9 million, including both federal (DOE-NETL) and matching funds. Each recipient must provide non-federal cost sharing of at least 25 percent of the total value. Additional DOE funding to complete the projects may follow, based upon performance and DOE -NETL funding availability.

Many of the technologies developed through CBRC research have been selected for large-scale demonstrations, and others have now been adopted by government agencies or by industry,Ziemkiewicz said.

For more information on the CBRC program, visithttp://wvwri.nrcce.wvu.edu/programs/cbrcor contact Ziemkiewicz at 304-293-2867, ext. 5448.