Assessment of Wood-Based Fly Ash as Alternative Cement Replacement

Abstract

The abandonment of coal energy plants in the near future will result in a substantially reduced availability of the coal fly ash broadly used as an efficient supplementary material. In line with the growth of alternative and renewable energy resources, the amount of biomass-based ash rises substantially. Nevertheless, a diverse chemical composition prevents a broader utilization of biomass-based fly ash compared to coal ash on an industrial scale. On this account, the present work is aimed at investigating the basic physical and mechanical properties of concrete mortars modified by a high volume of biomass fly ash (BFA) from wood combustion. Delivered results confirm a significant potential of BFA in the building industry. Experimental analysis of concrete mortars with BFA reveals preservation or even improvement of compressive and bending strength up to 30 wt.% cement replacement. On the contrary, higher dosages induce a gradual decrease in mechanical performance. The performed Life Cycle Assessment analysis reveals the perspective of BFA incorporation taking into account environmental issues considering the ratio between preservation of mechanical performance per normalized endpoint environmental score that allows a direct comparison with other alternatives.

The Performance of Concrete Made with Secondary Products—Recycled Coarse Aggregates, Recycled Cement Mortar, and Fly Ash–Slag Mix

“…Concrete production requires increasing amounts of raw materials, while industrial by-products can be used to meet this demand [9][10][11][12], either as supplementary cementitious materials or as alternative aggregates, as already proven by several researchers [13][14][15][16][17]. It could be beneficial for the environment to replace part of the cement clinker with supplementary cementitious materials, such as blast furnace slag [18], fly ash [19], and natural pozzolan [20] to reduce CO 2 emissions [21]. Industrial waste from energy production is a huge part of the waste generated in the world's industries.…”

The Effect of Fly Ash Utilization in Reinforcement Concrete: A Review

“…Fly ash can minimize pore better compared to ordinary portland cement (OPC). As pozzolanic materials, fly ash can substitute non-renewable energy resources such as coal with renewable energy such as biomass [12], [13]. Below is some research that focuses on shifting characteristics with fly ash and portland cement mixture in concrete.…”

A Sustainable Solution to Obtain P-K-Mn Glass Fertilizers from Cheap and Readily Available Wastes

“…Therefore, the reuse of ash has gained an increased interest. Depending on the composition and geographical region, ash has been used in agriculture (soil amendment), as forest soil amendment, to control the odor and pH of some wastes, to remove pollutants from water and to produce ceramics and building materials (cement base and road base material) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”