Sustainable Masonry Mortars with Fly Ash, Blast Furnace Granulated Slag and Wheat Straw Ash

Abstract

Due to greenhouse gas emissions, the production of cement clinker is considered unsustainable and many attempts are being made to replace cement with alternative materials sourced from agriculture, industry and other urban practices, such as construction and demolition works. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of cement substitution by locally available waste materials in Serbia, such as fly ash (FA), blast furnace granulated slag (BFGS) and wheat straw ash (WSA), up to the 50% replacement volume rate in cement–lime mortars. As the effective application of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in cement-based materials requires a comprehensive insight into their properties, a characterization of materials involving all relevant physical, chemical and mechanical tests is conducted. Ten different mortar mixed with ingredients of a volume ratio 1:2:4 (cementitious powder/lime/sand) were designed and their consistency, bulk density, capillary water absorption, flexural strength, compressive strength and thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) results were examined to determine the influence of the abovementioned SCMs on mortar properties. Research findings highlight the possibility of replacing cement with slag (50%), fly ash (30%) or wheat straw ash (30%) while maintaining its performance and improving the economic and environmental impacts of masonry mortar production.

Characterization of harvest residues ashes and ceramic waste powders originating from Vojvodina as potential supplementary cementitious materials

“…The results indicate that up to 40% of cement could be replaced to obtain the requisite compressive strength of masonry mortar. Similar recommendations were given by Šupić et al [6], whereas research findings highlight the possibility of replacing cement with slag (50%), fly ash (30%) or wheat straw ash (30%) while maintaining its performance and improving the economic and environmental impacts of masonry mortar production. Lertwattanaruk et al [14] developed a masonry mortar based on four types of waste seashells, including short-necked clam, green mussel, oyster, and cockle as cement replacement (5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% by weight).…”

“…Several researchers have introduced agricultural wastes, in form of ash, as a partial replacement of cement or as an alkaline activator including rice husk ash (RHA) [1], olive waste ash (OWA) [2], sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) [3], corn cob ash (CCA) [4], palm oil fuel ash (POFA) [5], wheat straw ash (WSA) [6], soya straw ash (SSA) [7], almond shell ash (ASA) [8], cornstalk ash (CSA) [9], barley straw ash (BSA) [10], etc.…”

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

“…An increase in compressive strength, a simultaneous decrease in the modulus of elasticity, and an increase in water absorbability in comparison with traditional cement mortars were observed. For years, research around the world has covered the use of fly ash and blast furnace slag in cement composites, mainly as a hydraulic additive [43,44] but also in geopolymer concrete [45][46][47][48], where pozzolana is indispensable for the polymerization process.…”

Effects of Grinding Methods and Water-to-Binder Ratio on the Properties of Cement Mortars Blended with Biomass Ash and Ceramic Powder

“…Several investigations have been attempted by a number of researchers to develop alternative cementitious materials using HRA. Rice husk ash (RHA) [ 5 ], palm oil fuel ash (POFA) [ 6 ], sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) [ 7 ], wheat straw ash (WSA) [ 8 ] and corn cob ash (CCA) [ 9 ] are some of the HRA that have evidently been reported for their suitability as pozzolans. The majority of the agricultural biomass resources in Serbia lie in corn biomass, more than 25% in the straw of cereals, and the rest in harvest residues of sunflower, soybean and oilseed rape.…”

“…Exploring the possibility of the application of HRA as SCMs in mortar production in Serbia has been recently initiated. Few earlier studies are available on the effect of WSA incorporation on the flexural and compressive strength of blended cement mortar [ 11 ] and masonry mortar [ 8 ]. No studies referring to CCA application in cement-based composites in Serbia can be found, while there have been studies giving an account of this by-product utilization as a SCM in other countries [ 9 ].…”