Tests on Alkali-Activated Slag Foamed Concrete with Various Water-Binder Ratios and Substitution Levels of Fly Ash

To provide basic data for the reasonable mixing design of the alkali-activated (AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for a floor heating system, 9 concrete mixes with a targeted dry density less than 400 kg/m3 were tested. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) as a source material was activated by the following two types of alkali activators: 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2, and 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3. The main test parameters were water-to-binder (W/B) ratio and the substitution level (RFA) of fly ash (FA) for GGBS. Test results revealed that the dry density of AA GGBS foamed concrete was independent of the W/B ratio an RFA, whereas the compressive strength increased with the decrease in W/B ratio and with the increase in RFA up to 15%, beyond which it decreased. With the increase in the W/B ratio, the amount of macro capillaries and artificial air pores increased, which resulted in the decrease of compressive strength. The magnitude of the environmental loads of the AA GGBS foamed concrete is independent of the W/B ratio and RFA. The largest reduction percentage was found in the photochemical oxidation potential, being more than 99%. The reduction percentage was 87% - 93% for the global warming potential, 81% - 84% for abiotic depletion, 79% - 84% for acidification potential, 77% - 85% for eutrophication potential, and 73% - 83% for human toxicity potential. Ultimately, this study proved that the developed AA GGBS foamed concrete has a considerable promise as a sustainable construction material for nonstructural element.

Analysis of the Performances and Optimization of Polyurethane Concrete with a Large Percentage of Fly Ash

The properties of polyurethane concrete containing a large amount of fly ash are investigated,and accordingly,a model is introduced to account for the influence of fly ash fineness,water ratio,and loss of ignition(LOI)on its mechanical performances.This research shows that,after optimization,the concrete has a compressive strength of 20.8 MPa,a flexural strength of 3.4 MPa,and a compressive modulus of elasticity of 19.2 GPa.The main factor influencing 28 and 90 d compressive strength is fly ash content,water-binder ratio,and early strength agent content.

Influence of Fly Ash and Silica Fume on Water-resistant Property of Magnesium Oxychloride Cement

By incorporation of fly ash or silica fume into magnesium oxychloride （MOC） cement, a high water resistance material can be formed for successful industrial applications. The influences of fly ash and silica fume on water-resistant property were investigated by SEM and EDS. It is found that the incorporation of fly ash or silica fume can improve the water-resistance of the MOC. The improvement of the water resistance of the MOC incorporated with fly ash or silica fume may be attributed to the alumino-silicate 5·1·8 gel or silicate 5·1·8 gel.

Silica-alumina molar ratio and some factors effect on the synthesis of zeolites from fly ash

In order to improve the activity and eliminate some impurities, pretreatment was used before hydrothermal synthesis. The fly ash was mixed with an aqueous NaOH solution, the alkali melted fly ash was also adopted, which is hydrothermally treated at about 104 ℃, and the liquid/solid ratio was controlled at 6：1. In order to control Si/Al molar ratio, SiO2 or Al2O3 powers were added to the fly ash. The results of XRD and SEM show that the alkali melted can activate fly ash and eliminate its quartz and mullite, along with the improvement of Si/Al molar ratio and alkalinity. In addition, zeolite Na-A changes into sodalite gradually, and nepheline is the synthesized intermediate product. Those results were discussed on the basis of a formation mechanism of zeolite from fly ash.

Effect of MSWI Fly Ash and Incineration Residues on Cement Performances

The activities of municipal solid waste incineration （MSWI） fly ash and incineration residues were studied contrastively, through the component analysis and the activity ratio tests. The mechanical properties, hydration mechanism and leaching toxicity of the hardened cement paste mixing with MSWI fly ash and incineration residues were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the active constituents （CaO＋Al2O3＋Fe2O3） in MSWI fly ash were higher than those in incineration residues. Therefore the activity ratio of MSWI fly ash was 43.58%, twice as much as that of incineration residues. Meanwhile, the hydration of cement was delayed by mixing with MSWI fly ash and incineration residues, which also reduced the cement strength markedly. By adding with exceeding 20% MSWI fly ash, the specimens expanded and microcracks appeared. The leaching toxicities of cement pasted mixed with MSWI fly ash and incineration residues were lower than the Chinese national standard. Accordingly the cement mixed by MSWI fly ash and incineration residues can be considered as the environment-friendly materials.

Molecular mechanism of fly ash affecting the performance of cemented backfill material

The great challenge of cemented tailings backfill(CTB)is difficult simultaneously maintaining its excellent mechanical properties and low cost.Fly ash(FA)can potentially address this problem and further replace cement in favor of low carbon development.However,its mechanism on CTB with low cement dosage and low Ca system remains unclear.Consequently,this study conducted uniaxial compression,Xray diffraction(XRD),and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)-energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS)tests to investigate the effect of FA dosage on the mechanical property and microstructure of CTB.A molecular model of FA-CSH was constructed to reproduce the molecular structure evolution of CTB with FA based on the test results.The influences of FA dosage and calcium/silica molar ratio(Ca/Si ratio)on the matrix strength and failure model were analyzed to reveal the mechanism of FA on calcium silicate hydrated(C-S-H).The results show that the strength of CTB increases initially and then decreases with FA dosage,and the FA supplement leads to a decrease in Ca(OH)_(2) diffraction intensity and Ca/Si ratio around the FA particles.XRD and SEM-EDS findings show that the Ca/Si ratio of C-S-H decreases with the progression of hydration.The FA-CSH model indicates that FA can reinforce the silica chain of C-S-H to increase the matrix strength.However,this enhancement is weakened by supplementing excessive FA dosage.In addition,the hydrogen bonds among water molecules deteriorate,reducing the matrix strength.A low Ca/Si ratio results in an increase in water molecules and a decrease in the ionic bonds combined with Ca^(2+).The hydrogen bonds among water molecules cannot withstand high stresses,resulting in a reduction in strength.The water absorption of the FA-CSH model is negatively correlated with the FA dosage and Ca/Si ratio.The use of optimal FA dosage and Ca/Si ratio leads to suitable water absorption,which further affects the failure mode of FA-CSH.

Effect of sodium sulfate on strength and microstructure of alkali-activated fly ash based geopolymer

The main objective of this paper focuses on the changes that occur in the strength and microstructural properties of sodium silicate activated fly ash based geopolymer due to varying the sulfate salt and water content.A series of tests including X-ray diffraction,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy,physical adsorption and unconfined compressive strength were used to investigate this effect.The results indicate that the higher water content has an adverse effect on the alkali activation and microstructural properties of geopolymer,so the optimum mass ratio of sodium sulfate in alkali-activated geopolymer under different water-to-binder ratios shows a“peak shifting”phenomenon,i.e.,the higher the water-to-binder ratio,the higher the optimum mass ratio.Lower presence of sodium sulfate has no significant effect on the alkali-activated geopolymer systems;higher addition of sodium sulfate,however,could cause the symmetrical stretching vibration of Si—O and the symmetrical stretching vibration of Si—O—Si and Al—O—Si,and promote the formation of N-A-S-H gels.Furthermore,the cement effect of the gel and sodium sulfate aggregate could improve the integrity of pore structure obviously.The maximum strength of geopolymer curing at ambient temperature was 52 MPa.This study obtains the rule that the strength properties of alkali-activated geopolymers vary with the water-to-binder ratio and sodium sulfate content.The feasibility of geopolymer co-activated by sodium sulfate and sodium silicate was investigated,and reference for engineering application of alkali-activated geopolymer in salt-bearing areas was provided.

Effect of Water Washing Pre-treatment on the Properties of Glass-ceramics from Incinerator Fly Ash Using Electronic Arc Furnace

Production of glass-ceramics by sintering the molten slag obtained from electric arc furnace treatment of fly ash was investigated. The effect of washing pretreatment prior to melting the fly ash on the microstructure and properties of the glass-ceramics was examined. The results show that washing pretreatment of fly ash can decrease alkali metal chloride and increase network former in fly ash, which results in the increase of peak crystallization temperature of parent glass and strengthening of properties of bending strength and chemical stability of the glass-ceramics. The optimal heat treatment temperature for parent glass of washed fly ash is 1 173 K, at which the crystalline phase of glass-ceramics is composed of gelignite （Ca2A12SiO7） and akermanite （Ca2MgSi207）. Glass-ceramics produced at optimal heat treatment temperature are excellent in term of the physical and chemical properties and leaching characteristics, indicating attractive potential as substitute of nature materials.

Assessment of Curing Efficiency and Effect of Moist Curing on Performance of Fly Ash Concrete

This study was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of compressive strength,water permeability and electrical resistance of near-surface layer concrete with different fly ash contents to curing conditions.It is shown that the sensitivity to curing condition and fly ash content descends in the following order：difference between internal and surface resistivity （ρ） at 28 days,water permeability and compressive strength;both of longer duration of moist curing and use of fly ash in concrete enhanced the water penetration resistance.It is indicated that the resistivity difference ρ at 28 days can reflect accurately the curing history of fly ash concrete regardless of mix proportions;and use of fly ash in concrete requires longer moist curing duration.

Application of polymeric flocculant for enhancing settling of the pond ash particles and water drainage from hydraulically stowed pond ash

Delayed settling of the ash particles and poor drainage of water from the pond ash are the major problems faced during the hydraulic stowing of pond ash. In this study the effect of polymeric flocculant on settling of the ash particles and drainage of water during pond ash stowing are investigated. In addition, the parameters, viz. drainage and absorption of water during pond ash stowing are quantified by stowing a mine goaf model with pond ash slurries of five different concentrations added with and without flocculant. The study revealed that addition of only 5 10 6 of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (Na-CMC) flocculant with the pond ash slurries during stowing offers best result in terms of quicker settling of the ash particles and enhanced water drainage from the hydraulically stowed pond ash. Besides, it resulted in drainage of more than 85% of the total water used in the initial 45 min of stowing. The improvement in drainage is caused due to coagulation and flocculation of the pond ash particles because of charge neutralization and particle-particle bridging. This study may provide a basis for estimating the drainage and absorption of water during the real pond ash stowing operation in underground mines.

Research on Preparation and Influencing Fctors of High Calcium High Sulfate Ash to Autoclaved Aerated Concrete

In this paper, a high calcium high sulfate ash as the main material, adding fly ash, lime, cement, gypsum and some modifiers to prepare autoclaved aerated concrete. The products complies with the technical requirements of GB/T11968-2006. This paper also studies the influence of the physical methods and water ratio on autoclaved aerated concrete by high calcium high sulfate ash aerated concrete. The best ratio of water and Grinding time were found in practice study.

Research on physical and chemical properties and soundness of dry desulphurized fly ash used as a construction material

The physical and chemical properties and soundness of Baosteel Power Plant＇ s dry desulphurized fly ash were systematically investigated and compared with those of the similar byproducts produced by some other domestic power plants. The feasibility of these byproducts used as a construction material was also analyzed. The results show that Baosteel＇s dry desulphurized fly ash is a kind of ash with high calcium and high sulfur contents, which has the characteristics of volcanic ash activity. It contains sulfate and sulfite, and is easy to cause sulfate activation. It has higher activity compared with common fly ash. But higher calcium sulfite and free-CaO contents in ash will bring about soundness concerns to users. Therefore, quality tests and volume control will be necessary when fly ash is used as a construction material.

Use of fly ash with no water consumption for cold regions transportation infrastructure

The construction period in cold regions is very short due to problems related to excavation and use of frozen soils in embankment construction, which leads to excessive deformations upon thawing. Also, handling of compaction water is critical due to freezing temperatures. Coalburning thermal power plants are very common in cold regions to supply electricity. The inorganic part of the pulverized coal after burning produces fly ash, which is available in large volumes. Due to excavation difficulties and the poor engineering behavior of frozen soils in cold regions, the utilization of fly ash when it is readily available must be promoted. Any construction technique which utilizes alternative materials like fly ash and minimizes water consumption has a potential to extend the short construction season and even allow service and maintenance during extreme weather conditions. This paper presents two potential techniques to solve the moisture affinity of silt-sized materials like fly ash. One technique involves in-plant production of fly ash pellets using cold-bonding pelletization to manufacture aggregates of up to 40,000-~tm diameter from 15- to 60-~tm-diameter fly ash grains. Large disc pelletizers have annual production capacities of up to one million ton at a reasonable cost. The product has adequate strength for embankment construction even when no water is used and no compaction is applied. The second technique is an in situ mixing technique which uses snow instead of compaction water for fly ash. The snow is the main element in this technique to compact the embankment. Water is needed for the hydration reactions to form cementitious minerals in fly ash. The slower the hydration reaction, the greater the crystal growth of cementitious minerals. In the proposed technique, in situ snow is mixed with fly ash and is compacted on-site. The temperature increase due to the hydration reaction of fly ash upon contact with snow crystals provides water for continued long-term hydration, which results in high strength, a high void ratio, light weight, and high thermal insulation capability. The presented techniques have the potential to extend the short construction season in cold regions and will provide fill material, decreasing the need for excavation. Both techniques are well documented under laboratory conditions, the research results have been published, and the techniques are ready for field trials to assess implementability.

Experimental Study on Fly Ash for Conditioning of Specific Resistance of Sludge Water

Discharge of sludge from water works into waters will result in the increased deterioration of water environment. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted on the addition of conditioning agent to improve sludge dewatering performance. The result shows that coagulation is inadaptable to the treatment of sludge from water works and use of powdered coal ash from power plant as conditioning agent can greatly reduce the specific resistance of sludge and the dewatering performance can be improved. The optimal dosage of fine powdered coal is 20g/100mL and coarse powdered coal is 30g/100mL. Powdered coal is mixed with sludge to form filter cake, which is blended with coal in certain proportion to make into fuel. So that incineration of sludge from water works can be realized.

Separating Performance of Fly Ash in Water Media

The stress state and floating sinking reqularity of various particles in fly ash in water were analyzed. The formula for calculating the floating sinking rate was given. And the formula for calculating the magnetic force needed to separate magnetic beads from magnetic separator was also obtained.

Enhancing fly ash utilization in backfill materials treated with CO_(2)carbonation under ambient conditions

The environmental concerns resulting from coal-fired power generation that produces large amounts of CO_(2)and fly ash are of great interest.To mitigate,this study aims to develop a novel carbonated CO_(2)-fly ash-based backfill(CFBF)material under ambient conditions.The performance of CFBF was investigated for different fly ash-cement ratios and compared with non-CO_(2)reacted samples.The fresh CFBF slurry conformed to the Herschel-Bulkley model with shear thinning characteristics.After carbonation,the yield stress of the fresh slurry increased significantly by lowering fly ash ratio due to gel formation.The setting times were accelerated,resulting in approximately 40.6%of increased early strength.The final strength decreased when incorporating a lower fly ash ratio(50%and 60%),which was related to the existing heterogeneous pores caused by rapid fluid loss.The strength increased with fly ash content above 70%because additional C-S(A)-H and silica gels were characterized to precipitate on the grain surface,so the binding between particles increased.The C-S(A)-H gel was developed through the pozzolanic reaction,where CaCO_(3)was the prerequisite calcium source obtained in the CO_(2)-fly ash reaction.Furthermore,the maximum CO_(2)uptake efficiency was 1.39 mg-CO_(2)/g-CFBF.The CFBF material is feasible to co-dispose CO_(2)and fly ash in the mine goaf as negative carbon backfill materials,and simultaneously mitigates the strata movement and water lost in post-subsurface mining.

Extraction of aluminium as aluminium sulphate from thermal power plant fly ashes

Valuable metal extraction technology from thermal power plant fly ash is limited.In the present study,aluminium is extracted from fly ash as highly pure aluminium sulphate(>99.0%)by leaching with sulphuric acid,followed by pre-concentration and successive crystallization.Two types of fly ashes from different sources,i.e.,Talcher Thermal Power Station(TTPS)and Vedanta Aluminium Company Limited(VAL)were chosen for comparative study on the extraction of aluminium as aluminium sulphate.The product is characterized by powder X-ray diffraction(XRD),Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA).Purity of aluminium sulphate was also investigated by inductively coupled plasma?optical emission spectrometry(ICP?OES).The extraction efficiency of aluminium depends on the varied solid-to-liquid ratio(fly ash:18mol/L H2SO4,g/mL)and particle size of fly ashes.Physico-chemical analysis indicates that the obtained product is Al2(SO4)3·18H2O,having low iron content(0.08%).

Analysis of influence of the power plant ash storage yard on groundwater environment

The fluoride contained in the filter liquor produced by fly ash in the thermal power plant which takes the coal as fuel can lead to groundwater pollution. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the migration characteristics of the pollutants in groundwater, in order to control and prevent the groundwater fluoride pollution. By adopting the numerical modeling method, this paper takes the ash-storage yard of Shahe Power Plant in Xingtai City as an example, to study the characteristics of fluoride migration in phreatic water, and establish a two-dimensional groundwater flow and water quality model on the basis of the hydrogeological condition analysis in this study area. Meanwhile, based on the Vmodflow software, the migration regulation of the fluoride in groundwater has been simulated. Because the phreatic aquifer of this area belonging to the Shahe alluvial-diluvial sediments and with a coarse lithology as well as high permeability, the migration and diffusion ability of the fluoride in this area is relatively strong. It turns out that the longest migration distance in 5 years is 892 m and that within 8 years is 1 515 m.

Cellular lightweight concrete containing high-calcium fly ash and natural zeolite

Cellular lightweight concrete （CLC） with the controlled density of approximately 800 kg/m3 was made from a preformed foam, Type-I Portland cement （OPC）, fly ash （FA）, or natural zeolite （NZ）, and its compressive strength, setting time, water absorption, and microstructure of were tested. High-calcium FA and NZ with the median particle sizes of 14.52 and 7.72 μm, respectively, were used to partially replace OPC at 0, 10wt%, 20wt%, and 30wt% of the binder （OPC and pozzolan admixture）. A water-to-binder mass ratio （W/B） of 0.5 was used for all mixes. The testing results indicated that CLC containing 10wt% NZ had the highest compressive strength. The replacement of OPC with NZ decreased the total porosity and air void size but increased the capillary porosity of the CLC. The incorporation of a suitable amount of NZ decreased the setting time, total porosity, and pore size of the paste compared with the findings with the same amount of FA. The total porosity and cumulative pore volume decreased, whereas the gel and capillary pores increased as a result of adding both pozzolans at all replacement levels. The water absorption increased as the capillary porosity increased; this effect depended on the volume of air entrained and the type or amount of pozzolan.

Water Permeability in Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete

This research investigated the water permeability coefficient of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. The effect of sodium hydroxide （Na（OH）） concentrations and Si/AI ratios on water permeability and compressive strength of geopolymer concretes were studied. The geopolymer concrete were prepared from Mae Moh fly ash with sodium silicate （Na2SiO3） and sodium hydroxide （Na（OH）） solutions. In the first group, concentration of Na（OH） was varied at 8, 10, 12, and 14 molar and the Si/AI ratio was kept constant at 1.98. In the second group, a concentration of Na（OH） was kept constant at 14 molar and the Si/AI ratio was varied at 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, and 2.8. The hardened concretes were air-cured in laboratory. The compressive strength and water permeability were tested at the age of 28 and 60 days. The results showed that compressive strengths of geopolymer concrete significantly increased with the increase of a concentration of Na（OH） and Si/AI ratio. The water permeability coefficients increase with the decrease of compressive strength. In addition, the high reduction of water permeability coefficients with time was found in geopolymer concrete with lower Na（OH） concentration than that higher Na（OH） concentration.