Assessment of Sieving as a Mean to Increase Utilization Rate of Biomass Fly Ash in Cement-Based Composites

Biomass fly ash is a growing challenge for combustion by-product (CBP) management. This research was conducted to investigate the influence of activation by sieving through a 63 µm sieve and a 125 µm sieve on fresh and hardened cement mortar properties. Sieving increased the CaO content by 9.3 perce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jakub Popławski, Małgorzata Lelusz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/3/1659
Description
Summary:Biomass fly ash is a growing challenge for combustion by-product (CBP) management. This research was conducted to investigate the influence of activation by sieving through a 63 µm sieve and a 125 µm sieve on fresh and hardened cement mortar properties. Sieving increased the CaO content by 9.3 percentage points (p.p.) in the oxide composition of the fly ash. The 28-day Strength Activity Indices increased by 24.9 p.p. A 25% replacement rate of cement with fly ash sieved with a 63 µm sieve increased the 2-day compressive strength of mortars by 24% when compared with untreated fly ash. The 90-day compressive strength results of cement mortars with a 15% replacement rate of cement with fly ash sieved with a 63 µm sieve were similar to the control specimen results. The utilization rate of biomass fly ash can be increased to 15% of binder mass without the detrimental effect of the mechanical properties of cement mortar. SEM and TG analyses showed that activated biomass fly ash promoted the growth of the C-S-H phase and ettringite.
ISSN:2076-3417