Concrete made with treated bottom ash: mechanical and environmental study

This investigation evaluated the use of bottom ash in concrete. Two types of bottom ash powder were used: (1) Ground bottom ash (GBA) and (2) bottom ash Residue from grinding (BAR). In concrete, cement was replaced with GBA at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% levels and BAR was used as a sand replacement at the same levels. To assess concrete made with BAR and GBA, fresh proprieties, compressive strength, freeze-thaw test, Compliance test for leaching of bottom ashes and diffusion test were performed. The results revealed that compressive strength decreased when BAR-GBA content increased at an early age, but after 90 days, compressive strength of BAR-GBA concrete was similar to control concrete while compressive strength decreases at each cycle of freeze-thaw test. Moreover, leaching test revealed that the leached concentrations of heavy metals recorded were lower than those estimated by the standard.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the use of bottom ash in concrete, showing that it can impact compressive strength at early stages but the effect diminishes over time. Bottom ash can effectively replace cement and sand in concrete, positively affecting its performance.