Study on the pozzolanic properties of rice husk ash by hydrochloric acid pretreatment

The pozzolanic properties of rice husk ash by hydrochloric acid pretreatment are reported in the paper. Three methods have been used to estimate the pozzolanic activity of rice husk ash. The heat evolution and the hydration heat of cement, the Ca(OH)(2) content in the mortar and the pore size distribution of mortar are determined. It is shown that compare with the rice husk ash heated untreated rice husk, the sensitivity of pozzolanic activity of the rice husk ash heated hydrochloric acid pretreatment rice husk to burning conditions is reduced. The pozzolanic activity of rice husk ash by pretreatment is not only stabilized but also enhanced obviously. The kinetics of reaction of rice husk ash with lime is consistent with diffusion control and can be represented by the Jander diffusion equation. A significant increase in the strength of the rice husk ash (pretreated) specimen is observed. The results of heat evolution indicate that the rice husk ash by pretreatment shows the behavior in the increase of hydration of cement. The cement mortar added with the rice husk ash by pretreatment has lower Ca(OH)(2) content after 7 days and the pore size distribution of the mortar with the rice husk ash with pretreatment shows a tendency to shift towards the smaller pore size. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.