Pietro C. D. Tortora, Alex Maldonado-Alameda, Jofre Mañosa, Alex C. Quintero-Payan, Cristina Leonelli, Isabella Lancellotti and Josep M. Chimenos.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031848
Sustainability 2022, 14, 1848
Quartile Q2, Impact 3.251
Weathered bottom ash (WBA) from municipal solid waste incineration is a calcium aluminosilicate rich material mainly used in construction and civil engineering as a secondary aggregate. However, its use is also being considered as a precursor in the manufacture of alkali-activated binders (AA-WBA). This preliminary research aimed to deepen understanding of the potential use of WBA (>8 mm fraction) as the sole precursor of alkali-activated binders. To gain better knowledge of this material, the physicochemical, mechanical, and environmental properties of AA-WBA binders were evaluated. In addition, the effect of curing temperature (25 °C, 45 °C, 65 °C, and 85 °C) and humidity conditions (oven and climate chamber) were assessed.
The results of this study revealed that temperature and humidity conditions play a fundamental role during the early formation stages of AA-WBA binders. Maximum compactness and compressive strength (29.8 MPa) were obtained in the sample cured at 65 °C in the oven and room humidity. At higher temperatures (85 °C), a substantial decrease in mechanical strength (21.2 MPa) was observed due to a lower cohesion of the binder phases. Curing in the climate chamber led to an increase in humidity, and therefore a decrease in compressive strength. Finally, lower porosity and longer curing time substantially decreased the heavy metals and metalloid leaching concentration of AA-WBA binders.
Funding
This research was partially funded by the Spanish Government (BIA2017-83912-C2-1-R; MINECO/FEDER), the ERASMUS+ traineeship program (43/MO 2019/2020) and the research grants FI-DGR 2017 and FI-2020 (Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca).
Research category: Construction
Projects associated: BIA2017-83912-C2-1-R
Doctoral Thesis: Alkali-activated cement binders based on weathered bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration