Technological and Environmental Behavior of Coal Fly Ash in Lime-Based Materials

Coal fly ash is considered an industrial by-product derived from coal combustion in thermal power plant. It is one of the most complex anthropogenic materials. Its improper disposal has become an environmental concern and resulted in a waste of recoverable resources. The aim of this paper is to study the physico-chemical characteristics of binders based on coal fly ash and lime in order to develop an eco-cement. The various characterization tests carried out are X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, compressive strengths, thermophysical properties and setting time. X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction were used to determine the chemical composition and phases of fly ash, lime and binders. This allowed us to see that the chemical composition of fly ash is similar to that of cement. Compressive strengths of mortars containing 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% of fly ash have shown that fly ash has a long-term positive effect which might be related to a pozzolanic activity. The L3 binder consisting of 60% of coal fly ash and 40% lime has a higher compressive strength than the others. The binder setting start time is greater than that of cement but shorter than that of lime. The study of the thermophysical properties of the L3 binder shows that it has a higher thermal resistance than cement mortar. Moreover, it heats up less quickly because of its low effusivity compared to that of the latter. This analysis highlighted the principal characteristics that must be taken into account to use coal fly correctly in lime-based materials.