Ubolluk Rattanasak

Comparative study on the characteristics of fly ash and bottom ash geopolymers.

This research was conducted to compare geopolymers made from fly ash and ground bottom ash. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na(2)SiO(3)) solutions were used as activators. A mass ratio of 1.5 Na(2)SiO(3)/NaOH and three concentrations of NaOH (5, 10, and 15M) were used; the geopolymers were cured at 65 degrees C for 48 h. A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used on the geopolymer pastes. Geopolymer mortars were also prepared in order to investigate compressive strength. The results show that both fly ash and bottom ash can be utilized as source materials for the production of geopolymers. The properties of the geopolymers are dependent on source materials and the NaOH concentration. Fly ash is more reactive and produces a higher degree of geopolymerization in comparison with bottom ash. The moderate NaOH concentration of 10 M is found to be suitable and gives fly ash and bottom ash geopolymer mortars with compressive strengths of 35 and 18 MPa.

Utilization of blended fluidized bed combustion (FBC) ash and pulverized coal combustion (PCC) fly ash in geopolymer

In this paper, synthesis of geopolymer from fluidized bed combustion (FBC) ash and pulverized coal combustion (PCC) fly ash was studied in order to effectively utilize both ashes. FBC-fly ash and bottom ash were inter-ground to three different finenesses. The ashes were mixed with as-received PCC-fly ash in various proportions and used as source material for synthesis of geopolymer. Sodium silicate (Na(2)SiO(3)) and 10M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions at mass ratio of Na(2)SiO(3)/NaOH of 1.5 and curing temperature of 65 degrees C for 48h were used for making geopolymer. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), degree of reaction, and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed on the geopolymer pastes. Compressive strength was also tested on geopolymer mortars. The results show that high strength geopolymer mortars of 35.0-44.0MPa can be produced using mixture of ground FBC ash and as-received PCC-fly ash. Fine FBC ash is more reactive and results in higher degree of reaction and higher strength geopolymer as compared to the use of coarser FBC ash. Grinding increases reactivity of ash by means of increasing surface area and the amount of reactive phase of the ash. In addition, the packing effect due to fine particles also contributed to increase in strength of geopolymers.

Compressive strength and heavy metal leaching behaviour of mortars containing spent catalyst

This investigation was set and aimed to study the possibility of using spent catalyst as a concrete constituent which the spent catalyst was used as sand. Besides the spent catalyst was used as sand, it was also ground to very small particle size as small as that of cement and used as 20% replacement of cement by weight. Compressive strengths and leaching characteristics of lead, chromium, cadmium, and nickel in mortars containing spent catalyst and ground spent catalyst were tested. The results presented revealed that the compressive strength of mortar containing spent catalyst increased with ages. The results also indicated that the compressive strength of mortar containing spent catalyst at the proportion of 1.25 times of cement by weight was strong enough to make a concrete brick. In case of the ground spent catalyst being used to replace cement, it made the compressive strength lower than that of the standard mortar approximately 20%. The leachate results of lead and chromium from spent catalyst were lower than the allowance, but cadmium and nickel exceeded the limits. After the spent catalyst was fixed with cement, the leaching of the heavy metals did not exceed the industrial effluent standard. Therefore, the heavy metals mentioned earlier were not a problem in using spent catalyst as a concrete constituent.

Thermal treatment and utilization of Al-rich waste in high calcium fly ash geopolymeric materials

The Al-rich waste with aluminium and hydrocarbon as the major contaminant is generated at the wastewater treatment unit of a polymer processing plant. In this research, the heat treatment of this Al-rich waste and its use to adjust the silica/alumina ratio of the high calcium fly ash geopolymer were studied. To recycle the raw Al-rich waste, the waste was dried at 110°C and calcined at 400 to 1000°C. Mineralogical analyses were conducted using X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the phase change. The increase in calcination temperature to 600, 800, and 1000°C resulted in the phase transformation. The more active alumina phase of active γ-Al2O3 was obtained with the increase in calcination temperature. The calcined Al-rich waste was then used as an additive to the fly ash geopolymer by mixing with high calcium fly ash, water glass, 10 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and sand. Test results indicated that the calcined Al-rich waste could be used as an aluminium source to adjust the silica/alumina ratio and the strength of geopolymeric materials. The fly ash geopolymer mortar with 2.5wt% of the Al-rich waste calcined at 1000°C possessed the 7-d compressive strength of 34.2 MPa.