Sulphate Resistance of Geopolymer Concrete Prepared from Blended Waste Fuel Ash
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 11
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of geopolymer concrete prepared using blended ash of pulverized fuel ash and palm oil fuel ash from agroindustrial waste along with alkaline activators when exposed to a 5% sodium sulphate solution for up to 18 months. Ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete was also prepared as the control concrete. The main parameters studied were the evaluation of mass change, compressive strength, products of degradation, and microstructural changes. The deterioration was examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA), and a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The results of geopolymer and OPC concretes were compared and discussed. The compressive strength of geopolymer concrete, when exposed to a 5% sodium sulphate solution for more than 1 year, was superior to that of OPC concrete. These materials could be used for making sulphate-resistant concretes, attributable to a more stable cross-linked aluminosilicate polymer structure formed in the geopolymer concrete.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (Mohe), and the Research Management Centre (RMC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), for financial support under Grant No. QJ130000.2522.03H35. The authors are also thankful to the staff of the Structures & Materials Laboratory, Faculty of Civil Engineering, for the facilities and support for this study.
References
Ahmari, S., Ren, X., Toufigh, V., and Zhang, L. (2012). “Production of geopolymeric binder from blended waste concrete powder and fly ash.” Constr. Build. Mater., 35(10), 718–729.
Alberti, A., Parodi, I., Cruciani, G., Dalconi, M. C., and Martucci, A. (2010). “Dehydration and rehydration processes in gmelinite: An in situ X-ray single-crystal study.” Am. Mineral., 95(11–12), 1773–1782.
Ariffin, M. A. M., Bhutta, M. A. R., Hussin, M. W., Mohd Tahir, M., and Aziah, Nor (2013). “Sulfuric acid resistance of blended ash geopolymer concrete.” Constr. Build. Mater., 43(6), 80–86.
Ariffin, M. A. M., Hussin, M. W., and Bhutta, M. A. R. (2011). “Mix design and compressive strength of geopolymer concrete containing blended ash from agro-industrial wastes.” J. Adv. Mater. Res., 339, 452–457.
Bakharev, T. (2005). “Durability of geopolymer materials in sodium and magnesium sulfate solutions.” Cem. Concr. Res., 35(6), 1233–1246.
Bakharev, T., Sanjayan, J. G., and Cheng, Y. B. (2002). “Sulfate attack on alkali-activated slag concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 32(2), 211–216.
Bhutta, M. A. R., Hussin, M. W., Ariffin, M. A. M., Nor Hasanah, B. A. S., Nur Farhayu, B. A. (2011). “Mix design and compressive strength of FA-POFA based geopolymer mortar.” Proc., 9th Int. Symp. on High Performance Concrete: Design, Verification & Utilization, NZ Concrete Society Inc., Rotorua, New Zealand, 15.
Bosoaga, A., Masek, O., and Oakey, J. E. (2009). “ capture technologies for cement industry.” Energy Procedia, 1(1), 133–140.
Chindaprasirt, P., Rattanasak, U., and Jaturapitakkul, C. (2011). “Utilization of fly ash blends from pulverized coal and fluidized bed combustions in geopolymeric materials.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 33(1), 55–60.
Criado, M., Fernández-Jiménez, A., De la Torre, A. G., Aranda, M. A. G., and Palomo, A. (2007). “An XRD study of the effect of the ratio on the alkali activation of fly ash.” Cem. Concr. Res., 37(5), 671–679.
Davidovits, J. (1991). “Geopolymer: Inorganic polymeric new materials.” J. Therm. Anal., 37(8), 1633–1656.
Donatello, S., Fernández-Jimenez, A., and Palomo, A. (2013). “Very high volume fly ash cements: Early age hydration study using as an activator.” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 96(3), 900–906.
Gadsden, J. A. (1975). Infrared spectra of mineral sand related inorganic compounds, Butterworths, London.
Hardjito, D., and Rangan, B. V. (2005). “Development and properties of low-calcium fly ash-based geopolymer concrete.”, Faculty of Engineering, Curtin Univ. of Technology, Perth, Australia.
Ismail, I., Bernal, S. A., Provis, J. L., Hamdan, S., and Deventer, J. S. J. (2013). “Drying-induced changes in the structure of alkali-activated pastes.” J. Mater. Sci., 48(9), 3566–3577.
Juenger, M. C. G., Winnefeld, F., Provis, J. L., and Ideker, J. H. (2011). “Advances in alternative cementitious binders.” Cem. Concr. Res., 41(12), 1232–1243.
Kiattikomol, K., Jaturapitakkul, C., Songpiriyakij, S., and Chutubtim, S. (2001). “A study of ground coarse fly ashes with different finenesses from various sources as pozzolanic materials.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 23(4–5), 335–343.
Lee, W. K. W., and Van Deventer, J. S. J. (2007). “Chemical interactions between siliceous aggregates and low-Ca alkali-activated cements.” Cem. Concr. Res., 37(6), 844–855.
Nath, S. K., and Kumar, S. (2013). “Influence of iron making slags on strength and microstructure of fly ash geopolymer.” Constr. Build. Mater., 38(1), 924–930.
Neville, A. (2004). “The confused world of sulfate attack on concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 34(8), 1275–1296.
Rangan, B. V., and Wallah, S. E. (2006). “Low calcium fly ash based geopolymer concrete: Long-term properties.”, Faculty of Engineering, Curtin Univ. of Technology, Perth, Australia.
Sahmaran, M., Kasap, O., Duru, K., and Yaman, I. O. (2007). “Effects of mix composition and water–cement ratio on the sulfate resistance of blended cements.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 29(3), 159–167.
Villa, C., Pecina, E. T., Torres, R., and Gómez, L. (2010). “Geopolymer synthesis using alkaline activation of natural zeolite.” Constr. Build. Mater., 24(11), 2084–2090.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 11 • November 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 23, 2013
Accepted: Jan 8, 2014
Published online: Jan 10, 2014
Published in print: Nov 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Nov 2, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.