Beneficiation of High Sulfur Fly Ashes and Quarry Fines for Sustainable Ternary Concrete Mixtures

With an estimated 50% of all concrete produced containing some continuous flight auger (CFA) [6,7] and when CFA demand for use in concrete is increasing [1] while its supply is decreasing [9,10], it is evident that viable alternatives are necessary now and in the future for sustaining the production of durable and sustainable (low CO₂) concrete. This research will develop a ternary cement (e.g., ASTM C595 Type IT cement) that 3 combines the widely available high SO₃ CFA and quarry fines to reduce the Portland cement content of concrete by 50% or more. This new cement will be compliant with ASTM C595 and as such, will be immediately usable by concrete producers. Additionally, the availability of high SO₃ CFA and quarry fines would supplement the existing supply of conventional SCMs and allow the industry to proceed with its construction operations uninterrupted while meeting ambitious sustainability targets with respect to CO₂ emissions. In addition, there could be materials cost savings, even after beneficiation of these SCMs, given that they are currently discarded as waste materials. This research will explore the design and performance evaluation of a new ASTM C595 Type IT blended cement that includes high SO₃ CFA and quarry fines. The specific objectives are: (1) Characterization of high SO₃ CFA and quarry fines in terms of their composition, mineralogy, physical properties, and pozzolanic reactivity. (2) Designing and developing a new Type IT cement containing high SO₃ CFA and quarry fines to reach at least 95% of the compressive strength of a control Type IT cement at 28 days. (3) Evaluating the impact of this new cement on fresh properties of concrete, including workability, setting time, and admixture performance. (4) Studying the durability performance of concrete made with the new cement blend.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $VTIFed/Match$75,000/$75000PSUFed/Match$58461/$5896
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551847103

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CIAMTIS)

  Pennsylvania State University
  University Park, PA  United States  16802
• Project Managers:

  Donnell, Eric

• Performing Organizations:

  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

  Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
  3500 Transportation Research Plaza
  Blacksburg, VA  United States  24061

  Pennsylvania State University, University Park

  Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
  Research Office Building
  University Park, PA  United States  16802-4710
• Principal Investigators:

  Brand, Alexander

  Rajabipour, Farshad

  Kaladharan, Gopakumar

• Start Date: 20220310
• Expected Completion Date: 20230909
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Carbon; Compressive strength; Concrete; Durability; Fines (Materials); Fly ash; Materials adaptation and use; Sulfites; Workability
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01838474
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CIAMTIS)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551847103
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Mar 11 2022 9:19AM