Valorisation of the sewage sludge ash as cement replacement material

F. Benoudjit, M. Hachemi

Abstract


The amount of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is continuously increasing and becoming a serious issue for environment. Therefore, the valorisation of sewage sludge in sectors such as the construction field where there is high demand for naturel resources would be great for the environment. The present work reports the possibility of using sewage sludge ash as substitute for part of cement in mortars. The cement was mixed at various percentages of sewage sludge ash: 0% (as control mortar), 10%, 20% and 30% of the cement’s weight. Several properties have been tested at various curing ages (2, 7 and 28 days) and compared with control samples: mechanical properties including flexural and compressive strengths, and physical properties namely the dry bulk density, the water absorption and the apparent porosity. The obtained results have revealed that both physical and mechanical properties of mortar was influenced by the ratio of sewage sludge ash which can be used as a substitute of part of the cement in mortar. Flexural and compressive strengths increased over time for all the samples of mortar. The substitution can be as high as 30% while maintaining a compressive strength within the standard requirements at 28 days. Also the use of up to 30% of the weight of cement in sewage sludge ash provides lower dry bulk densities, higher both water absorption and higher apparent porosity than control mortars.

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References


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