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Manufacturing of Lightweight Aggregates from Municipal Solid Waste

Incineration Bottom Ash and their Impacts on Concrete Properties

Conference Paper · July 2019

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 Oral Presentation

Manufacturing of Lightweight Aggregates from Municipal Solid Waste

Incineration Bottom Ash and their Impacts on Concrete Properties

M. Saad1 , O. Baalbaki2, J. Khatib2, A. El Kordi2, A. Masri2

1Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Beirut Arab University, Debbieh, Lebanon
2Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Beirut Arab University, Debbieh, Lebanon

*Corresponding Author: mjsaad94@gmail.com

Abstract

Due to the growing amount of residues generated from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration
(MSWI) and the low accessibility of landfill disposal, it is mandatory to provide a sustainable
alternative for managing wastes contributing to the efficient use of resources that can help to
save our polluted environment. From this point of view, our proposed idea is to transform the
bottom ash into useful construction material as aggregates or light weight aggregates that can
be considered as a renewable resource. Moreover, this type of aggregate can help to save our
atmosphere from the produced wastes, decrease the quantity of aggregates excavated form
quarries and limit the importation of manufactured lightweight aggregates from outside our
country Lebanon. Our aim in this paper is to manufacture artificial lightweight aggregates
from bottom ash using different proportions of binder, to study their physical and mechanical
characteristics and to find out the optimal sample of aggregates made from residues based on
their performance and cost analysis. Afterward, the performance of concrete made of selected
artificial aggregates was studied through an experimental testing program and compared to
that of concrete made by a conventional Expanded Clay lightweight aggregates and normal
weight aggregates.

Keywords: Lightweight Aggregates, Lightweight Concrete, Sustainability.

1. Introduction

Construction activities expend huge amounts of extracted materials. Aggregates are major
component materials used in concrete mix during construction. Therefore, the use of waste
materials generated from incineration as a replacement of aggregates will be economically
and environmentally beneficial. Incineration is a commonly used technique of municipal solid
waste (MSW) removal where millions of tons of residues worldwide are generated every year
and these amounts are raised gradually. The incineration process permits a great reduction in
the quantity of the waste 85-90% in volume and 65-80% in mass ( Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control, August 2006). Furthermore, it produces an energy source from the
heat of combustion generated and can be used in different systems such as the production of
electricity. Fly and bottom ashes are the two main by products resulting from combustion.

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Those residues are usually landfilled and exhaust large spaces of land.Many researchers had
been studied the process of manufacturing lightweight aggregates from residues generated
from MSWI in order to get rid of these remains. Several methods are used to produce
artificial lightweight aggregates after a pellitazation process, such as by elevated temperature
procedures or sintering at high temperature (1200 ), by a hydrothermal process or
autoclaving process at 140 or by the cold bonding process at room temperature
(Dash,2016). Investigations of the suitability of artificial aggregate had made through the
measurement of physical and mechanical properties: density, specific gravity, water
absorption capacity, compressive strength (Cioffi,2011; Frankovi,2017; Perumala,2014 and
Colangeloa,2015). They demonstrated that the granules can be classified as lightweight
aggregate with mechanical strength strongly dependent on the type and concentration of
binder. Mechanical properties were assesed with promising results. The strength property and
density of concrete made with artificial fly ash aggregates and natural gravel were studied and
confirmed that introducting fly ash aggregates in concrete reduces the compressive strength
but meets the required strength to be used as a structural material (Priyadharshini, 2011 and
Frankovi,2017). Kockal,2011 investigated the effects of sintered fly ash and cold-bonded fly
ash lightweight aggregate properties on the permeability of concrete. The permeability of
sintered fly ash aggregate lightweight concretes was comparable and slightly lower than
normal weight concrete whereas permeability of cold-bonded fly ash lightweight concrete
was greater than the others. Following the path opened by this preliminary study, the aim of
this research is to assess the viability of producimg different samples of artificial lightweight
aggregates made from bottom ash generated from MSWI using cold bond process, to evaluate
their physical and mechanical properties and to study their effects on concrete properties.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Basic raw materials

MSWI residues including weathered bottom ash (BA) and fly ash (FA) were collected from
SICOMO plant located in Bar-Eliace Lebanon. The process of incineration generates three
types of ashes:(a) FA collected through an automatic screw conveyor in a dust removal step of
flus gazes treatment process in the municipal incineration at 850-1000 ºC, (b) BA collected
from a bottom ash discharger resulting from grate incineration of municipal waste at 250ºC
and (c) BA collected from a bottom ash discharger resulting from grate incineration of
municipal waste at 850-1000ºC.In this study, the 2nd type of ash is used due to their huge
production and availability in large quantity. This type was sieved according to ASTM C136
using mechanical shaker to determine the grading of particles as illustrated below in Graph 1.
The maximum particule size of BA was less than 12.5 mm. In addition, BA with size lower
than 8mm was selected to produce artificial aggregates.

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 Grain size distribution of bottom ash
100
Percentage Passing (%)

80

60
40

20
0
10 1 0.1
Opening size (mm)
Graph1: Size distribution of bottom ash
2.2. Chemical compositions of bottom ash
The chemical compostion of the major and minor elememts presented in BA was determined
by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis. XRF is relatively non-destructive chemical analysis
of rocks, minerals, sediments and fluids. It works on wavelength-dispersive spectroscopic
principles that are similar to an electron microprobe (EPMA). The relative ease and low cost
of sample preparation, as well as the stability and ease of use of x-ray spectrometers makes it
one of the most widely used methods for analysis of major and trace elements in rocks,
minerals, and sediment. The XRF method depends on fundamental principles, common to
several other instrumental methods involving interactions between electron beams and x-rays
with samples. The XRF test was performed for BA at Sibline Cement Factory laboratory in
Lebanon. The preparation of the material for X-Ray analysis starts by drying the sample at
105˚C till obtaining constant mass. A portion of the dried sample was fused at high
temperature. Another portion of the dried sample was taken to test the loss on ignition, noted
as “LOI”. LOI is determined by igniting the sample at 950˚C until constant mass. The
obtained results are shown in Table 1.
Analysis report of oxides (%) Bottom ash
SiO2 21.12
Al2O3 13.08
Fe2O3 8.07
CaO 35.93
MgO 1.37
SO3 0.28
K2O 0.14
Na2O 0.5
TiO2 1.87
Cl 1.7
LOI(Loss on ignition) 15.55
Table 1: Chemical Composition of bottom ash

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BA is mainly composed of amorphous and vitreous phases, with SiO2 (21.12%) coming from
lime-soda glass and CaO (35.93%) from ceramic materials being the most abundant
constituent (Del Valle-Zermeno, 2013). The considerable content of CaO in BA can reveal
good hydraulic properties. The summation of oxides (Si2O3 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3) sample was
found to be 42.27% less than 70%,the sulfur content SO3 was 0.25% less than 4 %, and LOI
was 15.55 % more than 10%. So, according to ASTM C618 those materials don't meet all the
necessary requirements to be used as cementitious or pozzolanic materials.

2.3. Preparation of artificial granular lightweight aggregates

The granular lightweight aggregates designated by GLWA1 were produced by the

pelletization process using a rotating plate mixer. Those aggregates are called lightweight
aggregates because of their light composition. During the granulation practice, the tilting
angle was considered to be 50-60 , the mixer speed was between 45-50 min-1 and the mixing
period was 10-15 minutes. BA was mixed with cement as a binder at the first stage, and then
the water was spraying during the rotation of the mixer until the formation of granules. Five
mixes were considered in this study for GLWA1 with different amount of binder ranging from
9 to 33% as replacement by weight as indicated in the below Table 2 to investigate the effect
of binder on the aggregates properties. Noting that, the quantity of water was constant 300-
350 g based on several trials used to determine the necessary amount for the five mixes of
GLWA1, so W/BA ratio is considered to be a constant value 0.3-0.35.

Designation Proportions BA (g) Cement (g) Water (g)

GLWA1-1 91%BA+9%CEM 1000 100 300-350
GLWA1-2 83%BA+17%CEM 1000 200 300-350
GLWA1-3 77%BA+23%CEM 1000 300 300-350
GLWA1-4 71%BA+29%CEM 1000 400 300-350
GLWA1-5 67%BA+33%CEM 1000 500 300-350
Table 2: Mixtures composition of GLWA1 in terms of % of cement replacement with respect to BA

During the palletization phase, three paths of granules are presented for each sample. First
path consists of large size of aggregates, second path consists of medium size of aggregates
and the third path consists of the small size of aggregates. The last step in the manufacture of
GLWA1 is the consolidation of aggregates by the cold bond process that take place at room
temperature. After 24hours, the time needed for the consolidation, those aggregates were
cured for 7 days and placed aside on plastic sheets for 28 days in order to get the necessary
strength at a temperature of 21 ºC and relative humidity of 94%. Figure 1 below shows an
example of a chosen sample of GLWA1 placed in steel plates for different aggregates sizes.

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 Figure1: Sample of GLWA1

Each sample of GLWA1 was sieved according to ASTM C136 using mechanical shaker to
determine the grading of the aggregates. It ensures that particle size distribution complies with
applicable requirements and provides the data necessary to control the material of various
aggregate products and mixtures containing aggregates. We determine that when the
percentage of cement in the mix increases the size of aggregate increases as illustrated below
in Graph 2. This graph shows that aggregates made by the first mix have the smaller particle
sizes whereas aggregates obtained from the fifth mix have the larger grain size. In addition the
particle size for all the mixes ranges between 1-25 mm with a maximum percentage of particle
size ranging between 4.75-12.5 mm.

Graph 2: Distribution of GLWA1

2.4. Characteristics of the investigated aggregates

Several physical properties of the investigated aggregates had been evaluated. Bulk unit
weight, specific gravity and water absorption of aggregates were determined according to
ASTM C 27 and ASTM C 127 respectively. In addition, some mechanical properties were
investigated such as strength where particles are placed between parallel plates and are
crushed by being loaded diametrically using Clamped Boss Load Ring-4.5 KN machine as

1642
shown in Figure 2, and aggregate impact value (IV) or aggregate crushing value according to
BS 812-112 using impact testing machine illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 2: Clamped Boss Load Ring-4.5 Figure 3: Impact testing machine

KN machine

2.5. Mix Proportions of concrete made of artificial aggregates

In order to study the evaluation of cement concentration used in artificial aggregates on

concerte properties, different 10x10x10cm cubes of each kind of concrete (M1, M2, M3, M4
and M5) made by each sample of GLWA1were performed. Table 3 shows the mix proportions
for the five types of concrete. In addition, it compares between theoretical unit weight and
experimental unit weight that shows a small variation between them may be due to small error
in the properties of materials used in concrete mix. It shows that the experimental unit weight
is ranging from1800-2000 Kg/m3, so all types of concrete can be considered as lightweight
concrete. The dry rodded volume of aggregates used was 0.7.

Mixes M1 M2 M3 M4 M5
Water(Kg) 170 170 170 170 170
Cement(Kg) 425 425 425 425 425
Coarse aggregate 3/4''(Kg)-60% 389 394 427 429 432
Coarse aggregate 3/8''(Kg)-40% 259 263 285 286 288
Sand(Kg) 550 566 540 556 571
Admixture(Kg or L) 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3
Theoretical unit weight (Kg/m3) 1797 1822 1852 1871 1890
Experimental unit weight(Kg/m3) 1853 1870 1911 1933 1965
Table 3: Mix proportions of concrete made by each sample of GLWA1

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After studying the feasibility of the manufactured aggregates GLWA1, a selection of the third
sample GLWA1-3 was made based on reasonable performence and cost analysis. Then,
different concrete cubes made of the selected aggregates were proposed for a comparison to
that of concrete made a conventinal expanded clay lightweight aggregates (LWA) and normal
weight aggregates (NA).In the first two mixes C-GLWA1-3 and C-LWA illustrated in Table 4,
we tried to obtain structural lightweight concrete mixes with unit weights ranging from 1800-
1900 kg/m3. Also a comparison was made with normal weight concrete C-NA of unit weight
almost equal to 2200 kg/m3.

Mixes C-GLWA1-3 C-LWA C-NA

Water(Kg) 170 170 170
Cement(Kg) 425 425 425
Coarse aggregate 3/4''(Kg)-60% 427 237 496
Coarse aggregate 3/8''(kg)-40% 285 158 330
Sand(Kg) 540 878 781
Admixture(Kg or L) 4.3 4.3 4.3
Theoretical unit weight (Kg/m3) 1852 1868 2206
Experimental unit weight(Kg/m3) 1911 1890 2270
Table 4: Mix proportions of concrete made from different types of aggregates

3. Research Findings and Discussion

3.1. Properties of artificial aggregates

3.1.1. Physical Characteristics

The Table 5 below shows the results of bulk unit weight, bulk specific gravity and percentage
of absorption among the five samples of GLWA1 made from bottom ash. The results reveal
that when the percentage of cement increase from 9 to 33% during manufacturing process of
artificial agregates, the unit weight increases from 925.16 to 1028.32 Kg/m3. According to the
definition given in the standard EN 13055-1:2002, lightweight aggregates are whose bulk
density do not exceed 1200 Kg/m3, so we can say that the investigated samples of GLWA1
could be classified as lightweight aggregates.In addition, the specific gravity increases from
1.44 to 1.63 whereas the percentage of absorption among aggregates decrease gradually from
26.5 to19.8%. It is clear that the content of the binder has an effect on the aggregate
properties. This high value of absorption in all types of investigated aggregates is due to their
high porosity.

Sample designation GLWA1-1 GLWA1-2 GLWA1-3 GLWA1-4 GLWA1-5

Unit weight (Kg/m3) 925.16 938.32 1017.73 1022.50 1028.32
Bulk Specific Gravity 1.44 1.48 1.57 1.6 1.63
Absorption% 26.5 25 21.5 20.5 19.8
Table 5: Bulk unit weight, Bulk Specific Gravity and Absorption% of the investigated GLWA1

1644
3.1.2. Mechanical Characteristics

The impact value (IV) for each sample of GLWA1 is shown in Table 6 and Graph 3. The results
reveal that when the concentration of cement increases gradually in the mixes of artificial
aggregates the impact value of aggregates decreases from 38.5 to 25.5%. In addition to IV, the
compressive strength of each sample of GLWA1 is illustrated in the table below and Graph 4.
The first sample of aggregates didn't give any results whereas other samples gave 4, 5.35, 5.8,
7.13 Mpa respectively.

Sample designation GLWA1-1 GLWA1-2 GLWA1-3 GLWA1-4 GLWA1-5

IV(%)= *100 42.5 35.7 29.2 27.5 25.5
Compr. strength = (Mpa) - 4 5.35 5.8 7.13
Table 6: Mechanical properties of different samples of GLWA1

Impact Value for GLWA1(%) Average Compressive strength

50 of GLWA1 (Mpa)
8
40
6
30

20 4

10 2

0 0
GLWA1-1 GLWA1-2 GLWA1-3 GLWA1-4 GLWA1-5 GLWA1-1 GLWA1-2 GLWA1-3 GLWA1-4 GLWA1-5

Graph 3: IV of different samples of Graph 4: Comp. strength of different

GLWA1 samples of GLWA1

3.2. Evaluation of concrete made of investigated aggregates

3.2.1. Evaluation of cement concentration used in artificial aggregates

The results of compressive strength at 7 days of each type of concrete made by each sample of
GLWA1were illustrated in Table 7 and Graph 5. They show that the concrete compressive
strength increases from 10.3 to 25.6 Mpa when the concentration of binder in artificial
aggregates made from BA increases from 9 to 33%.

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 Mixes Age of specimens Compressive
Strength f'c (Mpa)
M1 7days 10.3
M2 7days 13.9
M3 7days 17
M4 7days 21.2
M5 7days 25.6
Table 7: Concrete compressive strength made by different samples of GLWA1

Graph 5: Concrete compressive strength made by different samples of GLWA1

3.2.2. Properties of concrete made by different type of aggregates

Strength
The results of compressive strength of each type of concrete were listed in Table 8 and
illustrated in Graph 6. Between the selected sample of aggregates made by BA GLWA1-3,
LWA and NA, the concrete prepared by GLWA1-3 has an f'c lesser by 49% than that of
normal weight concrete and exceed that of concrete prepared by expanded clay lightweight
aggregates by 33% at 28 days.

Concrete Type Age of specimens Compressive

Strength f'c (Mpa)
C-GLWA1-3 7days 17
C-GLWA1-3 28days 21.5
C-LWA 7days 12.5
C-LWA 28days 16.1
C-NA 7days 31
C-NA 28days 42.5
Table 8: Results of concrete compressive strength made by different types of aggregates

1646
 Graph 6: Concrete compressive strength made by different types of aggregates

Water Absorption Test

Same for water absorption, according to ASTM C642 all the specimens were immersed in the
water totally for 4 hours after being dried in an oven for 48 hours at 80ºC. Table 9 and Graph
7 show that the percentage of water absorbed relative to dry unit weight is 1.78 for C-
GLWA1-3. This value in the first concrete specimens is much higher than that of C-LWA
0.64% and that of C-NA 0.67%. This indicates that the first type of concrete made from
artificial lightweight aggregates could be highly permeable and less durable concrete as
compared to other two types.

Concrete Type Age of specimens Water % of absorbed

Absorption (g) water
C-GLWA1-3 28days 34 1.78
C-LWA 28days 12.1 0.64
C-NA 28days 15.2 0.67
Table 9: Water absorption for different concrete specimens

Graph 7: Water absorption for different concrete specimens

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4. Results and Suggestions

Based on the results obtained the following conclusions can be drawn:

Performance of mechanical properties such as impact value and aggregate compressive
strength for each sample of GLWA1 made from BA is better when the percentage of binder
used in pellitazation process increases. In addition, physical properties such as bulk unit
weight and bulk specific gravity increase in value when the percentage of cement increases in
aggregates, whereas the percentage of absorption of those aggregates decreases.
The investigated aggregates can be classified as lightweight since its unit weight is less than
1200 Kg/m3.
The absorption of studied aggregates gave high values which mean that those aggregates were
highly porous.
As expected, when the percentage of cement in artificial aggregate particles increases and thus
gives high mechanical performance, the concrete compressive strength (f'c) increases
gradually.
Lightweight concrete can be obtained from the investigated aggregates since the unit weight
of concrete attained is less than 2000Kg/m 3.
The use of artificial lightweight aggregates instead of normal weight aggregates decreased the
concrete strength and stiffness due to their higher porosity and lower strength.
The percentage of water absorbed relative to dry unit weight of lightweight concretes made by
the investigated aggregates is much higher than that of normal weight concrete and concrete
made by laterlite expanded clay. This indicates that the concrete made from artificial
lightweight aggregates could be highly permeable and less durable concrete as compared to
other two types.

Acknowledgment

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Prof. Oussama Baalbaki and
Prof. Jamal El Khatib for the continuous support in my master study and research work, for
their motivation, patience, and formidable knowledge and for the useful comments, remarks
and cooperation through the learning process of this paper. I would also like to thank Prof.
Adel El Kordi, Dean of the faculty of engineering, and Prof. Adnan El Masri, Chairmen of
the faculty of engineering, for their help to pursue my postgraduate studies.

5. References

[1] Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (August 2006). Waste Incineration, European Commission.

[2] Dash, S.K., Kar, B.B., Mukherjee, P.S., Mustakim, S.M. (2016). A Comparison Among the Physico-
Chemical-Mechanical of Three Potential Aggregates Fabricated From Fly Ash. Journal of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, 6: 243. doi:10.4172/2165-784X.1000243.

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 [3] Frankovi, A., Bosiljkov, V.B., Ducman,V.(2017). Lightweight aggregates made from fly ash using cold-bond
process and their use in lightweight concrete. Materials and Technology, doi:10.17222/mit.2015.337.

[4] Cioffi, R., Colangelo, F., Montagnaro, F., Santoro, L.(2011) . Manufacture of artificial aggregate using
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[5] Perumal, G., Anandan, S.(2014). Performance Evaluation of Alkali Activated Fly Ash Lightweight
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[6] Priyadharshini, P., Mohan Ganesh, G. and Santhi, A.S(2011). Experimental study on Cold Bonded Fly Ash
Aggregates. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, 2, 2.

[7] Kockal, N.U. and Ozturan, T. (2011). Durability of lightweight concretes with lightweight fly ash aggregates.
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[8] Del Valle-Zermeno, R., Formosa, J., Chimenos, J., Martinez, M., Fernandez, A. (2013). Aggregate material
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[9] Colangeloa, F., Messina, F., Cioffi, R. (2015). Recycling of MSWI fly ash by means of cementitious double
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[10] EN 13055-1:2002, Lightweight aggregates, Part 1, Lightweight aggregates for concrete, mortar and grout.

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