Characterization of

Fly Ash and Bottom Ash

and Their Utilization in
Cement and Concrete
Dr. S. Harsh
Joint Director
National Council for Cement and Building Materials
Ballabgarh
Haryana
 INTRODUCTION
• One of the most important applications of fly ash at
present is its use as a pozzolanic material in manufacture
of Portland pozzolana cement and as a cementitious
component/ admixture in concrete.
• Utilization level of ash in cement and construction
industries at present is about 40% of the total fly ash
generated.
• Continued R&D efforts are required for gainful
utilization of higher and higher quantities of coal ash in
coming years.
• National Council for Cement and Building Materials has
been focusing on how the utilization of coal ash can be
maximized in cement and concrete production.
 INTRODUCTION
• Presently use of bottom ash is not permitted as cement
replacement material.
• Two fly ash and two bottom ash samples were
systematically characterized and tested as
supplementary cementitious materials for use in
cement and concrete.
• To demonstrate the viable maximum blending level
maintaining sufficient engineering properties, a
systematic study of the effect of increasing blending
levels of fly ash and bottom ash was carried out.
• Cement replacement by different fly ash and bottom
ash contents was investigated in both binary and
ternary blends.
 Chemical Composition of Fly Ash
• The Indian fly ashes have silica and alumina contents
exceeding 50 and 25 percent respectively.
• The other constituents present in fly ash include CaO, MgO,
Fe2O3 and SO3.
• Small amounts of alkalies, P2O5, TiO2, MnO, BaO, SrO, and
other elements in trace amounts may also be present.
• Fly ashes obtained from anthracite and bituminous coal are
known to have low content of CaO and fly ashes obtained
from sub-bituminous and lignite coal have higher content of
CaO.
• Fly ashes which have CaO content exceeding 20 percent show
hydraulic character also besides pozzolanic reaction.
Percent chemical composition of fly ash and bottom ash
samples used in present study
Material LOI CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO
FA1 0.15 1.46 62.22 28.01 4.54 0.10
FA2 0.12 1.52 58.49 29.45 4.83 1.46
BA1 2.20 1.06 64.80 17.56 11.29 0.88
BA2 0.16 2.58 61.67 20.04 10.56 0.55

Material SO3 Na2O K2O Cl

FA1 0.14 0.11 0.62 0.007
FA2 0.11 0.25 0.83 0.006
BA1 0.12 0.11 0.42 -
BA2 0.13 0.28 0.67 0.08
 Mineralogy of fly ash

Glass:
Rounded, spherical, ellipsoidal glassy particles

Crystalline Phases:
α-quartz, cristobalite, tridymite
Plagioclase/ orthoclase-feldspar
Hematite/ Magnetite
Rarely Present- Gypsum, belite, calcium aluminates

Irregular un-burnt carbon particles

 agglomerates

hematite

quartz

glass
 Particle size distribution of glass grains in fly ash
Size Range,
μ S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8
1-10 12 11 10 12 10 13 11 12
11-20 18 16 17 18 15 18 19 17
21-30 28 29 26 27 25 30 25 27
31-40 12 11 13 14 10 13 14 15
41-50 10 10 11 9 13 8 9 8
51-60 8 9 7 8 10 6 5 6
61-70 5 4 5 4 3 5 6 6
71-80 3 4 4 5 6 5 5 4
81-90 4 5 4 5 3 4 4 3
91-100 - 1 1 - 2 - 1 2
Glass content 49 51 52 49 50 54 52 49
Glass content of fly ash and bottom ash
samples used in present study

Material Glass Content (%)

Fly ash, FA 1 52

Fly ash, FA 2 72

Bottom Ash, BA1 30

Bottom Ash, BA2 20

X-ray diffractogram of FA1
X-ray diffractogram of FA2
X-ray diffractogram of BA1
X-ray diffractogram of BA2
 Mineralogy of fly ash and bottom ash samples
by X-ray diffraction analysis

Material Main mineral phases present

Fly ash, FA 1 -quartz , mullite, sodium

aluminosilicate (NaAl3Si3O11)

Fly ash, FA 2 -quartz , mullite, hematite

Bottom ash, -Quartz, cristobalite, mullite,

BA1 hematite
Bottom ash, -quartz, mullite, cristobalite,
BA2 anatase, hematite
Applications of fly ash and bottom ash in cement
and concrete

• As a component of raw mix in the manufacture of

OPC clinker
• As pozzolanic material in manufacture of PPC
• As pozzolanic material in composite cement
• As the alumino-silicate precursor mineral in
geopolymeric cements
• As pozzolanic material/ admixture in concrete
mixes
• As partial replacement of fine aggregate in
concrete mixes
 Fly ash as a raw mix component in manufacture
of OPC
• Chemical composition of fly ash is amenable to its use as
a raw mix component in manufacture of OPC clinker

• Un-burnt carbon, sulphates and alkalies, if in excess,

may cause problems of local overheating, jamming etc.

• Laboratory studies on complete substitution of shale (1.5

percent) with flyash in raw mix yielded similar quality of
clinker

• Plant trials in a large plant confirmed laboratory

findings and yielded similar quality of clinker and OPC.
 Fly ash in composite cement
Composite cements are the cements prepared by using
more than one mineral admixture along with clinker
and gypsum. Presently there are no BIS specifications
for composite cements.

NCB findings on composite cements

The physical properties of composite cements prepared

using 40-60 percent clinker and 20-30 percent each of
fly ash and granulated blast furnace slag were in the
range specified for PPC and PSC by respective Indian
standards.
CEMENT TYPE AND COMPOSITION AS PER ENV 197-1: 1998
Main Constituents

Minor Addit. Const.

Pozzolana Flyash
Designation

Notation
Cement

Burnt Shale
Type

Silica fume

Lime stone
Clinker

GGBS

Calcareous
Industrial

Siliceous
Natural
I Portland I 95-100 - - - - - - - - 0-5
Cement
III Blast- III/A 35-64 35-65 - - - - - - - 0-5
furnace III/B 20-34 66-80 - - - - - - -
cement III/C 5-19 81-95 - - - - - - -

IV Pozzol IV/A 65-89 - 11-35 - - 0-5

-anic
cement IV/B 45-64 - 36-55 - - 0-5
V composite V/A 40-64 18-30 - 18-30 - - - 0-5
cement
V/ B 20-39 31-50 - 31-50 - - - 0-5
 CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FLY ASH

Requirements as per
Indian
CHARACTERISTICS IS:3812 (Part I)-2003
fly ashes
Siliceous Calcareous
SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3, % 75-90 70 50
min.
SiO2, % min. 45-65 35 25
Reactive SiO2, % min. 20-35 20 20
MgO,% max. 0.2-2.5 5.0 5.0
Total SO3, % max. 0.4-1.8 3.0 3.0
Available alkali as Na2O, 0.1-3.4 1.5 1.5
% max
Total chloride, % max 0.01-0.03 0.05 0.05
Loss on Ignition, % max 1 to 16 5.0 5.0
 PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS OF FLY ASH
Requirements As Per
Characteristics
IS:3812 (Part I)-2003
Fineness (Blaine’s), m2/kg, min. 320

Residue on 45µ sieve,% max 34

(Wet sieving)
Lime Reactivity, N/mm2, min. 4.5

Compressive Strength at 28 days Not less than 80 percent of the

N/mm2, min. strength of corresponding plain
cement mortar cubes
Soundness by autoclave expansion, % 0.8
max.

Flyash of fineness 250 m2/Kg, (min.) can be used in PPC

manufacture by intergrinding if after grinding to 320 m2/Kg or
PPC fineness, meets all chemical and physical requirements
 Sieve Analysis Results of Bottom Ash, BA1

Sieve Size Percent Passing

I set of II set of IS 383*
values values Zone IV
4.75 mm 98.95 99.20 95-100
2.36 mm 97.80 98.10 95-100
1.18 mm 93.40 94.70 90-100
600 µm 86.75 88.35 80-100
300 µm 61.70 63.15 15-50
150 µm 17.00 17.85 0-15

* IS 383-1970 (Specification for Coarse and Fine Aggregates

from Natural Source for Concrete)
 Processing of Bottom Ash Samples

The sample of bottom ash, BA1, contained 16 %

moisture. The sample was dried in an electric oven
at 100 ± 5 oC and ground in a batch type
laboratory ball mill to required fineness.

Bottom Ash Sample BA2 – received in dry, fine

powder form. No further processing was done.
 Physical properties of fly ash and bottom ash samples
Property FA1 FA2 BA1 BA2
Fineness, m2/kg 285.5 377.0 331.0 287.0
Lime reactivity,
5.3 8.1 4.8 5.8
N/mm2
Cement reactivity, % 90.0 88.9 89.0 84.9
Particles retained on
34.5 12.0 37.4 31.5
45µm, %

Soundness

a) Autoclave, % 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0

b) Le-Chatelier, mm 2.0 2.0 2.5 1.0
Specific gravity 2.1 2.2 2.6 2.6
 Preparation and testing of cement blends
• Blends of OPC, fly ash/ bottom ash and silica fume were
prepared using a laboratory paddle mixer.
• With each fly ash/ bottom ash, one series of binary and two
series of ternary blends were prepared.
• The binders were tested for their normal consistency (NC),
setting time and heat of hydration at 7 days
• The normal consistency was determined only for the first blend
(zero content of ash) of a series. Same NC was used for other
binders of the series.
• Mortars were prepared using 1 part cement blend, 3 parts
standard sand, 0.1% (solid content) of lignosulphonate based
plasticizer and water content as per NC. Cubes were cast, cured
and tested according to IS 4031 (Part 6).
 Properties of cement blends prepared using FA2
FA2 in SF in NC, % Setting time (mts.) Heat of
binder (%) binder Initial Final hydration
Binder series (%) KJ/kg
FA2cem 0 0 29.4 290 370 315.31
FA2cem 25 0 - 370 450 236.41
FA2cem 35 0 - 130 240 171.97
FA2cem 50 0 - 60 430 136.07
FA2cem 65 0 - 50 300 115.87
FA2cemSF5 0 5 28.8 75 175 313.22
FA2cemSF5 25 5 - 45 165 266.75
FA2cemSF5 35 5 - 40 120 225.97
FA2cemSF5 50 5 - 40 115 135.50
FA2cemSF5 65 5 - 35 110 127.72
FA2cemSF10 0 10 28.2 70 245 309.08
FA2cemSF10 25 10 - 70 210 217.37
FA2cemSF10 35 10 - 65 260 180.56
FA2cemSF10 50 10 - 50 260 167.74
FA2cemSF10 65 10 - 60 230 139.27
 Properties of cement blends prepared using bottom ash,
BA1
BINDER MATERIAL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SERIES PROPORTIONS
OPC SF BA1 NC, SETTING TIME HEAT OF
% % % (%) INITIAL FINAL HYDRATION
kJ/kg
BA1cem 100 0 0 29.0 300 390 316
BA1cem 95 0 5 - 370 420 287
BA1cem 90 0 10 - 420 470 275
BA1cem 80 0 20 - 410 450 263
BA1cemSF5 95 5 0 28.0 320 360 291
BA1cemSF5 90 5 5 - 320 360 285
BA1cemSF5 85 5 10 - 300 360 272
BA1cemSF5 75 5 20 - 300 350 259
BA1cemSF10 90 10 0 27.4 150 340 288
BA1cemSF10 85 10 5 - 140 280 281
BA1cemSF10 80 10 10 - 130 310 270
BA1cemSF10 70 10 20 - 130 260 252
 % Change in Heat of Hydration at 7 Days
of OPC Blends with Changing Content of BA1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
-2
Binary Blend
-4 Ternary Blend; 5%SF
% Change in HoH

-6 Ternary Blend; 10% SF

-8

-10

-12

-14

-16

-18
Bottom Ash Content (%)
 Compressive strength of cement blends prepared using FA1
Binder Content of Average compressive strength (N/mm2)
Series FA1 in binder (%) 1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
FA1cem 0 22.45 37.48 40.95 51.27 52.04
FA1cem 25 12.88 28.74 34.49 46.71 51.52
FA1cem 35 9.11 24.53 29.44 41.22 55.96
FA1cem 50 5.23 17.07 20.97 36.65 51.75
FA1cem 65 1.60 10.31 12.48 24.79 41.91
FA1cemSF5 0 24.69 38.31 47.56 58.69 61.29
FA1cemSF5 25 16.90 28.42 42.91 55.86 62.67
FA1cemSF5 35 14.00 25.73 35.85 53.24 59.53
FA1cemSF5 50 7.86 15.79 25.03 43.92 59.37
FA1cemSF5 65 3.52 8.27 16.07 34.45 50.85
FA1cemSF10 0 26.22 42.64 54.69 65.94 68.64
FA1cemSF10 25 17.39 36.18 49.15 68.42 69.86
FA1cemSF10 35 14.03 30.43 46.29 66.13 67.68
FA1cemSF10 50 6.89 23.00 36.94 60.31 63.21
FA1cemSF10 65 3.28 13.37 24.03 44.50 47.36
 Compressive strength of binary cement blends having different
contents of fly ash FA1
Compressive Strength (N/mm2)

80
FA1cem, 0
70
FA1cem, 25
60 FA1cem, 35
50 FA1cem, 50
FA1cem, 65
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Compressive strength of ternary cement blends having different
contents of fly ash FA1

80
FA1cemSF10; 0
Compressive Strength (N/mm2)

70 FA1cemSF10; 25
FA1cemSF10; 35
60
FA1cemSF10; 50
50 FA1cemSF10; 65
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Compressive strength of cement blends at 50 percent content of FA1
without and with silica fume
80
Compressive Strength (N/mm 2)

70
FA1cem; 50
60
FA1cemSF5; 50
50
FA1cemSF10; 50
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Compressive strength of OPC and OPC-silica fume blends

80
Compressive Strength (N/mm2)

70 FA1cem; 0

60 FA1cemSF5; 0
FA1cemSF10; 0
50
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
AGE (DAYS)
 Compressive strength of cement blends
prepared using bottom ash, BA1
Binder Content of Average compressive strength (N/mm2)
series BA1 in 1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
binder (%)
BA1cem 0 21.76 35.58 40.46 53.47 57.29
BA1cem 5 21.40 36.29 39.38 55.02 57.76
BA1cem 10 19.47 34.12 39.95 51.22 55.44
BA1cem 20 18.10 29.10 37.17 51.23 57.43
BA1cemSF5 0 24.44 40.22 49.23 61.33 63.07
BA1cemSF5 5 23.12 38.02 48.97 64.16 65.42
BA1cemSF5 10 21.52 37.67 45.24 60.36 62.93
BA1cemSF5 20 17.93 30.55 45.90 56.73 60.81
BA1cemSF10 0 22.40 38.37 50.19 65.94 66.79
BA1cemSF10 5 20.60 38.73 48.52 65.98 67.10
BA1cemSF10 10 20.18 37.35 49.14 64.96 67.58
BA1cemSF10 20 16.18 30.28 45.47 61.24 67.18
 Compressive strength of binary cement blends
having different contents of BA1
80
BA1cem;0
Compressive Stregth (N/mm2)

70
BA1cem;5
60 BA1cem;10
50 BA1cem;20
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Compressive strength of ternary cement blends having different
contents of BA1 and 5% SF

80
Compressive Strength (MPa)

BA1cemSF5;0
70 BA1cemSF5;5
60 BA1cemSF5;10
BA1cemSF5;20
50
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Percent change in the compressive strength of binary cement
blends with increasing content of BA1
5.00
% Change in Compressive Strength

0.00
0 5 10 15 20 25

-5.00

-10.00 1 Day
3 Day
7 Day
-15.00 28 Day
90 day
-20.00
Bottom ash content (%)
 Percent Change in the Compressive Strength of
‘OPC-BA1-10% SF’ Blend with Increasing Content of BA1
5.00
% Change in Compressive Strength

0.00
0 5 10 15 20 25
-5.00

-10.00

-15.00
1 Day
-20.00 3 Day
7 Day
-25.00 28 Day
90 Day
-30.00
Bottom Ash Content (%)
Compressive strength of cement blends at 20 percent content of BA1
without and with silica fume

80
Compressive Strength (N/mm )
2

70
BA1cem;20
BA1cemSF5;20
60
BA1cemSF10;20
50
40
30
20
10
0
1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
Age (Days)
 Compressive strength of cement blends
prepared using bottom ash, BA2
Binder Content of Average compressive strength (N/mm2)
series BA2 in 1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
binder (%)
BA2cem 0 17.52 37.78 38.73 50.40 56.46
BA2cem 5 17.27 34.57 38.97 47.68 55.15
BA2cem 10 15.18 31.75 40.59 46.06 53.98
BA2cem 25 14.24 25.81 33.64 40.13 50.57
BA2cemSF5 0 24.66 39.46 48.05 50.33 54.67
BA2cemSF5 5 21.02 37.11 47.64 54.97 59.10
BA2cemSF5 10 20.31 37.96 43.64 51.78 55.07
BA2cemSF5 25 16.58 33.86 45.70 50.65 57.41
BA2cemSF10 0 26.39 40.24 48.36 57.02 63.37
BA2cemSF10 5 26.00 41.72 51.63 61.37 65.29
BA2cemSF10 10 23.61 37.64 52.42 61.93 64.96
BA2cemSF10 25 18.87 34.04 46.15 52.52 60.58
 Concrete Mix Proportion
Sl. Material Quantity
No. (kg/m3)
1 Binder (binary/ ternary 350
cement blend)
2 Water 192.5

3 w/b ratio 0.55

4 Coarse aggregate 1162

(20 & 10 mm)
5 Fine aggregate (sand) 690
6 Chemical admixture 0.525
Compressive strength of concrete mixes prepared with
binary OPC-FA1 and ternary OPC-FA1-SF blends

Content Average compressive strength

of (N/mm2)
Binder Slump
FA1 in
Series (mm)
binder 1D 3D 7D 28D 90D
(%)
FA1cem 0 13.36 26.39 30.46 39.02 41.73 80
FA1cem 35 6.44 13.45 18.34 27.66 36.68 100
FA1cem 50 4.32 9.88 14.41 25.17 36.04 110
FA1cemSF5 0 17.20 27.25 38.94 43.49 43.81 90
FA1cemSF5 35 6.87 16.23 27.97 39.33 47.08 100
FA1cemSF5 50 4.54 11.89 22.63 32.44 44.01 100
 CONCLUSIONS
• The bottom ash samples, BA1 and BA2 after grinding to fineness
of 331 and 287 m2/kg, respectively, met the reactivity
requirements specified for fly ash.
• Higher contents of fly ash/ bottom ash normally caused longer
setting times of binary blends. The ternary blends generally had
significantly shorter setting times.
• Use of 50 and 65 percent fly ash content resulted in excessive
lowering of early age compressive strength. Use of 5-10 percent
microsilica in ternary blends resulted in generally higher
compressive strengths.
• Replacement of 20-25 percent OPC with bottom ash samples
resulted in most of the cases less than 20 % reduction in strength.
• The studies indicated that (i) PPC produced with more than 35
percent fly ash may meet the strength requirement specified for
PPC and (ii) Bottom ash with sufficient pozzolanic properties
may also find use in cement blends.