pond ash

Pond Ash- Applications and benefits in construction

Pond ash is a by-product of the processes in power plants or otherwise, we can say Pond ash is a waste product from coal-based power plants. It has several applications in civil engineering mainly in the construction sector. Pond ash is a valuable additive to cement and concrete, used as structural fill material in place of soil or other mined materials, and so on. This blog will go through the basic details, properties, applications and limitations.

Let’s start from scratch.

What is pond ash?

  • Furnace bottom ash (FBA) is a waste material, it generally has no pozzolanic property, and hence it cannot be utilised as a cement substitution material like fly ash.
  • On the other hand, its grain size distribution is like that of sand(CA)
  • So it can be utilised as a sand substitution material.
  • Pond ash is a waste product from coal-based power plants.
  • An Ash pond is an area developed in the power plant area to store ash.

Now, you know the basics. In this section, I will show you the importance.

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Why we should use pond ash?

  • Concrete is one of the most important materials in building construction and other infrastructure works.
  •  The studies say that the need for concrete will increases further to almost 7.5 billion m3 (about 18 billion tons) a year by 2050
  • At least three-quarters of the total volume of concrete consists of coarse and fine aggregates
  • Natural resources such as river sand are getting depleted. 
  • The power required for the country is rapidly increasing
  • In India, Coal-fired thermal power plants fulfil about 65% of the country’s electricity requirements.
  • The coal-fired thermal power plants burn about 407 million tons of coal.
  •  And produce about 131 million tons of coal ash rolex daytona 116518 40mm pour des hommes bracelet en cuir annually from which 15–20% ash is bottom ash and the balance is fly ash. 
  • It forms fine particles less than 4.75mm.
  • As the accumulation in the pond ash (PA) around the thermal power plant is posing threat to environmental, its proper management is becoming essential.
  • It is found that it is possible to replace some per cent of sand by PA as fine aggregate in concrete without compromising on strength and durability.

Time to see the technical details on the workability.

Workability of pond ash concrete

pond ash transport
Pond ash transport
  • In general, the workability of the material reduces with the increase in the percentage of fine aggregate replacement.
  •  Due to the specific surface effect of the mixture and also probably due to the higher water absorption capacity of PA.
  •  But on combined grading and use of proper plasticizer, workability can be restored to a large extent. 
  • In fact, PAC mixes were better than conventional concrete mixes due to the increased cohesiveness and total absence of bleeding. 

Next, we will find out the benefits of this material.

Benefits of pond ash

After all the positives, the topic is incomplete without siting the disadvantages.

Disadvantages

Ash pond
  • Cause severe respiratory problems
  • Visual and aesthetic problems in almost all the major industrial cities in India
  • Degradation in the environment 
  • Depletion of the natural resources
  • Ash pond areas lose all vegetation and Yyds Mini Cup 5500 puffar the area never can be reclaimed for irrigation.
  • The ash bunds collapse and contaminate freshwater resources.

So, let’s wrap up.

Conclusion

  • The density of concrete reduces with the increase in the percentage of the material.
  • The compressive strength of concrete with pond ash increases with increased curing.
  • The split tensile strength of concrete with the material increases up to the addition of 20% ash sand replacement.
  • The flexural strength of concrete with this material increases up to the addition of 20% ash sand replacement.
  • While the material is used the workability is reduced.  For obtaining the required workability superplasticizers are added.                                                           
  • With the increasing replacement of fine aggregate, linear reduction due to low relative_density.

Let me know if the article was worth reading in the comments.

Happy learning!

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