The present study investigated the use of sludge ash from water treatment plants as supplementary cementing material, elaborating hydraulic mortars with different levels of cement replacement by sludge ash (10 wt% and 30 wt%) and different temperatures of calcination (600°C and 800°C). Characterization of sludge ash and mortars includes XRF, XRD, particle size distribution by laser diffraction, compressive strength, and SEM-EDS. The results show that SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3, and Fe 2 O 3 compose 90 % of the sludge ash, and it has potential pozzolanic activity. It is evidenced that there is a significant influence of the variable ratio of sludge ash:cement in the compressive strength of the mortar cubes over other variables. Overall, this study showed that the sludge ash could be considered as a viable and sustainable alternative for the construction sector. Despite the benefits of the suggested replacement, the presence of amorphous SiO 2 requires a review of long-time chemical behavior.

This study presents the results of an experimental campaign on the use of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash (MIBA) and fly ash (FA) as precursors for the production of alkali-activated materials. MIBA was subjected to a pre-treatment stage in response to two issues: high metallic aluminum content, which reacts in a high pH solution, releasing hydrogen; and low amorphous content of silica-, aluminum- and calcium-bearing phases, which translates into a limited formation of reaction products. The proposed pre-treatment stage oxidizes most of the metallic aluminum fraction and compensates for the low reactivity of the material via the formation of additional reactants. Different combinations of MIBA and FA were tried—mass-based ratios of 0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25, and 100/0 for MIBA/FA. Two mix designs of the alkaline activator with sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate were evaluated by varying the Na2O/binder and SiO2/Na2O ratios. These mortars were tested in the fresh and hardened state. The results showed that the pre-treatment stage was effective at stabilizing the dimensional variation of MIBA. Despite the lower reactivity of MIBA, mortars with 50/50 of MIBA/FA presented a maximum 28-day compressive strength of 25.2 MPa, higher than the 5.7 MPa of mortars made with MIBA only.

This study aims to evaluate the potential of incorporating fly ash (FA) and municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash (MIBA) as a partial substitute of cement in the production of self-compacting concrete mixes through an experimental campaign in which four replacement levels (i.e., 10% FA + 20% MIBA, 20% FA + 10% MIBA, 20% FA + 40% MIBA and 40% FA + 20% MIBA, apart from the reference concrete) were considered. Compressive and tensile strengths, Young’s modulus, ultra-sonic pulse velocity, shrinkage, water absorption by immersion, chloride diffusion coefficient and electrical resistivity were evaluated for all concrete mixes. The results showed a considerable decline in both mechanical and durability-related performances of self-compacting concrete with 60% of substitution by MIBA mainly due to the aluminium corrosion chemical reaction. However, workability properties were not significantly affected, exhibiting values similar to those of the control mix.