Sustainable Energy Recovery From the Malaysian Coal Bottom Ash and the Effects of Fineness in Improving Concrete Properties

Abstract

The particle size (µm) of coal bottom ash displayed significant effects on the concrete engineering properties. This research aims to assess the improvement of engineering properties of concrete containing CBA (fineness: 75 and 100 µm) known as Mix 75 and Mix 100, and to optimize the percentage of coal bottom ash as supplementary cement materials in concrete. The physicochemical properties of coal bottom ash were analyzed using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution (PSD), and a scanning electron microscope. The strength of concrete was determined based on workability and compressive and splitting tensile strengths. The concrete strength improvement was optimized by response surface methodology. The results of the study showed that coal bottom ash was rich in silicates based on the highest peak at 45°. The scanning electron microscope images showed that coal bottom ash has few cenospheres and components of irregular-shaped char particles. The splitting tensile strengths in 28 curing days gradually decreased with an increase in coal bottom ash. The optimal percentage of coal bottom ash in Mix 75 is equivalent to 6% within 45.4 curing days producing 40 MPa of compressive strength. Meanwhile, the optimal percentage of CBA in Mix 100 is equivalent to 12% within 56 curing days producing 50 MPa of compressive strength. The future works needed to extend the experimental observations are the economic analysis and effect of the greenhouse reduction on the usage of CBA in building infrastructure.

Failure Modes Behavior of Different Strengthening Types of RC Slabs Subjected to Low-Velocity Impact Loading: A Review

“…Impact loads are severely intense in nature and could occur within nanoseconds as the result of collisions, explosions, falling heavy objects, earthquakes, or wave effects on offshore structures [1][2][3][5][6][7][8]11,12,21,[24][25][26][27][28]. Structural responses to impact loads are categorized into three sections: (i) impulsive loading, where the impact duration ends before the structure reaches its maximum response; (ii) dynamic loading, where the structure reaches its maximum response almost simultaneously with the end of the impact duration; (iii) quasi-static loading, where the structure reaches its maximum response before the end of the impact duration.…”

“…Design parameters such as slab thickness, reinforcement percentage, concrete strength, and impact loading velocity could modify the damage of the component that was subjected to the impact load [6,7]. RC slabs under an impact load could withstand a high impact based on the design parameters of greater thickness, reinforcement ratio, concrete compressive strength, and impactor velocity [52,53].…”

“…Concrete is the most extensively used material on earth after water [1][2][3][4]. Globally, reinforced concrete structures are broadly constructed due to the beneficial properties of concrete, such as high ductility [5], low thermal expansion [6,7], high stiffness [2,7]. Concrete structures also require low maintenance [8], have increased fire resistance [9,10].…”

“…Concrete structures also require low maintenance [8], have increased fire resistance [9,10]. They have high compressive strength but are significantly lacking in tensile strength, therefore steel is positioned in the concrete to enhance the tensile strength of the concrete [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Concrete incorporated with steel is labeled reinforced concrete (RC).…”

The Impact of Digital Finance on Clean Energy and Green Bonds through the Dynamics of Spillover

“…Climate change is an undeniable fact (Ahmad et al, 2019). World rising temperature has become a severe threat to global climate hazards and greenhouse gas emissions to the agriculture sector (Beddu et al, 2022;Ashraf et al, 2022;Blanco et al, 2021). Lin and Zhu (2019) claimed that climate change will deplete nearly 10% of global economic value by 2050.…”