Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials

Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials

Investigating the Effect of Origin and Heating Temperature on the Properties of Sewage Sludge Ash (SSA) and the Feasibility of Using in Construction Materials

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Amirmahdi Nikmanesh 1
Amirmohammad Ramezanianpour 2
Mohammad Shekarchizadeh 3
1 M.Sc. of structural engineering. University of Tehran
2 Associate Professor. School of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran
3 Professor. School of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran
10.30478/jcsm.2023.403887.1334
Abstract
With the development of the human community and increasing number of treatment plants, the treatment and disposal of high volume of sludge requires efficient management. Nowadays, due to the lack of land for burying sludge and environmental limitations of using sludge in agriculture, incineration is considered as a proper solution for sludge disposal. Sewage sludge ash is one of the materials that has been used in recent years as a substitute for cement and stone materials in concrete and construction materials.
The quality of the resulting ash depends heavily on the origin of the sludge and its incineration process. Regarding this, there is no codified information about the content of the sludge of Tehran wastewater treatment plants, with considering its usage in construction materials. Also, there are many discrepancies in the heating process and the optimal incineration temperature of sewage sludge ash in the sources.
 
In the first step, by examining the sludge of Tehran wastewater treatment plants and performing chemical analyzes such as XRF and XRD, the best treatment plant in terms of constituent content was selected. Then, by burning sewage sludge at 700 to 1000 C and re-analyzing XRF and XRD, as well as calculating the percentage of pozzolanic activity of the resulted ash, the most optimal heating process was selected.
The obtained results of this study indicated that heating the Shahrake Gharb wastewater treatment plant's sludge at 800°C produced the most desirable sludge ash in case of chemical composition and pozzolanic activity. So, in general, it can be seen that although sludge ash could not be classified as one of the types of strong pozzolans, but this ash can be used as a raw material for Portland cement production and also as a weak pozzolan in reactions. Therefore, it is possible to replace the sewage sludge ash in optimal percentages in the mortar and concrete with Specified applications and as an alternative to cement, fine aggregate and filler.
Keywords
Sustainable development
sewage sludge ash
incineration
pozzolan

Subjects

[1]  Masafari, M.; Mosadaghinia and Nadafi, 2013, "Sludge management of urban wastewater treatment plants in Iran in 1400", 5th Tehran National Conference on Environmental Health.

[2]  Pazuki, M., Takdestan, A. and Aghajani Yasini, A. 1387, investigation of the use of wastewater from wastewater treatment for various industrial purposes according to the degree of treatment and environmental standards, the second national water and wastewater conference with an exploitation approach, Tehran, University of Water and Electricity Engineering, Iran Water and Sewerage Engineering Company.

[3] Jamshidi, A., Mehrdadi, N. and Jamshidi, M., 2011. Application of sewage dry sludge as fine aggregate in concrete

[4] Rulkens, W., 2008. Sewage sludge as a biomass resource for the production of energy: overview and assessment of the various options. Energy & Fuels, 22(1), pp.9-15.

[5] Akhbari, Alavi Moghadam, 2013, "Investigation of American EPA standards regarding the use of sludge from sewage treatment plants in agricultural lands", the 11th conference of civil engineering students of the country.

 [6] Metcalf & Eddy, Burton, F.L., Stensel, H.D. and Tchobanoglous, G., 2003. Wastewater engineering: treatment and reuse. McGraw Hill.

[7] Sarvstani, M., Fadeli, M. 2015 "Evaluation of the feasibility of reusing the residues resulting from dewatering the sludge of water treatment plants in the irrigation of green space and agriculture (case study of the 3rd and 4th treatment plants in Tehran)", Iran Water Resources Management Conference.

 [8] Fotovat, A. ; Alavi Moghadam, M.R.; Maknoun, R. and Sabat, M. 2016, "Effect of replacing sewage treatment plant sludge ash instead of cement on the compressive strength of concrete", 3rd National Congress of Civil Engineering, Tabriz.

[9] Tantawy, M.A., El-Roudi, A.M., Abdalla, E.M. and Abdelzaher, M.A., 2012. Evaluation of the pozzolanic activity of sewage sludge ash. ISRN Chemical Engineering, 2012.

[10] Werther, J. and Ogada, T., 1999. Sewage sludge combustion. Progress in energy and combustion science, 25(1), pp.55-116.

[11] Qalibafan, M. 1382, "Concrete and Environment", Iranian Concrete Association Quarterly, third year, number 11.

 [12] Fischedick, M., Roy, J., Acquaye, A., Allwood, J., Ceron, J.P., Geng, Y., Kheshgi, H., Lanza, A., Perczyk, D., Price, L. and Santalla, E., 2014. Industry In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Technical Report.

 

[13] Construction Waste Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 – 2025

[14] Lehne, J. and Preston, F., 2018. Making Concrete Change. Innovation in Low-carbon Cement and Concrete.

[15] Shekarchizadeh, M.; Mirzaei, Z. 2010, "Education of concrete and cement engineering with the approach of sustainable development and environmental protection", technical faculty publication, number 43.

[16] Sabour, M. Yekeler, M. and Nikrovan, M., 2014, "Evaluation of the role of nanosilica consumption in concrete on its environmental and economic performance", Ferdowsi Civil Engineering Quarterly, No. 25.

 

 [17] Pavlík, Z., Fořt, J., Záleská, M., Pavlíková, M., Trník, A., Medved, I., Keppert, M., Koutsoukos, P.G. and Černý, R., 2016. Energy-efficient thermal treatment of sewage sludge for its application in blended cements. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, pp.409-419.

[18] Vouk, D., Nakic, D., Stirmer, N. and Cheeseman, C., 2018. Influence of combustion temperature on the performance of sewage sludge ash as a supplementary cementitious material. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 20(3), pp.1458-1467.

[19] Wang, K.S., Chang, Y.S., Lin, K. and Huang, Z.Q., 1999. The sintering characteristics of incinerator residues form municipal sewage sludge. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual Meeting Sanitary Engineering (p. 211).

[20] D.H. Tseng, S.C. Pan, Enhancement of pozzolanic activity and morphology of sewage sludge ash by calcinations, J. Chinese Inst. Environ. Eng. 10 (4) (2000) 261–270.

[21] Donatello, S., Freeman-Pask, A., Tyrer, M. and Cheeseman, C.R., 2010. Effect of milling and acid washing on the pozzolanic activity of incinerator sewage sludge ash. Cement and Concrete Composites, 32(1), pp.54-61.

[22] Chen, C.H., Chiou, J. and Wang, K.S., 2006. Sintering effect on cement bonded sewage sludge ash. Cement and Concrete Composites, 28(1), pp.26-32.

[23] Garcés, P., Carrión, M.P., García-Alcocel, E., Payá, J., Monzó, J. and Borrachero, M.V., 2008. Mechanical and physical properties of cement blended with sewage sludge ash. Waste management, 28(12), pp.2495-2502.

[24] Cyr, M., Coutand, M. and Clastres, P., 2007. Technological and environmental behavior of sewage sludge ash (SSA) in cement-based materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 37(8), pp.1278-1289.

[25] Zeng, D.H. and Pan, S.Z., Li,“The study of the characteristics of sewage sludge ash and the development of reclamation techniques,”. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual Meeting Sanitary Engineering (p. 221).

[26] Liu, M., Zhao, Y., Xiao, Y. and Yu, Z., 2019. Performance of cement pastes containing sewage sludge ash at elevated temperatures. Construction and Building Materials, 211, pp.785-795.

[27] Naamane, S., Rais, Z. and Taleb, M., 2016. The effectiveness of the incineration of sewage sludge on the evolution of physicochemical and mechanical properties of Portland cement. Construction and Building Materials, 112, pp.783-789.

[28] Lin, K.L., Chiang, K.Y. and Lin, D.F., 2006. Effect of heating temperature on the sintering characteristics of sewage sludge ash. Journal of hazardous materials, 128(2-3), pp.175-181.

[29] Mirhosseini, G. 2016, "Investigation of sludge disposal status of sewage treatment plants in Tehran and comparison of its quality for land use with valid standards", Faculty of Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University.

[30] Arshad Torabi Mohammad Amin, Danesh Shahnaz, Tavaklizadeh Mohammad Reza. The effect of urban sewage sludge ash as a substitute for cement on the physical, mechanical and reliability properties of concrete. Madras Civil Engineering. 1396; 17 (1): 1-12

[31] Donatello, S., Tyrer, M. and Cheeseman, C.R., 2010. Comparison of test methods to assess pozzolanic activity. Cement and Concrete Composites, 32(2), pp.121-127.

[32] Askari, S. 2016, "Investigation of the use of sewage sludge sludge ash in the concrete structure as a filler or substitute material for cement", Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran.

[33] Khoshrosh, Amin, Bahadri, Hadi, Manafpour, Alireza. (2013). Investigating the performance of sewage sludge ash with and without silica nanoparticles in the properties of self-compacting cement base materials. Water and Wastewater Journal, 66-75, 24(5).

[34] Lynn, C.J., Dhir, R.K., Ghataora, G.S. and West, R.P., 2015. Sewage sludge ash characteristics and potential for use in concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 98, pp.767-779.

[35] Khawal, Pandurang, and Govind Sangwai. "Sewage Sludge Ash as a Partial Replacement of Cement in Concrete." Techno-Societal 2018. Springer, Cham, 2020. 543-550.

[36] Cong, X., Lu, S., Gao, Y., Yao, Y., Elchalakani, M., & Shi, X. (2020). Effects of microwave, thermomechanical and chemical treatments of sewage sludge ash on its early-age behavior as supplementary cementitious material. Journal of cleaner production, 258, 120647.

[37] Hsu, Chin-Wei, and Chun-Tao Chen. "Strength development of cement pastes with alkali-activated dehydrated sewage sludge." Construction and Building Materials 255 (2020): 119243.

[1]  Masafari, M.; Mosadaghinia and Nadafi, 2013, "Sludge management of urban wastewater treatment plants in Iran in 1400", 5th Tehran National Conference on Environmental Health.
[2]  Pazuki, M., Takdestan, A. and Aghajani Yasini, A. 1387, investigation of the use of wastewater from wastewater treatment for various industrial purposes according to the degree of treatment and environmental standards, the second national water and wastewater conference with an exploitation approach, Tehran, University of Water and Electricity Engineering, Iran Water and Sewerage Engineering Company.
[3] Jamshidi, A., Mehrdadi, N. and Jamshidi, M., 2011. Application of sewage dry sludge as fine aggregate in concrete
[4] Rulkens, W., 2008. Sewage sludge as a biomass resource for the production of energy: overview and assessment of the various options. Energy & Fuels, 22(1), pp.9-15.
[5] Akhbari, Alavi Moghadam, 2013, "Investigation of American EPA standards regarding the use of sludge from sewage treatment plants in agricultural lands", the 11th conference of civil engineering students of the country.
 [6] Metcalf & Eddy, Burton, F.L., Stensel, H.D. and Tchobanoglous, G., 2003. Wastewater engineering: treatment and reuse. McGraw Hill.
[7] Sarvstani, M., Fadeli, M. 2015 "Evaluation of the feasibility of reusing the residues resulting from dewatering the sludge of water treatment plants in the irrigation of green space and agriculture (case study of the 3rd and 4th treatment plants in Tehran)", Iran Water Resources Management Conference.
 [8] Fotovat, A. ; Alavi Moghadam, M.R.; Maknoun, R. and Sabat, M. 2016, "Effect of replacing sewage treatment plant sludge ash instead of cement on the compressive strength of concrete", 3rd National Congress of Civil Engineering, Tabriz.
[9] Tantawy, M.A., El-Roudi, A.M., Abdalla, E.M. and Abdelzaher, M.A., 2012. Evaluation of the pozzolanic activity of sewage sludge ash. ISRN Chemical Engineering, 2012.
[10] Werther, J. and Ogada, T., 1999. Sewage sludge combustion. Progress in energy and combustion science, 25(1), pp.55-116.
[11] Qalibafan, M. 1382, "Concrete and Environment", Iranian Concrete Association Quarterly, third year, number 11.
 [12] Fischedick, M., Roy, J., Acquaye, A., Allwood, J., Ceron, J.P., Geng, Y., Kheshgi, H., Lanza, A., Perczyk, D., Price, L. and Santalla, E., 2014. Industry In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Technical Report.
 
[13] Construction Waste Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 – 2025
[14] Lehne, J. and Preston, F., 2018. Making Concrete Change. Innovation in Low-carbon Cement and Concrete.
[15] Shekarchizadeh, M.; Mirzaei, Z. 2010, "Education of concrete and cement engineering with the approach of sustainable development and environmental protection", technical faculty publication, number 43.
[16] Sabour, M. Yekeler, M. and Nikrovan, M., 2014, "Evaluation of the role of nanosilica consumption in concrete on its environmental and economic performance", Ferdowsi Civil Engineering Quarterly, No. 25.
 
 [17] Pavlík, Z., Fořt, J., Záleská, M., Pavlíková, M., Trník, A., Medved, I., Keppert, M., Koutsoukos, P.G. and Černý, R., 2016. Energy-efficient thermal treatment of sewage sludge for its application in blended cements. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, pp.409-419.
[18] Vouk, D., Nakic, D., Stirmer, N. and Cheeseman, C., 2018. Influence of combustion temperature on the performance of sewage sludge ash as a supplementary cementitious material. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 20(3), pp.1458-1467.
[19] Wang, K.S., Chang, Y.S., Lin, K. and Huang, Z.Q., 1999. The sintering characteristics of incinerator residues form municipal sewage sludge. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual Meeting Sanitary Engineering (p. 211).
[20] D.H. Tseng, S.C. Pan, Enhancement of pozzolanic activity and morphology of sewage sludge ash by calcinations, J. Chinese Inst. Environ. Eng. 10 (4) (2000) 261–270.
[21] Donatello, S., Freeman-Pask, A., Tyrer, M. and Cheeseman, C.R., 2010. Effect of milling and acid washing on the pozzolanic activity of incinerator sewage sludge ash. Cement and Concrete Composites, 32(1), pp.54-61.
[22] Chen, C.H., Chiou, J. and Wang, K.S., 2006. Sintering effect on cement bonded sewage sludge ash. Cement and Concrete Composites, 28(1), pp.26-32.
[23] Garcés, P., Carrión, M.P., García-Alcocel, E., Payá, J., Monzó, J. and Borrachero, M.V., 2008. Mechanical and physical properties of cement blended with sewage sludge ash. Waste management, 28(12), pp.2495-2502.
[24] Cyr, M., Coutand, M. and Clastres, P., 2007. Technological and environmental behavior of sewage sludge ash (SSA) in cement-based materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 37(8), pp.1278-1289.
[25] Zeng, D.H. and Pan, S.Z., Li,“The study of the characteristics of sewage sludge ash and the development of reclamation techniques,”. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual Meeting Sanitary Engineering (p. 221).
[26] Liu, M., Zhao, Y., Xiao, Y. and Yu, Z., 2019. Performance of cement pastes containing sewage sludge ash at elevated temperatures. Construction and Building Materials, 211, pp.785-795.
[27] Naamane, S., Rais, Z. and Taleb, M., 2016. The effectiveness of the incineration of sewage sludge on the evolution of physicochemical and mechanical properties of Portland cement. Construction and Building Materials, 112, pp.783-789.
[28] Lin, K.L., Chiang, K.Y. and Lin, D.F., 2006. Effect of heating temperature on the sintering characteristics of sewage sludge ash. Journal of hazardous materials, 128(2-3), pp.175-181.
[29] Mirhosseini, G. 2016, "Investigation of sludge disposal status of sewage treatment plants in Tehran and comparison of its quality for land use with valid standards", Faculty of Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University.
[30] Arshad Torabi Mohammad Amin, Danesh Shahnaz, Tavaklizadeh Mohammad Reza. The effect of urban sewage sludge ash as a substitute for cement on the physical, mechanical and reliability properties of concrete. Madras Civil Engineering. 1396; 17 (1): 1-12
[31] Donatello, S., Tyrer, M. and Cheeseman, C.R., 2010. Comparison of test methods to assess pozzolanic activity. Cement and Concrete Composites, 32(2), pp.121-127.
[32] Askari, S. 2016, "Investigation of the use of sewage sludge sludge ash in the concrete structure as a filler or substitute material for cement", Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran.
[33] Khoshrosh, Amin, Bahadri, Hadi, Manafpour, Alireza. (2013). Investigating the performance of sewage sludge ash with and without silica nanoparticles in the properties of self-compacting cement base materials. Water and Wastewater Journal, 66-75, 24(5).
[34] Lynn, C.J., Dhir, R.K., Ghataora, G.S. and West, R.P., 2015. Sewage sludge ash characteristics and potential for use in concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 98, pp.767-779.
[35] Khawal, Pandurang, and Govind Sangwai. "Sewage Sludge Ash as a Partial Replacement of Cement in Concrete." Techno-Societal 2018. Springer, Cham, 2020. 543-550.
[36] Cong, X., Lu, S., Gao, Y., Yao, Y., Elchalakani, M., & Shi, X. (2020). Effects of microwave, thermomechanical and chemical treatments of sewage sludge ash on its early-age behavior as supplementary cementitious material. Journal of cleaner production, 258, 120647.
[37] Hsu, Chin-Wei, and Chun-Tao Chen. "Strength development of cement pastes with alkali-activated dehydrated sewage sludge." Construction and Building Materials 255 (2020): 119243.
Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 15
November 2023
Pages 194-211

  • Receive Date 26 June 2023
  • Revise Date 27 August 2023
  • Accept Date 12 November 2023