Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment

Landfilled coal ash (LA) may serve as an alternative to fly coal ash (FA) as a stable and abundant supplementary cementitious material (SCM), particularly given the gradual phasing out of coal-fired power plants in many developed regions. This study investigates the physicochemical properties of fre...

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Main Authors: Luchang Xiong, Olga Maltseva, Ana Fernández-Jiménez, Zhijun Wan, Angel Palomo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Case Studies in Construction Materials
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525006151
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author Luchang Xiong
Olga Maltseva
Ana Fernández-Jiménez
Zhijun Wan
Angel Palomo
author_facet Luchang Xiong
Olga Maltseva
Ana Fernández-Jiménez
Zhijun Wan
Angel Palomo
author_sort Luchang Xiong
collection DOAJ
description Landfilled coal ash (LA) may serve as an alternative to fly coal ash (FA) as a stable and abundant supplementary cementitious material (SCM), particularly given the gradual phasing out of coal-fired power plants in many developed regions. This study investigates the physicochemical properties of fresh FA, original LA (OLA), mechanochemically activated LA (GLA), and negative-pressure sieved LA (SLA). Additionally, it evaluates the potential activity of LA and the fundamental properties of LA-based blended cements produced with different pretreatment methods. The results show that long-term landfilling significantly reduces LA activity. The primary causes of this deterioration are macroscopic impurity contamination and microscopic partial reactions. Both mechanochemical activation and negative-pressure sieving pretreatments can improve LA activity and optimize the fundamental properties of LA-based blended cements through particle modification and particle selection, respectively. Owing to their distinct mechanisms for improving activity, blended mortars prepared with GLA exhibit improved water demand and strength performance compared to those made with SLA. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation for the resource utilization of landfilled coal ash, and provides potential option for pozzolanic materials in thermal coal plant closing areas.
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series Case Studies in Construction Materials
spelling doaj-art-b1c82ef23bbe4cd4901ab52b25f848792025-08-20T02:34:53ZengElsevierCase Studies in Construction Materials2214-50952025-07-0122e0481710.1016/j.cscm.2025.e04817Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatmentLuchang Xiong0Olga Maltseva1Ana Fernández-Jiménez2Zhijun Wan3Angel Palomo4School of Mines, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), Madrid 28033, Spain; Corresponding author at: School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), Madrid 28033, SpainInstituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), Madrid 28033, SpainSchool of Mines, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, ChinaInstituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), Madrid 28033, Spain; Corresponding author.Landfilled coal ash (LA) may serve as an alternative to fly coal ash (FA) as a stable and abundant supplementary cementitious material (SCM), particularly given the gradual phasing out of coal-fired power plants in many developed regions. This study investigates the physicochemical properties of fresh FA, original LA (OLA), mechanochemically activated LA (GLA), and negative-pressure sieved LA (SLA). Additionally, it evaluates the potential activity of LA and the fundamental properties of LA-based blended cements produced with different pretreatment methods. The results show that long-term landfilling significantly reduces LA activity. The primary causes of this deterioration are macroscopic impurity contamination and microscopic partial reactions. Both mechanochemical activation and negative-pressure sieving pretreatments can improve LA activity and optimize the fundamental properties of LA-based blended cements through particle modification and particle selection, respectively. Owing to their distinct mechanisms for improving activity, blended mortars prepared with GLA exhibit improved water demand and strength performance compared to those made with SLA. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation for the resource utilization of landfilled coal ash, and provides potential option for pozzolanic materials in thermal coal plant closing areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525006151Deterioration mechanismActivityLandfilled coal ashFly ashMechanochemical activation
spellingShingle Luchang Xiong
Olga Maltseva
Ana Fernández-Jiménez
Zhijun Wan
Angel Palomo
Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
Case Studies in Construction Materials
Deterioration mechanism
Activity
Landfilled coal ash
Fly ash
Mechanochemical activation
title Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
title_full Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
title_fullStr Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
title_full_unstemmed Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
title_short Mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash: Deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
title_sort mechanism for activity variation of landfilled coal ash deterioration in landfilling and improvement in pretreatment
topic Deterioration mechanism
Activity
Landfilled coal ash
Fly ash
Mechanochemical activation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509525006151
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AT anafernandezjimenez mechanismforactivityvariationoflandfilledcoalashdeteriorationinlandfillingandimprovementinpretreatment
AT zhijunwan mechanismforactivityvariationoflandfilledcoalashdeteriorationinlandfillingandimprovementinpretreatment
AT angelpalomo mechanismforactivityvariationoflandfilledcoalashdeteriorationinlandfillingandimprovementinpretreatment