Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680

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Fuel
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Utilization of modified CFBC desulfurization ash as an admixture in blended

cements: Physico-mechanical and hydration characteristics
Xiang-guo Li a,⇑, Quan-bin Chen a, Bao-guo Ma a, Jian Huang a, Shou-wei Jian a, Bei Wu b
a
State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China
b
Microlab, Faculty of Civil Engineering and GeoScience, Delft University of Technology, GA Delft 2600, The Netherlands

h i g h l i g h t s

" New activation methods are investigated.

" Particle size distribution optimized and water demand ratio decreased by modification.
" Intergrinding sample improves the mechanical properties and hydration reaction most.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) desulphurization ash was modified by grinding and chem-
Received 13 October 2011 ical activation. The particle-size distributions and water demand ratio of the different modified CFBC
Received in revised form 17 March 2012 desulphurization ashes were studied. The strength and hydration products of blended cements with
Accepted 4 July 2012
modified CFBC desulfurization ashes were also investigated. The results showed that particle size distri-
Available online 27 July 2012
butions of modified CFBC desulphurization ashes were effectively optimized and its water demand was
obviously decreased. Strength of the blended cements increased significantly with the increase of grind-
Keywords:
ing time, the strength increased due to the activation effects of the modifiers. Sample intergrinding with
CFBC desulphurization ash
Grinding
0.5% w1, 0.5% w2 and 0.8% w3 had the best activation effects. Moreover, when ash content was lower than
Modifier 10%, the strength was higher than that of Portland cement (C-0), and the strength decreased with the
Cementitious properties addition of the modified ashes when its content was over 10%. However, the strength of mortars at
Hydration 28 days was still comparable to that of C-0. The main hydration products of the blended cements with
CFBC desulphurization ash were C–S–H (hydrated calcium silicate), AFt (ettringite), and portlandite.
The results also indicated that the modified CFBC desulfurization ashes can be utilized as an admixture
in cement or concrete.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction controlled at 850–900 °C [3], which is far below the temperature

China is the world’s largest country of coal mining and con-
sumption. Coal accounts for more than 70% of China’s energy con-
sumption, much higher than the 26% of the world average level of
coal quantity. By 2010, an annual amount of coal has exceeded
3.2 billion ton. Circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) tech-
nology is an advanced clean combustion technology in thermal
power plants, which has advantages such as higher combustion
efficiency, lower NOx emissions, higher degree of desulfurization
and stable operation over a large range of load regulation and so
on [1,2].
CFBC desulphurization ash is one by-product of CFBC boiler
with the optimized desulphurization temperature usually
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 27 87661567.
E-mail address: lxggroup@163.com (X.-g. Li).
of pulverized coal combustion (PC), 1200–1400 °C. CFBC boiler is
also equipped with injection of limestone or dolomite for desul-
phurization, SO2 can be captured by limestone or dolomite added
in situ during combustion. CFBC desulphurization ash have differ-
ent chemical and mineral composition, physico-chemical proper-
ties such as high content of f-CaO and SO3 (usually anhydrite),
few spherical particles and higher loss on ignition [4,5], which
may have some harmful effects on cement or concrete, especially
with regards to water demand ratio and volume stability [4,6,7].
CFBC desulfurization ash has the self-cementing property [8–11].
Several papers [12,13] have reported that no-cement concrete
can be made with pressured fluidized bed combustion ash (PFBCA)
or pulverized fuel fly ash (PFA). Geopolymer material can be made
by CFBC ash [14,15] while it is mixed with pulverized fly ash,
kaolin material and activated by sodium hydroxide and sodium
silicate. CFBC ash obtained from industrial-scale fluidized bed

0016-2361/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2012.07.010
 X.-g. Li et al. / Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680 675

combustors (FBCs) is steam hydrated to produce sorbents which is Table 2

suitable for further in situ desulphurization [16,17]. Because of its Activation content and methods of experimental materials.

mineral phase and morphology, CFBC ash could be used in neutral- Sample Grinding time (min) w1 (%) w2 (%) w3 (%)
ization and heavy metals removal from acid wastewaters [18]. FM-0 0 – – –
Many studies show that the desulfurization ash can also be used FM-1 10 – – –
as road material [18–21], such as roadbed material and pavement FM-2 30 – – –
bricks. FM-3 50 – – –
FM-4 70 – – –
PC fly ash is widely utilized in cement as an admixture and its FMa-3-1 50 1.0 – –
effects on the properties of Portland cement have been compre- FM-3-2 50 0.5 0.5 –
hensively investigated. However, there were only a few investiga- FM-3-3 50 – 1.0 –
tions of the use of CFBC desulphurization ash in cement as an HMb-0 50 0.5 0.5 –
HM-1 50 0.5 0.5 0.8
admixture [9,22–24], or as a setting retarder replacing gypsum
[7,25]. Consequently, in order to fully utilize CFBC desulphuriza- a
FM-3-* stand for the FM-3 sample with w1 and w2.
b
tion ash in cement, it is very important to investigate the modifica- HM-* are the intergrinding admixture of FM-0 with w1, w2 and w3 for 50 min.
tion method of CFBC desulphurization ash and their effects on the
properties of blended cement.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the CFBC desulphu- and 0.5% w2, 1% w2 and designated as FM-3-1, FM-3-2, FM-3-3,
rization ashes using different modification methods as an respectively. Intergrinding was the process which were ground
admixture in blended cements, with particular focus on physico- after necessary materials mixed together. HM-0 was the inter-
mechanical and hydration characteristics of blended cements grinding admixture of FM-0 with 0.5% w1 and 0.5% w2 for 50 min,
containing modified CFBC desulphurization ashes. The data may and HM-1 was the intergrinding admixture of FM-0 with 0.5%
be used to enhance the understanding of the characteristics of w1, 0.5% w2 and 0.8% w3 for 50 min, respectively. The modified
CFBC desulfurization ashes and also provide a useful basis for CFBC desulphurization ashes were prepared according to the
further application of CFBC desulfurization ashes in cement or methods as indicated in Table 2.
concrete industries with high-efficiency.
2.3. Test methods
2. Experimental
2.3.1. Physico-mechanical test
2.1. Materials The chemical compositions of each sample were analyzed on an
AXIOS advanced wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spec-
CFBC desulphurization ash was obtained from a 220 t/h Pyro- trometer (WDXRF) by the fused disk method. Particle-size distribu-
flow CFBC boiler and using limestone as the SO2 sorbent in Yidu tion was carried out by a Mastersizer 2000 Laser Particle Size
Dongyangguang Thermoelectric Plant, China. The ash selected Analyzer. The f-CaO content was determined according to Chinese
from the same CFBC boiler without addition of limestone was standard GB/T 176-2008 by the phenyl formic acid titration
named CFBC ash. The ashes were collected from the ash-hoppers method.
of the electrostatic precipitator of the CFBC boiler. The cement used The water demand ratio of the original and modified CFBC
in this research was grade 42.5 ordinary Portland cement (OPC), desulphurization ashes was determined according to Chinese Stan-
supplied by the Huaxin Cement Co. Ltd. Modifiers w1 was the acti- dard GB/T1596-2005 (equivalent to ISO-9597:1989). The contrast
vated modifier compound of sulfates, w2 was mixtures of some cement specimen was prepared with 250 g of cement, 750 g of
kinds of alkaline activators and w3 was the composite surfactant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard sand,
applicable to this research system which was mainly composed and v1 ml of water. The testing was prepared with 175 g of cement,
of polycarboxylate and sodium glaciate. Table 1 showed the chem- 75 g of fly ash and 750 g of ISO standard sand, and v2 ml of water.
ical compositions of CFBC desulphurization ash and OPC. The water requirement of fly ash was defined as the ratio of v2 to
v1.
The soundness test was determined according to the Chinese
2.2. Preparation of specimens
standard GB/T 1346-2001. Le Chatelier Apparatus (LCA) was filled
with normal consistency paste disposably and cured in the cham-
The FM-0 through FM-4 samples were directly ground in a lab-
ber at 20 ± 1 °C with relative humidity (R.H.) > 90% for 24 ± 2 h.
oratory ball mill (Ø 500  500 mm) for 0 min, 10 min, 30 min,
And then the distance of LCA pointer tip was measured, accurate
50 min and 70 min. Portions of FM-3 were added 1% w1, 0.5% w1
to 0.5 mm. The LCA was heated to boiling in 30 ± 5 min and kept
constant boiling for 180 ± 5 min on the shelf of boiling box. Finally,
Table 1 the distance of LCA pointer tip was tested after the water of the
Chemical compositions of CFBC desulphurization ash and OPC. boiling was drew off and cooled to room temperature.
CFBC desulphurization ash CFBC ash OPC The strength test was performed according to Chinese standard
GB/T17671-2001 (equivalent to ISO-679:1989) by using a
SiO2 32.46 47.72 24.08
Al2O3 20.06 30.63 4.72 40 mm  40 mm  160 mm prism specimen with a sand to binder
Fe2O3 6.05 7.58 2.46 ratio of 3.0 and a water to binder ratio of 0.5. After the specimens
CaO 16.49 2.81 58.24 were cured in the chamber at 20 ± 1 °C with relative humidity
Na2O 0.32 0.56 0.07 (R.H.) > 90% for 20–24 h, they were demolded and cured again in
K2O 1.22 1.49 0.78
20 ± 1 °C water for 3 days, 7 days and 28 days, respectively. The
MgO 2.68 0.71 1.95
SO3 8.91 0.27 2.31 compressive and flexural strength was tested by the TYE-300
LOI.a 10.03 4.87 3.82 strength machine.
f-CaO 4.36 n.fb n.f
P
98.22 96.64 98.43
2.3.2. XRD and SEM
a
LOI.: loss on ignition at 950–1000 °C. Mineralogical compositions and microstructure were detected
b
n.f: no found. by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy
676 X.-g. Li et al. / Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680
(SEM), respectively. The pastes were well mixed, and then cured in
the >90% R.H. chamber at 20 ± 1 °C until designated ages. Part of
the harden pastes were taken, then cracked and ground in an agate
mortar with anhydrous alcohol till entire pastes passed through a
0.08 mm sieve. After that the pastes were dried at 50 °C for 24 h
and the pastes were tested by XRD and SEM.
The crystalline minerals of the hydration products of the hy-
drated pastes were identified using X-ray powder diffraction
(XRD) measurement in a D/max-IIIA diffractometer with Cu Ka
radiation and a position sensitive detector. The accelerating volt-
age was 35 kV, and the current was 30 mA.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out on a JSM-
5610 microscope to investigate the morphology of CFBC desulphu-
rization ash and hydration products of hydrated pastes. Specimens
were mounted into aluminum stubs using double-sided adhesive
carbon discs and sputter coated with gold. To ensure that electrical
charge was efficiently carried away from cement paste specimen
surfaces, a line of silver paint was applied connecting the specimen
sides to the stub.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Particle-size distribution on CFBC desulphurization ashes
The particle-size distributions of all CFBC desulphurization
ashes are shown in Table 3 and Fig. 1.
It is indicated that the particle-size distributions of the CFBC
desulphurization ashes are optimized by separate grinding and
intergrinding. With the increasing of grinding time, the average
particle size of the CFBC desulphurization ashes decreases from
21.18 lm to 7.53 lm, but the average particle size of the samples
decreases a little when grinding time is about from 50 min to
70 min. Moreover, the percentage of particles less than 3 lm
undergoes an increase with the increase of grinding time. For sam-
ples with grinding time < 50 min, the majority of particles with
diameter greater than 45 lm have been crushed, which is the rea-
son that the 45 lm sieve residue was drastically reduced during
the short grinding period. For grinding times longer than 50 min
(as FM-4), the content of particles greater than 45 lm decreased
slowly. This was occurred because the particles were so fine that
they aggregate together by electrostatic force [26]. Compared be-
tween FM-3 and HM-1, the particle size of HM-1 is smaller than
that of the FM-3, which may be attributed to dispersion effect of
the modifiers.
As shown in Fig. 2, the dominant particles of FM-0 comprise
mainly coarse, angular, flaky, and drossy particles with 30–40 lm
or even greater, It was reported that spongy particle associates
with partly burnt fragments of coal (carbon) resulting from incom-
plete combustion which temperature is 850–900 °C [11].
After grinding for 50 min (as FM-3), there are few 20–30 lm parti-
cles in ashes and average particle size obviously decreased. Com-
pared with FM-3 and HM-1, it can be seen that HM-1 had more
fine particles at the range of 3–30 lm and better dispersancy due
to the addition of modifiers, which are in agreement with the
results in Table 3 and Fig. 1.
Table 3
Particle size distribution of CFBC desulphurization ashes.
63 lm 610 lm 630 lm 645 lm
FM-0 10.2 29.42 65.63 80.08
FM-1 16.44 41.11 77.09 87.68
FM-2 22.66 50.51 85.45 93.73
FM-3 29.16 57.49 88.73 95.52
FM-4 31.14 57.56 86.49 94.19
HM-1 29.13 59.74 91.91 97.52
Fig. 1. Variation of granulometric distribution of the CFBC desulphurization ashes.
3.2. Water demand ratio of CFBC desulphurization ashes
The water demand ratio is an important index to appraise the
quality of the CFBC desulphurization ashes. The water demand ra-
tios of the CFBC desulphurization ashes are shown in Fig. 3.
Water demand ratio of the CFBC desulphurization ash is more
than 100%, moreover, the water demand ratio of the samples de-
creased with prolonged grinding time, which was affected by the
characteristics of the ashes such as the chemical composition (such
as CaO and CaSO4), the particle size, the specific surface area, and
the shape [4,27,28]. It is studied that the mixing water in mortar
includes two types. They are filling water which fills the voids be-
tween solid particles, and water-film water, which packs the solid
particles [29,30]. The filling water decreases because of the
decreasing number of irregular particles to form a more homoge-
neous mixture, and the compacting of the ground ashes by grind-
ing. However, the water-film water increases due to increases in
the specific surface area of the ground ashes. The influence of the
filling water on the property of the ash samples is more obvious
than that of the water-film water, which is the reason why the
water demand decreases. Compared with the HM-0, the HM-1 par-
ticles have better dispersion and less flocculation structure due to
the incorporation of w3, which results in the decrease of water
demand.
3.3. Strength characteristics of blended cements
The strength of cement with traditional pulverized fly ash (low
in f-CaO and SO3) usually decreases with the increase of ash con-
tent in the cement–ash mixture due to the lower pozzolanic activ-
ity of the ash [31], which is usually considered to be inert in
cement paste in the early age of curing. The flexural strength and
compressive strength of the cement–ash mixtures with 30% CFBC
desulphurization ashes are shown in Table 4.
According to GB/T1596-2005, the ratio of the compressive
strength of Portland cement replaced by 30% ash to that of the
660 lm 680 lm P80 lm Average particle size (lm)
86.17 94.63 5.37 21.18
91.69 96.93 3.07 13.97
96.43 99.24 0.76 10.09
97.60 99.57 0.43 7.79
96.86 99.52 0.48 7.53
98.92 99.91 0.09 7.35
 X.-g. Li et al. / Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680 677

(a) FM-0 (b) FM-3 (c) HM-1

Fig. 2. SEM of CFBC desulphurization ash particles.

Table 5
Strength results of blended cements with modified CFBC desulphurization ashes.

No. Soundness Flexural strength (MPa) Compressive strength (MPa)

3d 7d 28d 3d 7d 28d
C-0a Good 6.9 8.3 9.8 31.6 36.5 48.4
HM-10 Good 7.9 8.7 10.6 33.4 40.8 51.8
HM-30 Good 5.6 7.4 9.6 26.4 37.6 50.9
HM-50 Good 3.9 5.5 9.7 14.2 23.5 49.9
a
The pure cement mortar.

due to the improvement of pozzolanic reactivity by the decrease

of average particle size and the increase of 10–20 lm particles
(seen in Table 3). Due to the activation effects of the modifiers
w1 and w2, the compressive and flexural strength increased. FM-
3-2 has the best activation effects, the 28 day compressive strength
exceeded the strength of OPC and improved by 4.4 MPa compared
to that of FM-3. Strength of HM-0 at the early age (3d and 7d) is a
little higher than FM-3-2, which may be because the surfaces of
Fig. 3. Water demand ratio of the CFBC desulphurization ashes.
CFBC desulphurization ash particles were coated with modifiers
after intergrinding. Moreover, the modifiers dissolved rapidly and
promoted the dissolution of active silica or alumina in the CFBC
Table 4 desulphurization ashes. In the later age, all the samples have sim-
CFBC desulphurization ash composite cement strength results.
ilar compressive strength. With the incorporation of w3, the aver-
Sample Flexural strength (MPa) Compressive strength (MPa, %) age particle size of CFBC desulphurization ashes decreased which
3d 7d 28d 3d 7d 28d promoted the formation of hydration products such as C-S-H gel
C-0 6.9 8.3 9.8 31.6 36.5 48.4/100
and AFt. So compressive strength of HM-1 is higher than that of
FM-0 4.2 5.6 7.9 14.4 24.6 33.0/68a HM-0.
FM-1 4.9 6.2 9.0 16.7 26.5 42.6/88 The flexural and compressive strength of blended cements with
FM-2 5.0 7.2 9.4 18.9 30.7 42.2/87 different content of modified CFBC desulphurization ashes (HM-1)
FM-3 5.4 7.4 9.5 20.6 33.7 44.2/91.3
are shown in Table 5.
FM-4 5.7 7.9 9.1 21.8 34.1 47.3/97.9
FM-3-1 4.9 7.0 9.8 22.8 34.4 48.1/99.4 The strength is found to decrease with the addition of the mod-
FM-3-2 5.0 7.1 9.9 23.1 33.8 48.6/100.4 ified ash (HM-1), when ash content is no more than 10%, the
FM-3-3 5.2 7.2 9.6 24.8 34.8 47.6/98.3 strength is higher than that of C-0, and the strength decreases
HM-0 5.5 7.3 9.7 23.6 35.2 48.6/100.4 when it is over 10%, but the strengths of mortars at 28 days are
HM-1 5.6 7.4 9.6 26.4 37.6 50.9/105.2
comparable to that of C-0. Part of water can be absorbed by the
a
The ratio of the compressive strength of Portland cement replaced by 30% ash to dehydrated clay minerals and f-CaO which decreases the water
that of the contrast Portland cement is defined as the strength activity index of the to binder ratio. A low water to binder ratio is advantageous for
ash.
the strength of the cement. The self-cementitious properties of
ash are also beneficial to the strength development [32]. But at
corresponding Portland cement is defined as the strength activity high ash content (over 10%), the decrease in strength is due to
index of the ash. Here the strength activity indexes of the modified the reduction of the cement content in the mixture, and excessive
CFBC desulphurization ashes range from 87% to 105.2%, which are Ca(OH)2 generated from the reaction of f-CaO with water which is
higher than 70%, the minimum limitation for use in cement as an disadvantageous for the mechanical properties of cement.
active admixture regulated by the standard. This is due to the reac- According to all the physico-mechanical results, it is also proved
tion of Ca(OH)2 with active silica and active alumina in the modi- that it is feasible to utilize the modified CFBC desulphurization
fied CFBC fly ash which produces much C–S–H (hydrated calcium ashes as an admixture in cement. In this study, the incorporation
silicate; the main carrier of strength in hardened cement) and hy- content of desulphurization ash in blended cements is controlled
drated calcium aluminate. below 30%, which can be used to prepare blended cement of
Compared with the samples (FM-0 to FM-4), the strength in- strength class 42.5 or 32.5 according to Chinese National Standard
creases significantly with the increase of grinding time, which is GB 175-2007.
678 X.-g. Li et al. / Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680

P P
D P T
E T D T T P T
Q T E
E G
E T P HM-1 E G E Q
D
D P
G HM-1

FM-3-2
FM-3-2

FM-3 FM-3

FM-0 FM-0

C-0 C-0

5 15 25 35 45 55 5 15 25 35 45 55
2 2

(a) (b)
Fig. 4. XRD patterns of hydrated cement paste.

Table 6 3 and 28 days, respectively. Hydrated phases identified in the

Hydrated phases identified in the blended cements. blended cements are shown in Table 6.
Ettringite Portlandite SiO2 Gypsum
It can be seen that main hydration products in all the samples
are Ettrigite (Ca6Al2 (SO4)3
32H2O, AFt), gypsum and portlandite as
3d 28d 3d 28d 3d 28d 3d 28d
well as unhydrated C3S and C2S (Fig. 4a and b). AFt can be obvi-
C-0 390 257 1914 2904 295 290 184 28 ously found in all blended cements at the age of 3 days and
FM-0 534 730 1206 1135 892 876 245 201
28 days, but the AFt peak is weak in the control sample (C-0). Fur-
FM-3 652 805 1510 1234 464 431 147 136
FM-3-2 758 829 1320 801 745 565 213 235 thermore, the AFt peaks of the samples with modified CFBC desul-
HM-1 766 838 1803 1657 545 490 167 206 furization ashes are higher than that of FM-0, these are due to the
reaction between active Al2O3 and SO24 in the CFBC desulfuriza-
tion ashes, and the AFt peaks have little degree of improvement,
3.4. Hydration characteristics of blended cements which may be due to the formation of AFt mainly before 7 days.
All lime peaks disappear due to its quickly slaking. And strong
3.4.1. XRD analysis Ca(OH)2 peaks can be found in the samples due to hydration of
Fig. 4a and b shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of blended ce- C3S and the lime slaking in the CFBC desulfurization ashes.
ments with 30% modified CFBC desulfurization ashes hydrated for Moreover, the SiO2 peaks of the samples with modified CFBC

(a) FM-0 3d (b) HM-1 3d (c) C-0 3d

(d) FM-0 28d (e) HM-1 28d (f) C-0 28d

Fig. 5. SEM patterns of hydrated cement pastes.
 X.-g. Li et al. / Fuel 102 (2012) 674–680
desulfurization ashes decrease due to the effect of grinding and
chemical activation.
C–S–H cannot be found in XRD patterns because of its amor-
phous structure. C–S–H is produced mainly by the hydration
reaction of C3S and C2S in C-0, and partly by the reaction of Ca(OH)2
with the active SiO2 in the CFBC desulfurization ashes in the
blended cements. The later reaction is the main reason for the
activity of the CFBC desulfurization ashes. Addition of pulverized
fly ash (low in CaO) to cement will decrease the Ca(OH)2 content
in hardened Portland–ash cement mortar owing to the reaction
[31,33,34]. This is different from CFBC desulfurization ashes be-
cause the excess f-CaO in CFBC fly ash will compensate for the con-
sumption of Ca(OH)2.
3.4.2. SEM analysis
The SEM patterns of blended cements with 30% modified CFBC
desulfurization ashes hydrated are presented in Fig. 5.
Many AFt crystals grow and mix with C–S–H. They are about
1–2 lm long and 0.1–0.2 lm wide, and can be found in the sam-
ples containing CFBC desulfurization ashes at the age of 3 days
and 28 days. Some rod-like AFt crystals interlude among different
particles and enhance the contacts of the solid phases which
contributed a lot to the material’s strength formation. Compared
with the structure of FM-0 and HM-1, it is indicated that a more
compact microstructure with the filling effect of hydration
products was formed, which may be due to the more complete
hydration of the modified CFBC desulfurization ashes.
4. Conclusions
Particle size distributions of CFBC desulphurization ashes were
optimized effectively. With grinding effect and the addition of
modifiers, the fine particles at the range of 3–30 lm interval in-
creased, the average particle size became much smaller under
the same grinding condition.
Because of its fineness, mineral composition and microstruc-
ture, CFBC desulphurization ash has a relatively larger water de-
mand ratio. Water demand was decreased obviously due to the
effect grinding and intergrinding with modifiers.
Strength of the blended cements increased significantly with
the increase of grinding time and the activation effects of the mod-
ifiers. However, when ash content is no lower than 10%, the
strength is higher than that of the corresponding portland cement
(C-0), and the strength decreases with over 10% the modified ashes
at 3 days and 7 days. But mortars at 28 days has a comparable
strength with C-0. The results of XRD and SEM showed that the
main hydration products of cement with CFBC fly ash are C–S–H,
portlandite and AFt.
The modified CFBC desulphurization ashes are suitable for ce-
ment as admixture as a result of its high activity in this investiga-
tion. Sample intergrinding with 0.5% w1, 0.5% w2 and 0.8% w3 had
the best activation effects. In this study, the incorporation content
of desulphurization ash in blended cements was controlled below
30%, which can be used to prepare blended cement of strength
class 42.5 or 32.5 according to Chinese National Standard GB
175-2007.
Acknowledgements
The works described in the paper are funded by the Major State
Basic Research and Development Program of China (973 Program)
(No. 2009CB623201) and the Wuhan Dawn Programs of China
(200950431204).
679
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