Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
Geopolymeric Building Material Using
Industrial Waste
Mr. S. C. Dighe1 & Mr. P. R. Gulave2
1, 2
(Lecturer, Chemical Engineering Department, Pravara Polytechnic College Loni, Tal-
Rahata, Dist-Ahmednagar)
Abstract: India is second largest producer of
cement in world after China; the total amount of
cement produce in India in year 2012-13 is
approximately 327 million tones. On the other
hand, the climate change due to global warming
has become a major concern. Among the
greenhouse gases, CO2 contributes about 65% of
global warming, the cement industry is held
responsible for some of the CO2 emissions because
the production of one ton of Portland cement emits
approximately one ton of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Therefore it is
necessary to take initiative to reduce the use of
Portland cement in concrete in order to address the
global warming issues. These include the
utilization of supplementary cementing materials
such as fly ash, silica fume, granulated blast
furnace slag, and the development of alternative
binders to Portland cement. In this respect, the
geo-polymer technology shows considerable
promise for application in concrete industry as an
alternative binder to the Portland cement and
thereby reducing the CO2 emission to the
atmosphere caused by the cement industries. In this
paper the various industries related to production
of building material are studied, their potential
impact on environment are identified and the
various alternatives like geo-polymeric concrete,
pre-cast concrete ,fly ash bricks, pavement tiles etc.
are explained.
Keywords- Portland cement, Fly ash, Global
Warming, Geopolymeric Concrete.
1. Introduction:
Due to rapid industrialization the
production of various types of solid wastes causes
serious problem to the environment. The disposal
and reuse of solid industrial wastes like fly ash,
slag and lime sludge mainly generated in steel,
cement and power industries is significant in view
of their availability and potential application.
It is estimated that about 300 million tones
of inorganic waste from industrial and mining
sectors are generated every year in India,
unfortunately most of it is simply dump into
environment which has later greater impacts on
environment, therefore Synergistic utilization of
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
industrial wastes namely fly ash, blast furnace slag
has been explored to develop novel building
components using geo-polymerization.
Geopolymerization is a recently
developed technology that involves the chemical
reaction between alumina-silicate solid materials
and alkali metal silicate solutions under strongly
alkaline conditions, yielding materials with
excellent physio-chemical and mechanical
properties. These include: (a) high strength
cements (b) geo-polymeric concrete (c) pavement
tiles and fly ash bricks etc. Fly ash is used as main
source of silicon-aluminate for geo-polymerization.
Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and red mud
were used individually or in combination with fly
ash to tailor properties of the developed
components. The geopolymer building material can
be a solution for the effective management of solid
industrial wastes, as it turns them into value added
products.
Since almost every natural resources are
over exploited and are at the verge of extinction it
is the necessary to move forward with new
alternatives which are eco-friendly and techniques
that leads towards a sustainable development.
1.1 Why it is necessary in India?
Concrete usage around the world is
second only to water. Ordinary Portland Cement
(OPC) is conventionally used as the primary binder
to produce concrete. But the amount of carbon
dioxide released during the manufacture of OPC
due to the calcinations of lime stone and
combustion of fossil fuel is 1 ton per ton of OPC
produced. In addition, the extent of energy requires
to produce OPC is only next to steel and
aluminum.
In India total OPC produce in 2012-13 is
approx. 327 million tones which means approx.
327 million tones of CO2 is emitted in atmosphere
every year. On the other hand the total capacity of
coal fired power plant in India is 134388 Mw
which produces 131 million tonnes of fly ash every
year out of which only 30-35 % is reused for
construction of roads and filling of coal mines etc.
other 65-70% is simply dump into ash pond.
Therefore this technology has huge potential both
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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
economically and environmentally.
Sr
Zone Fly ash Utilizatio %utilizatio
No
name produced in n n
.
million
tonnes
1 Southern 13 0.8 6 geopolymer cement but involve Geological
2 Western 16.5 0.8 5
3 Central 18 2.84 15.8
4 Eastern 10.21 2.94 28.8
5 Northern 15.5 2.3 14.8
All India 73.71 9.96 13.1
Ref. (CBM-CI International Workshop) (2007)
1.2 Geopolymer-
Davidovits (1988; 1994) proposed that an
alkaline liquid could be used to react with the
silicon (Si) and the aluminium (Al) in a source
material of geological origin or in by-product
materials such as fly ash and rice husk ash to
produce binders. Because the chemical reaction
that takes place in this case is a polymerization
process, he coined the term‘Geopolymer’ to
represent these binders.There are two main
constituents of geopolymer, namely the source
materials and the alkaline liquids. The source
materials for geopolymers based on alumina-
silicate should be rich in silicon (Si) and aluminium
(Al). These could be the by-product materials such
as fly ash, silica fume, slag, rice-husk ash, red mud.
The choice of the source materials for making
geopolymers depends on factors such as
availability, cost, type of application, and specific
demand of the end users. The alkaline liquids are
from soluble alkali metals that are usually Sodium
or Potassium based. The most common alkaline
liquid used in geopolymerization is a combination
of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium
hydroxide (KOH) and sodium silicate or potassium
silicate
1.3 Types of geopolymer cement.
1) Fly ash based geopolymer cement.
Type 1: alkali-activated fly ash geopolymer: In
general requires heat hardening at 60-80°C and is
not manufactured separately and becomes part of
the resulting fly-ash based concrete. NaOH + fly
ash.
Type 2: slag/fly ash-based geopolymer cement:
Room-temperature cements hardening. Silicate
solution + blast furnace slag + fly ash.
2) Slag based geopolymer cement.
Manufacture components: metakaolin MK-750 +
blast furnace slag + alkali silicate
3) Rock based geopolymer cement.
The replacement of a certain amount of MK-750
with selected volcanic tuffs yields geopolymer
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
cement with better property and less CO2 emission
than the simple slag based geopolymer cement.
4) Ferro silicate based geopolymer
cement.
The properties are similar to those of Rock-based
elements with high iron oxide content.
1.3) Making of geopolymeric concrete-
Geopolymer concrete is manufactured by
using the low-calcium (ASTM Class F) fly ash
obtained from coal-burning power stations, the
silicon and aluminium oxides contents of which are
about 80% by mass, with the Si-to-Al ratio of about
2. The content of the iron oxide usually ranged
from 10 to 20% by mass, whereas the calcium
oxide content was less than 5% by mass. The
carbon content of the fly ash, as indicated by the
loss on ignition by mass, was as low as less than
2%. The particle size of 80% of the fly ash particles
was smaller than 50 micron. Coarse and fine
aggregates used by the concrete industry are
suitable to manufacture geopolymer concrete. The
silicon and aluminium oxides in the low-calcium
fly ash reacts with the alkaline liquid to form the
geopolymer paste that binds the loose coarse
aggregates, fine aggregates, and other un-reacted
materials together to form the geopolymer
concrete. One ton low calcium fly ash can be
utilized to manufacture approximately three cubic
meters of high quality fly ash based Geopolymer
concrete.
1.4) Curing of Geopolymer Concrete-
Heat-curing substantially assists the
chemical reaction that occurs in the geopolymer
paste. Both curing time and curing temperature
influence the compressive strength of geopolymer
concrete.
The curing temperature is generally 600C
and curing time varied from 4 hours to 96 hours (4
days). Longer curing time improved the
polymerization process resulting in higher
compressive strength. The rate of increase in
strength was rapid up to 24 hours of curing time;
beyond 24 hours, the gain in strength is only
moderate. Therefore, heat-curing time need not be
more than 24 hours in practical applications. The
curing temperature can be as low as 300 C
(Ambient temp.) But then it will have low strength.
1.5) Geopolymer Precast Concrete
Products
High-early strength gain is a characteristic
of geopolymer concrete when dry-heat or steam
cured, although ambient temperature curing is
possible for geopolymer concrete. The geopolymer
concrete can been used to produce precast railway
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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
sleepers, sewer pipes, and other prestressed
concrete building components. The early age
strength gain is a characteristic that can best be
exploited in the precast industry where steam
curing or heated bed curing is common practice
and is used to maximize the rate of production of
elements.
Geopolymer concrete has excellent
resistance to chemical attack and shows promise in
the use of aggressive environments where the
durability of Portland cement concrete may be of
concern. This is particularly applicable in
aggressive marine environments, environments
with high carbon dioxide or sulphate rich soils.
Similarly in highly acidic conditions, geopolymer
concrete has shown to have superior acid resistance
and may be suitable for applications such as
mining, some manufacturing industries and sewer
systems.
1.6) Economic Benefits of Geopolymer
Concrete-
Geopolymer concrete offers several
economic benefits over Portland cement concrete.
The price of one ton of fly ash is only a small
fraction of the price of one ton of Portland cement.
Therefore, after allowing for the price of alkaline
liquids needed to the make the geopolymer
concrete, the price of fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete is estimated to be about 10 to 30 percent
cheaper than that of Portland cement concrete.
In addition, the appropriate usage of one
ton of fly ash or reduction of 1 ton usage of OPC
will earns approximately one carbon-credit that has
redemption of about 10 to 20 Euros. One ton low
calcium fly ash can be utilized to manufacture
approximately three cubic meters of high quality
fly ash based geopolymer concrete, and hence earn
monetary benefits through carbon-credit trade.
Furthermore, the very little drying shrinkage, the
low creep, the excellent resistance to sulphate
attack, and good acid resistance offered by the
heat-cured low-calcium fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete may yield additional economic benefits
when it is utilized in infrastructure applications.
1.7) Advantages of Geopolymeric
concrete over OPC concrete.
1) Low cost and environmental friendly.
2) Reduction in greenhouse gas emission due to
reduction in OPC use.
3) Proper utilization of industrial waste such as fly
ash.
2) Low-calcium fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete has excellent compressive strength and is
suitable for structural applications.
2) The elastic properties of hardened geopolymer
concrete and the behaviour and strength of
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
reinforced geopolymer concrete structural members
are similar to the Portland cement concrete.
Heat-cured low-calcium fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete also shows excellent resistance to sulphate
attack, good acid resistance, undergoes low creep,
and suffers very little drying shrinkage.
2) Fly Ash Bricks
2.1) Manufacturing of fly ash bricks
Fly ash lime bricks are chemically bonded
bricks manufactured by utilizing 80-82% of fly ash,
9-10% of lime, 9-10% of sand and 0.2% of
Chemical accelerator. These raw materials are
mixed in a blender, during blending process Fly ash
reacts with lime in presence of moisture to form a
calcium silicate hydrate which is the binder
material. After blending, the mixture is moulded
into bricks and water cured for 10-12 days.
For manufacturing fly ash lime bricks no firing
is needed, these bricks are suitable for use in
masonry construction just like common burnt clay
bricks. The bricks are also suitable for the
construction of building in coastal areas where
normal red clay burnt bricks are found to be
affected.
2.2) various special features of fly ash
lime bricks are as follows:
a) Being machine finished these are uniform in
size and shape.
b) Consumes 20-25 percent less cement mortar.
c) Stronger than Class-I, burnt clay building bricks.
d) Outside wall plastering is not essential as these
bricks have cement grey colour, smooth
surface and low water absorption capacity.
e) Resistance to salinity.
f) Being lighter in weight in comparison to the
conventional red bricks, the dead building load
and the transportation cost will be less.
g) Adoption of this process helps to conserve
invaluable top soil of agricultural land.
h) By consuming 80-82% fly ash, the cause of
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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
environmental pollution and hazards due to
disposal is minimized.
i) As firing of the bricks is not needed thus
pollution due to firing is eliminated.
2.3) Advantages of Fly ash sand-Lime
bricks over clay bricks:
1. Uniform size, require less quantity cement
mortar.
2. Can be used as facing bricks without any
external plastering.
3. Lower bulk density.
4. More resistant to salinity and water seepage.
5. Utilization of waste and conservation of soils.
6. Saving in fuel.
3) Use of Fly Ash in Concrete
How much fly ash in concrete?
Typically, concrete designers use fly ash a
partial replacement for Portland cement at Values
up to 30 percent of the total cementitious
composition. When properly designed and
constructed, this can be increased up to 60 percent.
3.1 Application of fly ash in cement
industry.
1) Classified and quality ensured Fly ash is used as
Performance improver in manufacturing of
OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement)
2) Cementitious material used as partial
replacement of cement in concrete and mortar
applications.
3.2 Key Properties:
Fly ash addition in concrete mixture generates
more cementitious paste.
Portland cement + H2O = CSH + Ca (OH)2{free
lime liberated}
Fly ash + Ca (OH) 2 = CSH {additional
cementitious paste}
CSH - Calcium Silicate Hydrate
The cement in concrete mix liberates free
lime when it starts to hydrate with water. Fly ash in
concrete mix produces cementitious paste by
reacting with this free lime.
Fly ash in concrete mix can be active only after the
availability of sufficient free lime, Hence fly ash
component of concrete starts reacting after a little
while only.
This phenomenon reduced the strength growth of
concrete in early hours and allowing more time for
working / compacting and to place more concrete
without a cold joint
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
 Due to the partial material (cement) reacts
immediately with addition of water, heat
generated by reaction during hydration
(Hydration heat) is reduced. Low hydration
heat reduces the risk of surface cracks on
concrete due to thermal stress
 Fly ash shape is spherical in nature. This
feature enables fly ash to flow and blend easily
with the angular shaped cement particles in
concrete mix.
 This phenomenon Increases the workability of
concrete
 Fills the gaps in cement matrix and
significantly reduces the voids in concrete.
Hence the impermeability of concrete is
improved and it offers great resistance to water
penetration / salt attack and makes it suitable
for marine environment
 Increased impermeability of concrete also
protects the reinforcement material
 Fly ash cement mixed concrete requires less
water than the normal cement concrete. This
phenomenon improves the water to cement
ratio. Improved water to cement ratio yields
 Less cementitious compound requirement to
achieve the design / required strength
 Reduces the risk / possibility of segregation.
4. Advantages-
4.1 Key advantages of using fly ash
1) Improved workability
2) Reduced permeability
3) Reduced heat of hydration
4) Increased long term strength
5) High corrosion resistance
6) Grater resistance to alkali reactivity
7) Better concrete finish
8) Reduced shrinkage.
5. Environmental effects-
Utilization of fly ash is environment friendly with
improved cementitious binder economics.
a) Fly ash utilization reduces the requirement of
clay, sand, lime stone in cement manufacturing
and hence conserves natural resources.
b) Fly ash utilization reduces the cement
requirement and hence carbon-di-oxide
liberation during cement manufacturing is
reduced.
c) Fly ash utilization reduces the top soil
requirement for land filling / brick
manufacturing and saves agricultural land.
d) Fly ash utilization achieves increased strength of
the finished concrete product without increasing
the cement content.
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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
5.1 Initiative Taken By Indian
Government:
A Draft notification containing certain
directions was published by Ministry Of
Environment And Forests in September 1999 as
required by Environment Protection act (1986).
The notification includes:
1) No person shall within a radius of fifty
kilometers from coal or lignite based thermal
power plants, manufacture clay bricks or tiles or
blocks for use in construction activities without
mixing at least 25 per cent of ash (fly ash, bottom
ash or pond ash) with soil on weight to weight
basis.
2) Every coal or lignite based thermal power plant
shall make available ash, for at least ten years from
the date of publication of this notification, without
any payment or any other consideration, for the
purpose of manufacturing ash-based products such
as cement, concrete blocks, bricks, panels or
construction activity.
3) Every coal or lignite based thermal power plant
commissioned subject to environmental clearance
conditions stipulating the submission of an action
plan for full utilization of fly ash shall, within a
period of nine years from the publication of this
notification.
4) The Central and State Government Agencies,
the State Electricity Boards, the National Thermal
Power Corporation and the management of the
thermal power plants shall facilitate in making
available land, electricity and water for
manufacturing activities and provide access to the
ash lifting area for promoting and setting up of ash-
based production units in the proximity of the area
where ash is generated by the power plant.
5) Manufacture of ash-based products such as
cement, concrete blocks, bricks, panels or any other
material is to be carried out in accordance with
specifications and guidelines laid down by the
Bureau of Indian Standards.
6. Fly Ash for CDM (Clean
Development Mechanism):
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is
designed in the Kyoto Protocol that will enable
industrialized countries to finance emission-
reduction projects in developing countries and to
receive the emission credits. This is the symbiosis
for both blocks, the developing countries can rise to
meet the objectives of clean environment and
sustainable development at somebody’s investment
and the developed countries will get the credits at
somebody’s efforts.
India falls under the category of
developing country and qualifies as the host for
CDM projects by virtue of its commitment to
sustainable development. Kyoto Protocol offers an
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
opportunity to countries like India, to participate in
the carbon abatement program through CDM.
Under this program, for carbon abating industries
funds are available from the developed countries.
These funds are repayable against CERs (Certified
Emission Reductions) accrued annually for
participating carbon abatement process. Each type
of production activity has its own base line for CO2
emission, to be defined based on the production
practices for the same type of product
manufacturing. The reduction in the CO2 emission
below the base line definition, through the shift in
the process, is quantified as CER through
environment audit and rewarded from carbon fund
7. Conclusion:
In this report the potential effect of brick
industry and cement industry on environment is
discussed and various alternatives for present
construction material like geopolymer cement and
concrete, fly ash bricks are discussed.
Geopolymer can be the best solution for sustainable
construction material as it uses industrial waste for
its manufacturing its relatively cheap. In
geopolymer concrete the use of OPC is completely
eliminated which helps in reduction of greenhouse
gases. Use of fly ash in manufacturing of bricks
can reduce the soil erosion and air pollution
problems at greater extent, But unfortunately In
India these technologies are not widely use because
of lack of Research and lack of awareness in this
particular area.
For sustainable development these
technologies play an important role therefore for
further exploration and implementation effective
framework is required and standards for raw
material and manufacturing should be well defined.
8. References:
[1] Davidovits, P. J. (2013). GEOPOLYMER
CEMENT.
[2] G. Saravanan1, *. C. (2013). Flyash Based
Geopolymer Concrete – A State of the Art
Review. Journalof Engineering Science and
Technology Review, 8.
[3] S.2, R. D. (march 2011). GEOPOLYMER
CONCRETE: A CONCRETE OF NEXT
DECADE. Journal of Engineering Research
and Studies, 7.
[4] Saeed Ahmari, X. R. (2012). Production of
geopolymeric binder from blended waste
concrete powderand fly ash. Construction and
Building material.
[5] TECHNO ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY
REPORT ON FLY ASH BRICKS. NEW
DELHI: Building Materials & Technology
Promotion Council Gov. of India (2011).
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