Sustainable Construction Materials

Municipal Incinerated Bottom Ash

Ravindra K. Dhir OBE, Jorge de Brito, Ciaran J. Lynn, Rui V. Silva

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780081009963
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Sustainable Construction Materials: Municipal Incinerated Bottom Ash discusses the global use of virgin aggregates and CO2 polluter Portland cement. Given the global sustainability agenda, much of the demand for these two sets of materials can be substantially reduced through the appropriate use of waste materials, thereby conserving natural resources, energy and CO2 emissions. Realistically, this change can only be realized and sustained through engineering ingenuity and new concepts in design. Although a great deal of research has been published over the last 50 years, it remains fragmented and ineffective. This book develops a single global knowledge-base, encouraging greater use of selected waste streams. The focus of massive systematic reviews is to encourage the uptake of recycled secondary materials (RSM) by the construction industry and guide researchers to recognize what is already known regarding waste.

• Provides an extensive source of valuable database information, supported by an exhaustive list of globally-based published literature over the last 40-50 years
• Offer an analysis, evaluation, repackaging and modeling of existing knowledge on sustainable construction practices
• Provides a wealth of knowledge for use in many sectors relating to the construction profession

1

Introduction

Synopsis

The experiences of collaborative industrial research projects and their dissemination to the point of use, as described in this chapter, have established the grounds for this work of producing a series of five books. The role of recycled and secondary construction materials in achieving sustainable development leading to sustainability is highlighted. This book, the third in the series, deals with municipal incinerated bottom ash. An introduction to the material is provided, along with a brief description of the novel procedure of systematic analysis and evaluation used in developing the work. The structure of the book, in terms of the layout and contents, is also described.

Keywords

Sustainable development; Sustainable construction materials; Municipal incinerated bottom ash; Book layout and contents

Main Headings

• Background

• Sustainable construction materials

• Municipal incinerated bottom ash

• Layout and contents

1.1. Background

The basis of this book stems from years of active research undertaken in close collaboration with the construction industry from 1988 onwards, involving small-to medium-sized enterprises, national/multinational companies and government departments and a commitment to the dissemination of knowledge, as well as active and decisive involvement in promoting sustainability and the use of waste materials in the construction sector.

The work has involved undertaking of carefully planned and focused research to address some of the most challenging issues over the years, including sustainability in construction in general (Whyte et al., 2005); the sustainable use of natural resources to reduce CO₂ emissions, for example, by reducing the cement content of concrete mixes across all strength grades (Dhir and Hewlett, 2008; Dhir et al., 2000, 2004a, 2006); and the recycling of waste materials to conserve natural resources (Limbachiya et al., 2000; Dyer and Dhir, 2001; Paine et al., 2002; Dhir, 2006; Dyer et al., 2006; Paine and Dhir, 2010a).

Of particular note, an outreach programme was launched to share and transfer knowledge, in the form of organised seminars, workshops and conferences, during the period of 1988–2008 (Dhir and Green, 1990; Dhir et al., 2008, 2015), and in doing so, a centre for the advancement of small-to medium-sized enterprises in the construction sector was established. This also included the initiation of the globalisation of concrete research and the formation of the UK–India (Newlands and Dhir, 2011) and Ireland–India research collaboration groups in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and the establishment of the UKIERI Concrete Congress in 2013 (Dhir et al., 2013, 2015).

Working at the forefront of cutting-edge research, in close partnership with a wide industrial base, also brought to light the fragmented and therefore often ineffective nature of the research that has generally been undertaken. Indeed, in the area of sustainable construction materials, this has stifled the rate of progress in realising the potential for greater adoption of these materials. As a response to this, a new approach to research, analytical systemisation, has been developed to bring together and analyse and evaluate the published data in the global literature, to better understand and utilise the information.

Using this analytical systemisation method, the following selected successful comprehensive studies have been published:

• A study undertaken by Silva et al. (2014a) has provided a method for classifying recycled aggregates derived from construction demolition waste for use in concrete, which could help with their certification and boost stakeholders’ confidence in their use. The same authors have produced a series of further studies assessing the effects of using recycled materials in concrete and geotechnical applications (Silva et al., 2014b, 2015a,b,c, 2016a,b).

• A series of studies aimed at assisting the design engineer in adopting the use of sustainable construction materials, within the framework of existing design codes such as Eurocode 2 (2004), has been published by Lye et al. (2015a, 2016a,b,c, 2017). This work assessed the effects of coarse recycled concrete aggregate, glass cullet as a fine aggregate and copper slag as a fine aggregate on the modulus of elasticity, creep and shrinkage of concrete.

• On the carbonation, chloride ingress and associated corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete made with cement incorporating fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and limestone, complying with European Standard EN 197-1 (2011), the analysis and evaluation of global data have revealed some challenging facts about the performance of concrete and the accompanying impacts on sustainability that had hitherto not generally been appreciated (Lye et al., 2015b, 2016d; Elgalhud et al., 2017a,b).

• Similarly, in the area of incinerated ashes, a series of studies has been undertaken using the analytical systematisation method in characterising sewage sludge ash and municipal incinerated bottom ash and assessing their environmental impacts and potential for use as components of cement or aggregate in mortar and concrete, in geotechnics, in road pavements and in ceramic applications (Lynn et al., 2015, 2016a,b,c, 2017a,b).

The analytical systematisation method is proving to be increasingly powerful in analysing and evaluating globally published experimental data on recycled and secondary materials, in terms of characterising the materials and establishing their potential applications and engineering performance across disciplines, as well as addressing the important environmental impacts and sustainability issues. This approach has been adopted in developing a series of five books on sustainable construction materials, and the first and second, dealing with copper slag (Dhir et al., 2016a) and sewage sludge ash (Dhir et al., 2016b), respectively, have been published.

This work, the third in the series, dealing with municipal incinerated bottom ash (MIBA), should serve as a useful resource for academics, researchers and practitioners, providing an up-to-date, comprehensive view of the research undertaken on MIBA and its use in construction, concrete, geotechnics, road pavements and ceramic applications, as well as the associated environmental impacts, case studies and issues related to standards and specifications. Of equal importance, this work should help to reduce wasteful repetitive studies and also potentially spark new ideas and useful projects in areas of need.

1.2. Sustainable Construction Materials

Whilst it could be argued that the term ‘sustainability’ is now generally recognised, the wider implications of this are still difficult to comprehend. Alternatively, ‘sustainable development’ appears to be a much more straightforward and graspable expression, which is easier to appreciate. It is defined in the prominent United Nations Brundtland report (1987) as ‘development which meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs’.

In this context, the ever-growing demand for building of infrastructure is fast assuming a central stage in national development, as a major consumer of natural sources of non-renewable materials and energy. This development is expected to increasingly affect the environmental impact in terms of CO₂ emissions, which can lead to subsequent climate change and temperature rises on the earth’s surface, as well as having a major influen...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Related titles
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Author Profiles
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Methodology
• 3. Municipal Solid Waste Composition, Incineration, Processing and Management of Bottom Ashes
• 4. Municipal Incinerated Bottom Ash Characteristics
• 5. Concrete-Related Applications
• 6. Geotechnics and Road Pavements
• 7. Alternative Applications
• 8. Environmental Assessment
• 9. Case Studies and Standards
• 10. Epilogue
• Appendices
• Index