Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Environmental Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman

Research article

Concretes and mortars with waste paper industry: Biomass ash and
dregs

zquez-Burgo a,
Isabel Martnez-Lage a, *, Miriam Velay-Lizancos a, Pablo Va

zquez-Herrero a, Antonio Ramrez-Rodrguez b,

ndez a, Cristina Va
Marcos Rivas-Ferna
b
Miguel Martn-Cano

n, Centro de Innovacio

n Tecnolo

gica en Edicacio

n e Ingeniera Civil (CITEEC), E.T.S. Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos.
Grupo de Construccio
~ a, Campus de A Corun
~ a, s/n, 15071, A Corun
~ a, Spain
Universidade da Corun

n S.A., Departamento I D i, Grupo SACYR, Paseo de la Castellana 83-85, 5a planta, 28046, Madrid, Spain
SACYR Construccio

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 13 January 2016
Received in revised form
10 June 2016
Accepted 25 June 2016
Available online 5 July 2016

This article describes a study on the viability of using waste from the paper industry: biomass boiler ash
and green liquor dregs to fabricate mortars and concretes. Both types of ash were characterized by
obtaining their chemical and mineralogical composition, their organic matter content, granulometry,
adsorption and other common tests for construction materials. Seven different mortars were fabricated,
one for reference made up of cement, sand, and water, three in which 10, 20, or 30% of the cement was
replaced by biomass ash, and three others in which 10, 20, or 30% of the cement was replaced with dregs.
Test specimens were fabricated with these mortars to conduct exural and compression tests. Flexural
strength is reduced for all the mortars studied. Compressive strength increases for the mortars fabricated
with biomass ash and decreases for the mortar with dregs. Finally, 5 concretes were made, one of them
as a reference (neither biomass ash nor dregs added), two of them with replacements of 10 and 20% of
biomass ash instead of cement and another two with replacements of 10 and 20% of dregs instead of
cement. The compressive and tensile splitting strength increase when a 10% of ash is replaced and
decrease in all the other cases. The modulus of elasticity always decreases.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Paper industry waste
Biomass ash
Mortar
Concrete
Mechanical properties
Depth of penetration of water under
pressure

1. Introduction
The paper and woodpulp industry generates different wastes,
with water treatment sludge, lime sludge, sands or lime grits, green
liquor dregs, and biomass ash being the most signicant. Their
composition depends on the raw materials used and the conguration and operation of the plant, but in Spain, more than 95% of
these wastes can be considered non-hazardous according to the
European Waste Catalogue.
Currently, at the paper industry, the main wastes are dregs,
biomass ash, and secondary treatment bio sludge. Management of
the latter is internal, but the other two are sent to a dump because
of the lack of studies validating their possible recycling value. This
study is conducted to avoid this poor management of biomass ash
and dregs. Once these wastes were analyzed, it was decided to

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: isabel.martinez@udc.es (I. Martnez-Lage).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.06.052
0301-4797/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

perform a study on the viability of mortar fabrication, the results of

which would help decide if another subsequent study should be
performed on their use in concrete.
The rst thing that needs to be highlighted is that the chemical
composition of biomass ash varies greatly (Tkaczewska et al., 2012;
Vassilev et al., 2010), not only between ashes of different groups but
even within the same group. Several studies found in the current
literature utilize biomass y ash or bottom ash in cement based
materials, and it has also been proved that the chemical composition of the biomass ash utilized is very different. So, in some of
them the sum of the contents of silicon dioxide SiO2, aluminum
oxide Al2O3 and iron oxide Fe2O3 is higher than 70% and calcium
oxide CaO lower than10% (Garca and Sousa, 2013; Ramos et al.,
2013; Tkaczewska et al., 2012; Wang and Baxter, 2007). In others,
the sum of SiO2, Al2O3 y Fe2O3 is between 50 and 70%, and the
content of CaO is between 10 and 20% (Johnson et al., 2010; Wang
and Baxter, 2007) and in others the sum of SiO2, Al2O3 y Fe2O3 is
lower than 50% and the content of CaO is higher than 20% (Garca
Calvo et al., 2010; Rajamma et al., 2009; Esteves et al., 2012;

864

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Tkaczewska et al., 2012; Carrasco et al., 2014; Cuenca et al., 2013;

Berra et al., 2015). It should also be noted that in many cases, the
content of magnesium oxide is higher than the amount allowed by
the EN 450-1 Standard and by the ASTM C618 Standard (Garca
Calvo et al., 2010; Rajamma et al., 2009; Esteves et al., 2012;
Tkaczewska et al., 2012; Wang and Baxter, 2007; Carrasco et al.,
2014; Cuenca et al., 2013) and that almost all cases comply with
the content of sulfuric anhydride.
In some studies, mortars were made replacing part of the
cement with biomass ash. With regard to the exural strength,
Garca and Sousa (2013) and Ramos et al. (2013) found that it is
similar to that of the reference mortar, but Rajamma et al. (2009)
found that it diminishes. Concerning the compressive strength,
Garca and Sousa (2013) found that it is lower at 28 days but increases at 90 days; Rajamma et al. (2009) found that it increases
when 10% of cement is replaced but decreases for higher replacement levels; and Ramos et al. (2013) and Johnson et al. (2010) found
that it is similar to that of the reference mortar; Garca and Sousa
(2013) notice that the chloride permeability increases as the content of biomass ash raises. Johnson et al. (2010) observe that the
content of biomass ash does not have an effect on the behavior of
frost/thaw cycles; and Esteves et al. (2012) and Ramos et al. (2013)
notice that biomass ashes mitigate the expansion in the alkali-silica
test.
Barbosa et al. (2013) used two biomass ashes, y ash and bottom
ash, to fabricate concrete and they concluded that for 10% substitution of cement with y ash, compressive strength was similar to
the reference concrete, while concretes with 30% substitution
yielded lower compression strength than the reference concrete.
Wang and Baxter (2007), Wang et al. (2008a, 2008b) fabricated
concrete replacing 25% of cement with biomass ash. The main results obtained were as follows: (1) compressive strength was
similar for any type of ash at 7, 28, 91 and 365 days, and for 28, 91
and 365 days they were also similar to the concrete without ash, (2)
mixed biomass exhibited better behavior in mitigating alkali-silica
expansion than C ash, (3) exural strength for the concrete with
biomass ash at 56 days was lower than for the rest of the concretes,
(4) biomass ash had no impact on freeze-thaw stresses and (5)
biomass ash specimen exhibited higher chloride permeability,
which was similar to the case without ash, almost certainly due to
the higher particle size.
Carrasco et al. (2014) investigated the substitution of cement for
bottom ash from a biomass plant, using proportions of 10%e90%,
fabricating concrete blocks with compressive strengths of 20 MPa.
They determined that as the substitution percentage was increased,
the porosity also increased, leading to decrease thermal conductivity, which is benecial. They also found that the apparent density
decreases, which increases water absorption, conrming that
compressive strength is also reduced.
Analyzing the chemical composition of the biomass ash and
dregs from the paper industry studied, it may be concluded that it is
not possible to assimilate it to any of the previous studies so, to
decide on its feasibility as a substitute of concrete to produce
mortars and concretes it is necessary to conduct a specic study
with these materials.
In the study of the mortars, exural and compressive strength
will be analyzed and compared with the studies performed with
another kind of biomass ash. In the case of concrete, the
compressive stenght, tensile splitting strength, modulus of elasticity and permeability will be studied. It should be highlighted that
studies with results of these last three properties have not been
found. Although there are some studies in which compressive
strength is studied, the composition is so different that they cannot
be compared with these ashes.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Biomass ash and dregs
Biomass ash utilized in this study is a waste produced in the
process of obtaining energy through the biomass combustion. This
biomass comes from eucalyptus wood, both the bark and forest
residues, and the black liquor from the wood baking process. Dregs
are the heaviest solids unburned included in the ashes of green
bleaches produced from the burning of the obtained black liquor.
Both residues are listed as non-hazardous wastes according to the
European List of Waste.
Table 1 shows the chemical analysis performed using X-ray
uorescence, which also shows the loss of ignition (LOI) at 975  C.
In light of the chemical composition results, it is conrmed that
both biomass ash and dregs are of limestone origin, so clearly none
of them comply with the requirement regarding the sum of silicon
dioxide, aluminum oxide, and iron contents specied in EN 450-1
(CEN, 2005a) or ASTM C618 (2008), as these standards are oriented
towards silicon-based y ash.
The mineralogical composition was obtained using X-ray
diffraction, including the diffractogram of the biomass ashes shown
in Fig. 1 and of the dregs shown in Fig. 2. From these gures, it is
possible to conclude that the dregs are basically made up of calcite,
very little dolomite, and possible traces of sodium sulfate and sodium calcium sulfate and that the biomass ashes exhibit greater
variation in sodium chloride, calcium chloride, anhydrite, calcite,
dolomite and porlandite, with the most intense peak being that of
quartz but the majority phase being calcite.
The granulometry of the biomass ashes as well as of the dregs
was obtained using laser techniques. Fig. 3 shows the accumulated distribution of ashes and the accumulated distribution of
dregs. Analysis of this distribution reveals that the maximum size
of the ash particles is 200 mm and of the dreg particles is 125 mm.
In addition, there are almost no ash or dreg particles with sizes
between 0.15 and 5 mm, although in the case of the ashes, the
percentage of particles smaller than 0.15 mm is 15%, and in the
case of the dregs, that percentage is 50%. In both cases, the
amount retained by the 45 mm sieve is lower than 40% (requirement in EN 450-1 (CEN, 2005a) and 34% (requirement in ASTM
C618 (2008)).

Table 1
Chemical composition.
Component

Biomass ash (wt%)

Dregs (wt%)

CaO
SiO2
SO3
K2O
MgO
Al2O3
Cl
Fe2O3
P2O5
Na2O
MnO
TiO2
SrO
V2O5
ZnO
NiO
Rb2O
CuO
ZrO2
Br

34.9
11.6
11.4
6.5
4.4
4.4
2.7
2.6
1.6
1.4
1.4
0.25
0.21
0.18
0.057
0.040
0.037
0.022
0.020
0.007

46.2
1.3
1.4
0.28
3.3
0.43
0.099
0.8
3.3
3.4
0.41
<0.03
0.14
<0.03
0.15
0.015
<0.03
0.023
0.007
<0.03

LOI

15.8

38.5

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

865

Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction patterns of biomass ash.

In addition, other tests have been performed on these materials,

which are typical of cements or ne aggregates, to evaluate their
use in fabricating mortars or concretes, the results of which are
shown in Table 2.
From the results of the characterization tests, is possible to
conclude that the main problems found in these materials for their
use as ash in mortars and concretes are as follows:
Both biomass ash and dregs are of limestone origin.
Neither the biomass ash nor the dregs comply with the chemical
specications listed in European Norm EN-450-1 (CEN, 2005a) or in
ASTM C618 (2008).
The loss of ignition is high for the ash and very high for the
dregs, which may lead to durability problems, especially regarding
resistance to freezing, and they may also exhibit incompatibility
with certain admixtures.

2.2. Fine aggregate

The sand used to fabricate mortars and concretes was quartzite
of RAMSA. To characterize it, its grading curve was obtained by the
method of sieving according to the standard EN 993-1 (CEN, 2012a),
it is attached in Fig. 4, its densities and water absorption according
to the standard EN 1097-6 (CEN, 2013), the sand equivalent according to EN 933-8(CEN, 2012c), chemical compounds according
to EN 1744-1 (CEN, 2009b) and the content in clumps of clay according to the standard UNE 7133 (AENOR, 1958), all of these results are collected in Table 3.

2.3. Coarse aggregate

Two fractions were used as coarse aggregate, the 6/12 and the
12/20, of a granitic aggregate. For its characterization a grading test
was made by the method of sieving according to the EN 933-1 (CEN,
2012a), the densities and the water absorption according to the
standard EN 1097-6 (CEN, 2013), the akiness index according to
the EN 933-3 (CEN, 2012b) and the resistance to fragmentation by
the test method of Los Angeles according to the EN 1097-2 (CEN,
2010). The particle size distribution is included in Fig. 4 and the
rest of the tests in Table 4.
2.4. Cement
The cement used to fabricate all the mortars and concretes was
CEM-I 52.5 N/SR. This decision was taken because it is the cement
which contains the lowest additions. Its main properties are
collected in Table 5.
2.5. Mortars
2.5.1. Mortars mixes
A total of 7 different mortars were fabricated, with M-0 being
the reference with a mass composition of one part cement, 3 parts
ne aggregate, and a half part of water; M-10 C, M-20 C, and M30 C, which have 10, 20, or 30% substitutions of cement by biomass
ash, and M-10 D, M-20 D, and M-30 D, where 10, 20, or 30%

866

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Fig. 2. X-ray diffraction patterns of dregs.

Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of biomass ash and dregs.

substitutions of cement were made with dregs. Table 6 includes the

dosage of each of the mortars.
2.5.2. Mechanical properties of mortars
Flexural and compression tests were conducted to determine
the mechanical properties of the mortars. The test specimens for

the exural tests were 40 mm  40 mm  160 mm and were

failed using the three point method, with the distance between
supports being 100 mm and the load at mid span, following European Standard EN 196-1 (CEN, 2005b). The compression tests
employed the semi prisms obtained from the previous test and
followed the same standard. The exural test of a mortar specimen

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Table 2
Other tests.

867

Table 3
Other tests of ne aggregate.

Property

Method

Biomass ash

Dregs

Property

Standard

Fine aggregate

Real density (g/m3)

Surface area (m2/g)
Water demand (g)
Soundness: A (mm)
Soundness: C (mm)
Soundness: C-A (mm)
Setting time: start
Setting time: end

BET Method
BET Method
EN 196-3 (CEN,
EN 196-3 (CEN,
EN 196-3 (CEN,
EN 196-3 (CEN,
EN 196-3 (CEN,
EN 196-3 (CEN,

2.615
3.25
175
4.0
6.5
2.5
2 h 15 min
2 h 50 min

2.598
6.24
177
5.5
7.5
2.0
3 h 55 min
4 h 45 min

Apparent particle density (Mg/m3)

Oven-dried particle density (Mg/m3)
Satured surface-dried particle
density (Mg/m3)
Water absorption (%)
Sand equivalent test
Chloride salts (%)
Acid soluble sulfates (%)
Total sulfur content (%)
Light contaminants

EN 1097-6
EN 1097-6
EN 1097-6

2.61
2.57
2.58

EN
EN
EN
EN
EN
EN

0.60
88
0.00
0.2
0.8
Not present

2009a)
2009a)
2009a)
2009a)
2009a)
2009a)

is included in Fig. 5(a) and the compressive test of a semi prism is

included in Fig. 5(b).
2.6. Concretes

1097-6
933-8
1744-1
1744-1
1744-1
1744-1

Table 4
Other tests of coarse aggregate.
Property

Standard
3

Apparent particle density (Mg/m )

Oven-dried particle density (Mg/m3)
Satured surface-dried particle
density (Mg/m3)
Water absorption (%)
% passing 0.063 mm
% passing 4 mm
Flakiness index
Los Angeles Abrasion

Fraction 6/12 Fraction 12/20

EN 1097-6 2.66
EN 1097-6 2.62
EN 1097-6 2.64

2.66
2.60
2.64

EN
EN
EN
EN
EN

0.38
0.23
2.6
18

2.6.1. Concrete mixes

It was decided that the replacements which involve a loss in
exural or compressive strength of the mortars higher than 10%
will not be used for the production of concretes, since the loss in the
compressive strength in those concretes will be still greater and
those replacements will not mean a feasible implementation of
those wastes.
So, 5 different types of concrete were produced, one without
ashes nor dregs, with the reference (HC-0), two in which 10% of
concrete was replaced with ashes or dregs (HC-10C y HC-10D) and
other two in which 20% of concrete was replaced with ashes or
dregs (HC-20C y HC-20D). In Table 7 the dosages used are included.

humidity  95%. The day immediately after, the specimens were

unmolded and marked, and introduced again in the climatic
chamber to cure until the moment of the test.

2.6.2. Slump-ow and making and curing test specimens

Once the concrete was mixed, the slump test has been carried
out according to the European Standard EN 12350-2 (CEN, 2009c)
and the production of specimens according to the EN 12390-2 (CEN,
2009d), calibrated specimens with release agents have been used.
The lling of the specimens has been made in two layers and
each of them was compacted with an internal vibrator. Finally, the
concrete deposited on the edge was removed with a trowel and the
surface was leveled. Once all the specimens were nished, the
specimens with the specimens were introduced in a climatic
chamber at a temperature of (20 2) C and a relative

2.6.3. Physico-mechanical properties of concretes

Compressive strength of concretes was measured on cylindrical
specimens of 150 mm  300 mm at 7 and 28 days according to the
standard EN 12390-3 (CEN, 2009e). The tensile splitting strength
and the compressive modulus of elasticity were obtained on cylindrical specimens of 150 mm  300 mm at 28 days and in
accordance with the standards EN 12390-6 (CEN, 2009f) and UNE
83316 (AENOR, 1996) respectively. The compressive strength test of
a concrete specimen is included in Fig. 6(a) and the splitting tensile
strength test of other concrete specimen is included in Fig. 6(b).

Fig. 4. Particle size distribution of aggregates.

1097-6
933-1
933-1
933-3
1097-2

0.59
0.51
3.8
11
36

868

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Table 5
Properties of cement.
Property

Cement

Compressive Strength (MPa) EN 196-1 (CEN, 2005b)

2 days
7 days
28 days
Clinker
K2O
Na2O
SO3
Chlorides
Loss of ignition (%)
Insoluble residue (%)

Chemical analysis (%) EN 196-2 (CEN, 2005c)

Table 6
Mix design used of mortars.

34
45
61
97
0.92
0.19
3.17
0.03
2.8
1.5

Table 7
Mix design used of concretes.

Material

M-0

M-10 C M-20 C M-30 C M-10 D M-20 D M-30 D

Material

HC-0

HC-10 C

HC-20 C

HC-10 D

HC-20 D

Cement (g)
Biomass ash (g)
Dregs (g)
Fine aggregate (g)
Water (g)

466.7
e
e
1400.0
233.3

420.0
46.7
e
1400.0
233.3

Cement (kg)
Biomass ash (kg)
Dregs (kg)
Fine aggregate (kg)
Fraction 6/12 (kg)
Fraction 12/20 (kg)
Water (kg)
CHRYSOPLAST (kg)
CHRYSOFLUID (kg)
Volume (litres)

350
e
e
960
100
810
175
3.50
3.50
1006

315
35
e
960
100
810
175
3.15
3.15
1010

280
70
e
960
100
810
175
2.80
2.80
1013

315
e
35
960
100
810
175
3.15
3.15
1016

280
e
70
960
100
810
175
2.80
2.80
1021

373.3
93.3
e
1400.0
233.3

326.7
140.0
e
1400.0
233.3

420.0
e
46.7
1400.0
233.3

373.3
e
93.3
1400.0
233.3

326.7
e
140.0
1400.0
233.3

developed to check the depth of penetration of water under pressure on cylindrical specimens of 150 mm  300 mm according to
the European Standard EN 12390-8 (CEN, 2009g) to obtain the
maximum penetration and its Spanish modication UNE-EN
12390-8 (AENOR, 2011) to obtain the average penetration.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Biomass and dregs characterization
From the results of the characterization tests, is possible to
conclude that the main problems found in these materials for their
use as ash in mortars and concretes are as follows:
 Both biomass ash and dregs are of limestone origin.
 Neither the biomass ash nor the dregs comply with the chemical
specications listed in European Norm EN-450-1 (CEN, 2005a)
or in ASTM C618 (2008).
 The loss of ignition is high for the ash and very high for the
dregs, which may lead to durability problems, especially
regarding resistance to freezing, and they may also exhibit incompatibility with certain admixtures.

3.2. Mortars

Fig. 5. Mortar tests.

2.6.4. Depth of penetration of water under pressure

To prove the impermeability of these concretes for the different
environmental conditions which they could be under, a test was

Flexural and compression tests at 28 days were conducted to

determine the mechanical properties of the mortars. The test
specimens for the exural tests were 40  40  160 mm and were
failed using the three point method, with the distance between
supports being 100 mm and the load at mid span, following European Standard EN 196-1 (CEN, 2005b). The compression tests
employed the semi prisms obtained from the previous test and
followed the same standard. Fig. 7 shows the mean exural
strength and Fig. 8 the mean compressive strength obtained from
these tests.
The following conclusions can be drawn from the previous

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

869

values:
 The compressive strengths for all the mortars fabricated with
biomass ash were greater than the value obtained for the
reference mortar.
 The exural strength for the mortar in which 10% of the cement
was replaced by biomass ash was similar to the strength of the
reference mortar, but for the mortar with 20% substitution, the
strength decreased by 10%, and the mortar with 30% substitution exhibited a 13% reduction.
 The compressive and exural strengths of the mortar in which
10% of the cement was replaced by dregs were similar to the
strengths of the reference mortar.
 The compressive and exural strengths of the mortar in which
20% of the cement was replaced by dregs were reduced by 7 and
5%, respectively, with respect to the reference mortar. The
mortar with 30% substitution exhibited 26 and 19% reductions in
the compressive and exural strengths, respectively.
The results obtained from the mortars with biomass ash
corroborate the research conducted by the authors (Rajamma et al.,
2009; Johnson et al., 2010; Ramos et al., 2013). The strengths obtained from mortars with dregs are much lower than the obtained
from mortars with biomass ash.
3.3. Concretes
3.3.1. Physico-mechanical properties of concretes
The values obtained for densities, compressive strength at 7 and
28 days, tensile splitting strength and the modulus of elasticity of
these concretes are included in the Figs. 9e12, respectively,
Analyzing the previous results it should be stressed that:
 The density obtained for both the concretes with ashes or with
dregs is slightly lower than the conventional concrete but in any
case the loss exceeds 2% so regarding this property the behavior
can be considered similar.
 Compressive strength for the concrete with 10% of biomass
ashes increases close to 8% at 7 days and 2% at 28 days. This
concrete acquires strength more quickly than the conventional
one since at 7 days it has already obtained 92% of its strength at
28 days while the conventional concrete has only reached 87%.
 With regard to the concrete with 20% of biomass ashes, the
compressive strength decreases approximately 6% at 7 and 28
days.
 Tensile splitting strength for concretes with biomass ashes increases slightly (less than 1%) when 10% of concrete is replaced
by ashes, and it subtly decreases (approximately 4%) when it is
replaced by 20%.
 The modulus of elasticity for concrete with biomass ashes decreases straight-line as the percentage of substitution increases,
even though this decrease is lower than 1% per 10% of
substitution.
 The compressive strength for concretes with dregs suffers a
severe fall with regard to the reference one, so the compressive
strength of the concrete with 10% of substitution decreases
approximately by 20% and the one of 20% by 35%.
 The tensile splitting strength for concretes with dregs also decreases dramatically, in the order of 18% for the substitution of
10% and of 23% for the one with the 20%.
 The modulus of elasticity for concretes with dregs also decreases
but to a much lesser degree, the loss of modulus is around 8% for
the substitution of 10% and of 13% for the one with the 20%.
Regarding the values achieved for the compressive strength of
Fig. 6. Concrete tests.

870

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Fig. 7. Flexural strength of mortars.

Fig. 8. Compressive strength of mortars.

concrete with biomass ash, the behavior is similar to the obtained

by Barbosa et al. (2013), for a replacement level of 10%, the
compressive is slightly higher, and for the replacement level of 20%
is lower. However, it does not match the values found by Wang and
Baxter (2007) with similar strength with a substitution of 25% and
28 days or more. For concrete with dregs, the loss of strength with a
substitution of 10% is noticeable. Therefore, its behavior is not
similar to none of the studies found with biomass ash. The results
obtained for the splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity
cannot be compared with the results of other authors because investigations which include these values have not been found.

3.3.2. Depth of penetration of water under pressure

For each concrete of the test of penetration of water under
pressure the following results were achieved: maximum and
average value of the maximum penetration (CEN, 2009g) and
maximum and average value of the average penetration (AENOR,
2011).

In Table 8 all these values are shown.

Judging by the previous results it might be concluded that
concretes made with ashes or with 10% of dregs are more impermeable than conventional concrete, this is probably due to the fact
that ashes seal some of the pores of concrete in such a way the
capillary net is less interconnected. On the contrary, the concrete
with 20% of dregs is less impermeable than the conventional one.
The values required at the depth of penetration of water under
pressure in the Spanish Standard of Concrete Structures (EHE-08,
2008) to consider a concrete impermeable enough to water are
the ones reported in Table 9.
Therefore, concretes with biomass ashes and the one with 10%
of dregs meet all the requirements for all types of exposition classes
and the one with 20% of dregs satises all types of exposition
classes but for IIIc (marine in tidal zone), Qc (strong aggressive
chemical) and Qb (average aggressive chemical) if the element is
prestressed.

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

871

Fig. 9. Density of concretes.

Fig. 10. Compressive strength of concretes.

4. Conclusions
The conclusions for the study are as follows:
 Biomass ash and dregs from the woodpulp and paper industry
are of limestone origin; therefore, they do not comply with the
chemical prescriptions specied for concrete ash in EN 4501(CEN, 2005a) or ASTM C618 (2008).
 The loss of ignition of biomass ash is higher than the value
prescribed in the previously mentioned standards, and the value
for the dregs is much higher, which would lead to durability
problems, especially regarding resistance to freeze-thaw cycles
or incompatibility with certain admixtures.
 In mortars both exural and compressive strength decrease as
the percentage of substitution of cement for biomass ashes or
dregs increases.
 Flexural strength of all the mortars studied has always been
lower than the reference mortar, while in the case of M-10C, M-

20C, M-10D and M-10D the loss is lower than 10% and in the M30C and the M-30D it is higher.
Compressive strength of the three mortars with biomass ashes
and of the M-10D is higher than the one in the mortar of reference, for the M-20D the loss is 7% and for the M-30D it is 26%.
At 28 days there are hardly any differences (lower than 2%)
between the compressive strength, tensile splitting strength
and the modulus of elasticity of the concrete with 10% of
biomass ashes and the reference one, and its impermeability is
better according to the results of the test of depth of penetration
of water under pressure.
For concrete with 20% of biomass ashes, the loss of compressive
strength or tensile splitting strength respect to the ones in the
reference concrete is lower than 7%, the one of the modulus of
elasticity is lower than 2% and the impermeability is higher.
For concretes with 10% of dregs the values of loss in compressive
strength respect to the reference concrete is of the order of 20%,
the one of the modulus is 8% and the impermeability is higher.

872

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

Fig. 11. Tensile splitting strength of concretes.

Fig. 12. Modulus of elasticity of concretes.

Table 8
Depth of penetration of water under pressure (mm).
Penetration

Value

HC-0

HC-10 C

HC-20 C

HC-10 D

HC-20 D

Maximum

Maximum
Average
Maximum
Average

35
28
22
19

28
26
18
16

25
23
17
17

25
24
20
19

45
37
26
23

Average

Table 9
Depth of penetration of water under pressure (mm).
Penetration

Maximum
Average

Value

Maximum
Average
Maximum
Average

n
Clase de exposicio
IIIa, IIIb, IV, E,
H, F, Qa, Qb (reinforced)

IIIc, Qc Qb
(prestressed)

65
50
40
30

40
30
27
20

 For concretes with 20% of dregs the values of loss of compressive

strength respect to the reference concrete is of the order of 36%,
the one of the modulus is 13% and the impermeability is lower.
As a nal conclusion it might be indicated that the use of these
biomass ashes as replacement of part of the cement in concretes
can be feasible. For replacements up to 10% the mechanical properties are virtually unaffected and in the case of replacements up to
20% some slight adjustments must be made respect to the ones of
the reference concrete. It is considered that some more durability
studies should be made, such as submitting it to an accelerating
ageing process to know if the properties continue being the right
ones.
Nevertheless, the use of dregs as replacement of part of the
cement in concretes is not considered to be suitable since the loss in
the mechanical properties is substantial, higher than 20% for the
compressive strength, by 18% for splitting tensile strength and by
8% for the modulus of elasticity, probably due to its lower

I. Martnez-Lage et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 181 (2016) 863e873

cementing power and moreover, for the case of the 20% replacement the impermeability decreases, which means a possible
further degradation.
Further research on freeze-thaw behavior and durability is
recommended for this material.
Acknowledgements
This study was developed with the support of the project of
Program FEDER-INNTERCONECTA ITC-20133075 Use of paper and
tire industry wastes other than their use in building lightweight
ecological embankments and other construction materials,
convened by the Center for Industrial Technological Development
(CDTI, for its initials in Spanish), dependent on the Ministry of
Economy and Competitiveness and co-funded by the Technological
Fund e FEDER Funds. We thank the companies that make up the

n S.A.U., ENCE
consortium for the project: SACYR Construccio
Energa y Celulosa, S.A., CYE Control y Estudios, S.L., and Xiloga S.L.
for all the assistance they provided in the development of this
study.
References
Esteves, T.C., Rajamma, R., Soares, D., Silva, A.S., Ferreira, V.M., Labrincha, J.A., 2012.
Use of biomass y ash for mitigation of alkali-silica reaction of cement mortars.
Constr. Build. Mater. 26 (1), 687e693.

n de terrones de arcilla en a

ridos para la
AENOR, 1958. UNE 7133, Determinacio

n de morteros y hormigones. Asociacio

n Espan
~ ola de Normalizacio

n y
fabricacio

n.
Certicacio

n, Determinacio

n del mo

dulo de
AENOR, 1996. UNE 83316. Ensayos de hormigo

n (Concrete tests. Determination of the modulus of
elasticidad en compresio

n Espan
~ ola de Normalizacio

n y
elasticity in compression). Asociacio

n.
Certicacio
a
AENOR, 2011. UNE-EN 12390-8:2009 1 Modication. Testing Hardened Concrete.

n Espan
~ ola de
Part 8: Depth of Penetration of Water under Pressure. Asociacio

n y Certicacio

n.
Normalizacio
ASTM, 2008. C618e08a. Standard Specication for Coal Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined
Natural Pozzolan for Use in Concrete. ASTM International. ASTM.
Barbosa, R., Lapa, N., Dias, D., Mendes, B., 2013. Concretes containing biomass ashes:
mechanical, chemical, and ecotoxic performances. Constr. Build. Mater. 48,
457e463. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuild.2013.07.031.
Berra, M., Mangialardi, T., Paolini, A.E., 2015. Reuse of woody biomass y ash in
cement-based materials. Constr. Build. Mater. 76, 286e296.

rez, L., 2014. An evaluation of
Carrasco, B., Cruz, N., Terrados, J., Corpas, F.A., Pe
bottom ash from plant biomass as a replacement for cement in building blocks.
Fuel 118, 272e280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.10.077.
CEN, 2005a. European Committee for Standardization. EN 450-1:2005A1:2007.
Fly ash for concrete. Part 1: Denition, specications and conformity criteria.
CEN, 2005b. European Committee for Standardization. EN 196-1: 2005. Methods of
testing cement. Part 1: Determination of strength.
CEN, 2005c. European Committee for Standardization. EN 196-2: 2005. Methods of
testing cement. Part 2: Chemical analysis of cement.
CEN, 2009a. European Committee for Standardization. EN 196-3: 2009. Methods of
testing cement. Part 3: Determination of setting times and soundness.
CEN, 2009b. European Committee for Standardization. EN 1744-1:2009A1:2012.
Tests for chemical properties of aggregates. Part 1: Chemical analysis.

873

CEN, 2009c. European Committee for Standardization. EN 12350-2:2009. Testing

fresh concrete. Part 2: Slump-test.
CEN, 2009d. European Committee for Standardization. EN 12390-2:2009. Testing
hardened concrete. Part 2: Making and curing specimens tests.
CEN, 2009e. European Committee for Standardization. EN 12390-3:2009. Testing
hardened concrete. Part 3: Compressive strength of test specimens.
CEN, 2009f. European Committee for Standardization. EN 12390-6:2009. Testing
hardened concrete. Part 6: Tensile splitting strength of test specimens.
CEN, 2009g. European Committee for Standardization. EN 12390-8:2009. Testing
hardened concrete. Part 8: Depth of penetration of water under pressure.
CEN, 2010. European Committee for Standardization. EN 1097-2:2010. Tests for
mechanical and physical properties of aggregates. Part 2: Methods for the
determination of resistance to fragmentation.
CEN, 2012a. European Committee for Standardization. EN 933-1: 2012. Tests for
geometrical properties of aggregates. Part 1: Determination of particle size
distribution. Sieving method.
CEN, 2012b. European Committee for Standardization. EN 933-3: 2012. Tests for
geometrical properties of aggregates. Part 3: Determination of particle shape.
Flakiness index.
CEN, 2012c. European Committee for Standardization. EN 933-8: 2012. Tests for
geometrical properties of aggregates. Part 8: Assessment of nes. Sand equivalent test.
CEN, 2013. European Committee for Standardization. EN 1097-6:2013. Tests for
mechanical and physical properties of aggregates. Part 6: Determination of
particle density and water absorption.

n de Hormigo

n Estructural, 2008. Ministerio de Fomento.
EHE-08 Instruccio
~ a.
Gobierno de Espan
Garcia, M.D.L., Sousa, -Coutinho, J, 2013. Strength and durability of cement with
forest waste bottom ash. Constr. Build. Mater. 41, 897e910.
Garca Calvo, J.L., Hidalgo, A., Alonso, M.C., Lux

an, M.P., Fern

andez Luco, L., 2010.

n de residuos procedentes de los procesos de combustio

n de
Caracterizacio

n. XI Congreso
biomasa. Viabilidad de uso como materiales de construccio
Nacional de Materiales, Zaragoza 2010.
Johnson, A., Catalan, L.J.J., Kinrade, S.D., 2010. Characterization and evaluation of yash from co-combustion of lignite and wood pellets for use as cement
admixture.
Fuel
89
(10),
3042e3050.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.fuel.2010.05.027.
Rajamma, R., Ball, R.J., Tarelho, L.A.C., Allen, G.C., Labrincha, J.A., Ferreira, V.M., 2009.
Characterisation and use of biomass y ash in cement-based materials.
J. Hazard. Mater. 172 (2e3), 1049e1060. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.jhazmat.2009.07.109.
Ramos, T., Matos, A.M., Sousa-Coutinho, J., 2013. Mortar with wood waste ash:
mechanical strength carbonation resistance and ASR expansion. Constr. Build.
Mater. 49, 343e351. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/jconbuildmat.2013.08.026.

z, R., Lo

j, G., 2012. Coal-biomass y ashes for cement production
Tkaczewska, E., Mro
of CEM II/A-V 42.5R. Constr. Build. Mater. 28 (1), 633e639. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.10.022.
Vassilev, S.V., Baxter, D., Andersen, L.K., Vassileva, C.G., 2010. An overview of the
chemical composition of biomass. Fuel 89 (5), 913e933. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.fuel.2012.09.041.
Wang, S., Baxter, L., 2007. Comprehensive study of biomass y ash in concrete:
strength, microscopy, kinetics and durability. Fuel Process. Technol. 88 (11e12),
1165e1170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2007.06.016.
Wang, S., Miller, A., Llamazos, E., Fonseca, F., Baxter, L., 2008a. Biomass y ash in
concrete: mixture proportioning and mechanical properties. Fuel 87 (3),
365e371. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2007.05.026.
Wang, S., Llamazos, E., Baxter, L., Fonseca, F., 2008b. Durability of biomass y ash
concrete: freezing and thawing and rapid chloride permeability tests. Fuel 87
(3), 359e364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2007.05.027.
Cuenca, J., Rodrguez, J., Martn-Morales, M., S

anchez-Rold

an, Z., Zamorano, M.,
2013. Effects of olive residue biomass y ash as ller in self-compacting concrete. Constr. Build. Mater. 40, 702e709.