Hydration of coal–biomass fly ash cement

This paper presents possibilities of use of fly ashes from co-combustion bituminous coal and biomass in cement production process. Both fly ashes coming from co-combustion bituminous coal and biomass and the ones from bituminous coal combustion were analysed. The following properties of cement were tested: heat of hydration, Ca(OH)2 content, unreacted C3S content and microstructure. The results showed that fly ashes from co-combustion coal and biomass retard cement hydration. Cement samples containing coal-biomass fly ashes demonstrate adverse features like lower heat of hydration, higher Ca(OH)2 content and lower rate of C3S hydration in comparison to the ones containing fly ashes from bituminous coal. The incorporation of coal-biomass fly ashes in cement results in an increase of porosity of cement paste, leading to a microstructure of lower density.