Decalcification of activated paper sludge – Fly ash-Portland cement blended pastes in pure water

Decalcification in pure water of ternary Portland cement (TPC) pastes, containing thermally activated paper sludge and fly ash, has been evaluated from the leaching of Ca2+ in pure water at the temperature of 20 °C during 90 days. Monitoring of calcium loss showed that the leaching kinetics are controlled by diffusion. The degradation of the material over time is estimated from the calcium effective diffusivity. A similar study of plain ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes was carried out for comparison. The results showed lower effective diffusion coefficients of calcium in the case of the TPC pastes. This behaviour is related to its microstructure, which is denser than that of OPC as a result of the pozzolanic activity of both additions.