Beneficial Reuse of Fly Ashes in Geotechnical Engineering with Physicochemical and Electron Microscopic Methods

Status

 Complete                         View Final Report: PDF

Sequential Number

Identification Number

Matching Research Agency

 Materials Research Center (MRC) at Missouri S&T

Principal Investigator

Student Involvement

One graduate student

Project Objective

Beneficial reuse of fly ash in geotechnical engineering using physicochemical and microscopic imaging techniques.

Project Abstract

As the coal remains the world’s most abundant and accessible fossil fuel, the production of energy from coal will inevitably generate waste materials, i.e., the coal combustion products (CCPs). From 2002 to 2009, about 40% of CCPs was reused, while only 2.8% of the CCPs were used in pavement. This study intends to study the high volume reuse of fly ash, a major component of CCPs, in geotechnical engineering. The physicochemical properties and the microscopic imaging techniques are proposed as the tools to advance the knowledge of fly ash and fly ash-soil mixture. The outcome will provide the guideline for the beneficial reuse of the fly ash. The theories of the fine-grained materials behavior will be advanced, so that the chemical forces are comparable to that of physical ones.

Anticipated Benefits

Provide microscopic knowledge of the fly ash-soil mixture, provide guideline for future high volume usage of fly ash in geotechnical engineering, including pavement engineering.

Milestones

Project Deliverables

A final report will be provided, with details in the experimental results, major findings, and outreach potential. NUTC will be acknowledged in all the publications resulted from this project.

Technology Transfer Activities

1 – 2 journal publications in geotechnical and transportation related field, such as Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE) and TRB; presentation and papers in ASCE and transportation conferences. In addition, results will be integrated in CE 416 Soil Stabilization courses (PI will co-teach with Dr. Richard Stephenson in Spring 2012), aiming at graduate students in transportation area.

Transportation Research Board Keywords

Beneficial reuse, Fly ash, Pavement