Drexel University

Yick Grace Hsuan

Mohammad Balapour

Yaghoob Farnam

Manufacturing lightweight aggregate (LWA) by a sintering technique requires a delicate balance among three conditions: forming sufficient amount of molten liquid phase during sintering; reaching an appropriate viscosity for solid-liquid suspension; and emitting sufficient amount of gas that can be entrapped by the liquid phase to form pores. LWAs were made from low-calcium and high-calcium Waste Coal Combustion Ash (W-CCA) including fly ash and bottom ash. A mass fraction of at least 40% liquid phase for fly ash and 50% for bottom ash is required for a successful entrapment of emitted gaseous phases during sintering. Larger pores were observed in the microstructure of LWA samples made using high-calcium W-CCA in comparison to low-calcium W-CCA. This result was mainly attributed to the high-calcium samples forming liquid phases with lower viscosity values and emitting higher amounts of gaseous phase during sintering than did the low-calcium samples. The gaseous phase was generated by hematite reduction and anhydrite decomposition.

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Ardmore, PA, United States of America

Yick Grace Hsuan