Assessment of wood chips ash as efficient admixture in foamed glass-MOC composites

Abstract

To solve the problem with the landfilling of waste ash coming from wood chips combustion and to develop construction composites with moderate strength and improved thermal performance, enriched wood chips ash/magnesium oxychloride lightweight composites were designed and thoroughly characterized. As the demand for the thermal effective materials composed of sustainable raw precursors remains a challenge, foamed glass produced from waste glass was used as lightweight aggregate. The experimental analysis of the prepared composites included assessment of phase composition, micro- and macrostructural parameters, mechanical strength, hygric properties, heat transport and storage parameters. The replacement of silica sand with foamed glass enabled the development of materials with high porosity and mechanical strength, moderate water absorption capacity rate, lowered thermal conductivity and high heat storage capacity. As the flexural and compressive strength of the lightened composites remained high, it was possible to further improve thermal insulation performance of the composites by the higher dosage of lightweight aggregate in composite mixture. The wood chips ash greatly improved the mechanical strength of the lightened composites and enabled the development of construction materials with lower environmental damage. The ash acted both as fine filler and reactive material positively influencing the formation of hydration products. The acquired data and results evince that an interesting alternative to Portland cement-based composites were obtained.