Biomass fly ash in concrete: Mixture proportioning and mechanical properties

ASTM C 618 prohibits use of biomass fly ashes in concrete. This document compares the properties of biomass fly ashes from cofired (herbaceous with coal), pure wood combustion and blended (pure wood fly ash blended with coal fly ash) to those of coal fly ash in concrete. The results illustrate that with 25% replacement (wt%) of cement by fly ash, the compressive strength (one day to one year) and the flexure strength (at 56th day curing) of cofired and blended biomass fly ash concrete is statistically equal to that of two coal fly ash concrete in this investigation (at 95% confidence interval). This implies that biomass fly ash with co-firing concentration within the concentration interest to commercial coal-biomass co-firing operations at power plants and blended biomass fly ash within a certain blending ratio should be considered in concrete.