Durability and leaching analysis of a cementitious material composed of high volume coal combustion byproducts

In this study, a new silica–alumina-based cementitious material largely composed of coal combustion byproducts (CCPs) was investigated. This new cementitious material shows good mechanical performance, the substitution of a part of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by CCPs leads to similar middle age strengths. Systematic tests showed that substituting OPC for CCPs at a content of approximately 40% was an optimal choice with respect to the mechanical performance. The strength change of this silica–alumina-based material in acid solutions was approximately half that of cement. And the series of durability tests shows the Ha5 with 40% CCPs has good resistance to chloride penetration, alkali-silica reaction, freezing thaw cycles and carbonation. Besides that, toxicity characteristic leaching procedure tests provided elemental leaching analysis for 9Be–238U, which demonstrated that this silica–alumina-based cementitious material is environmentally acceptable according to EPA standards, even though it consumes a significant amount of industrial waste as raw material.