“PELLETIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR PRODUCTION

OF FLY ASH AGGREGATES”

PROJECT REFERENCE NO. : 37S0059

COLLEGE : M V J COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BANGALORE.

BRANCH : CIVIL ENGINEERING
GUIDE : DR K.ASHA
STUDENTS : ANUSHA.K
RAJU M.S
SUNITHA A.N
PRADEEP KUMAR

Introduction:
The environmental impacts of crushed stone aggregate, extraction are of increasing concern
in many parts of the country. The impacts include loss of forests, noise, dust, blasting
vibrations and pollution hazards unplanned exploitation of rocks may lead to landslides of
weak and steep hill slopes. Now days due to industrialization there is a scarcity of electricity
thought India. In India having 85 thermal power plants are there for generation of electricity.
In each thermal plant due to generation of electricity 85 million tonnes of fly ash coming as
residual per annum. Major challenge is complete usage of fly ash as an aggregate in a
construction industry. Hence fly ash can be used in making artificial light weight coarse
aggregates. The aggregates so prepared are known as Fly ash aggregates, the method of
formation is known as PELLETISATION. These aggregates can be manufactured in different
proportion of fly ash, cement; the aggregate which is thus manufactured is light weight
aggregate. Design and construction by this type of concrete containing light weight
aggregates are economical; due to the nature that light weight reduces the self weight.

It involves initially dry mixing of cement and fly ash by adopting some amount of water to
the mix. Mixing of these constituent in a mixer to form aggregates. In conventional concrete,
weight of concrete is one of the parameters to compare with weight of fly ash aggregate
concrete. Normally density of concrete is in the order of 2200 to 2600 kg/m3. This heavy self
weight makes it as uneconomical structural material compared to low self weight of fly ash

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aggregate concrete. In order to produce concrete of desired density to suit the required
application, the self weight of structural and non structural members are to be reduced. Hence
economy is achieved in the design of supporting structural elements which lead to the
development of light weight concrete. Lightweight concrete is defined as a concrete that has
been made lighter than the conventional concrete by changing material composition or
production method. Lightweight aggregate concrete is made by replacing the usual material
aggregate by lightweight aggregates. Though lightweight concrete can’t always substitute
normal concrete for its strength potential, it has its own advantages like reduced dead load,
and thus economic structures and enhanced seismic resistance, high sound absorption and
good fire resistance.

Objectives of the project:

 To characterise fly ash for physical, chemical and mineralogical properties.

 To develop artificial light weight coarse aggregates using fly ash.

 To investigate the effects of steam and cold bond type curing regime on properties of
light weight coarse aggregates.

 To analyse the relative performance light weight fly ash aggregates in concrete.

.Methodology:

Preparation of fly ash aggregate:

 Fly ash and Ordinary Portland cement were selected in different proportions like [fly
ash: cement] 95:5, 90:10, 85:15.
 These proportions are thoroughly dry mixed in Concrete Mixer.
 After dry mix in a mixer start sprinkling the water until formation of fly ash
aggregates.
 The contents were thoroughly mixed in concrete mixer until the formation of fly ash
aggregate. The method of formation is called pelletization.
 Once the aggregate formed from the mixer allowed to dry for a day
 Dried aggregate carried for 7,28days for water curing and two days of steam curing at
800 C is carried.

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Segregation of fly ash aggregates:

 After curing, fly ash aggregates were segregated into fine and coarse aggregates based
on the size of the pellets shown in the figure.
 The aggregates having size less than 4.75 mm were sieved as fine aggregates and size
more than 4.75 mm were sieved as coarse aggregates.
 The aggregate below 20 mm size sieve used in the concrete specimen as a filler
material.

Preparation of Concrete specimens:

 The weighed materials of cement, fine and coarse aggregates, fly ash aggregates were
then placed on a large mixing tray which is clean and free from impurities.

 The ingredients were then mixed to obtain a uniform mix after which the required
water was poured and mixed well for 5 minutes.

 The concrete mix is then placed into the concrete cube mould (150 mm x 150 mm x
150mm) in three successive layer with 25 blows each layer, with the help of a
tamping rod , the top surface is then smoothened.

 The concrete mould is then placed in a safe location for 24 hours, after which the
mould is opened and the concrete cube is placed in a curing tank for a specified period
of time.

Conclusions:
Based on the experimental results obtained for FA aggregate incorporated concrete the
following conclusions may be drawn.

1. Cement used in the present study is characterised with 296 m2/Kg fineness, specific
gravity of 3.2 with initial and final setting time of 160 and 305 minutes respectively.
Class F flyash was characterised to understand its physico-chemical and mineralogical
properties which showed specific gravity of 2.15, hydrometer analysis indicated that
24 % was sand sized particles, 74 % was silt sized particles and only 2.0 % was clay
sized particles. XRD indicated that fly ash is mainly composed of mullite (aluminium
silicate) and quartz (SiO2), the compounds mainly responsible for hydration and
formation of CSH gel which helps in better compaction of specimens. SEM indicated
that fly ash is mainly composed of hallow rounded cenosphere. Chemical analysis

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 showed that flyash is alkaline in nature with pH of 8.4 and total dissolved salts of 144
mg/L.
2. Various mix proportions of fly ash aggregates were manufactured in the ratio of 95:5,
90: 10 and 85: 15 respectively and were blended with concrete M25 grade to study the
compressive strength behaviour of fly ash aggregate addition. Results showed that for
85:15 mix proportions with 50 % and 25 % replacement of natural showed
compressive strength of aggregates31.3 MPa and 40.8 MPa. The result implies that
fly ash aggregates binds with cement forming CSH gel.
3. Based on the above experimental results it can be concluded that mix proportions of
85: 15 which shows high compressive strength of 40.8 MPa can be effectively used in
civil engineering applications.

Scope for Future Work:

Future studies which can be carried out further are as follows:

1. Investigations on split tensile strength and flexural strength can be undertaken.

2. Manufacture of geo polymer concrete incorporating fly ash aggregates can also be
undertaken.