Mechanical performance study of mortars containing local sewage sludge ash

Abstract

The amount of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is continuously increasing and becoming a serious issue for environment. Therefore, the valorisation of sewage sludge in sectors such as the construction field where there is high demand for naturel resources would be great for the environment. The present work reports the possibility of using sewage sludge ash as substitute for cement CEM II/A-P 32.5 R in mortars. Various ratio of sewage sludge ash (10%, 20% and 30%) was used in addition to cement, and mechanical attributes of resulting mortars, were tested at various curing ages and compared with control samples. The obtained results have revealed that sewage sludge ash can be used as a substitute of part of the cement in mortar and. The substitution can be as high as 30% while maintaining a compressive strength within the standard NF EN 197-1 requirements at 28 days.