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From waste to resource: the concrete of the future could come from ashes
With an innovative approach and a focus on sustainability, a project led by CIEMSA, Latitud, and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Montevideo is advancing the study of biomass ash as an input for construction materials.
Biomass is a renewable energy source used in various industries, including the pulp industry, where wood is used as fuel to generate thermal and electrical energy.
These ashes are usually managed as waste. However, new possibilities are now emerging to give them a second life. One of them lies in construction, where they could be incorporated as a partial substitute for some of the materials used to produce concrete.
With this objective, within the framework of the call “Challenge: Use of Biomass Ash in Construction” call launched by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), a research team is working to turn this waste into a valuable resource.
To achieve this, the project seeks to generate knowledge and validate alternatives that make it possible to incorporate biomass ash into structural concrete, contributing to the circular economy and reducing the environmental impact of the sector.
The project is managed by CIEMSA and involves the participation of Latitud and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Montevideo. Through this collaboration, the team will assess the potential of different types of biomass ash as partial substitutes for materials traditionally used in concrete production.
How the research is progressing
The first stage of the work focused on characterizing the ash in order to determine its properties and analyze its suitability for construction applications.
The research is currently in an experimental phase, in which the mechanical behavior of concrete made with different levels of ash incorporation is being analyzed.
The studies consider, on the one hand, the partial replacement of Portland cement with fly ash, and, on the other, the partial replacement of sand with bottom ash. The results obtained will make it possible to identify the formulations with the best technical performance and move forward to a pilot-scale validation stage.
As part of this phase, the construction of a demonstration slab is planned, which will allow the material’s performance to be evaluated under real conditions of use. The project will also include a carbon footprint analysis to compare the environmental impact of the solutions developed with that of conventional concrete.
Why this could make a difference
The valorization of biomass ash represents an opportunity to promote the use of industrial by-products, reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials, and generate more sustainable alternatives for the construction industry.
In this case, it involves a material that, if not reused, can have a negative environmental impact. But through research and development, these ashes can re-enter the production cycle with a new function.
Innovation focused on sustainability
In this sense, the project seeks to provide technical evidence that facilitates the incorporation of these materials into future applications, contributing to the development of innovative solutions based on circular economy principles.
From Latitud, participation in this initiative is part of its commitment to promoting research and innovation projects aimed at sustainable development. The goal is to foster knowledge generation and create new opportunities for making use of resources that are currently underutilized.
