Origin of Pozzolan The term pozzolan is derived from the name of the town Pozzuoli, Italy.

It is si tuated near Mt. Vesuvius and is the place where the Romans more than 2,000 years ago mined the ashes deposited by the occasional eruptions of this volcano. Addi ng these ashes at a ratio of 2:1 to aged lime putty (aged 2+ years) they were ab le to construct those sturdy buildings we still admire today. Given this mineral origin, some purists consider only volcanic ashes, pumice, tu ffs, etc. as Pozzolans. But as the ashes of organic origin, like pulverized fuel ashes (PFA, mostly coal ashes) and rice hull ashes (RHA) also show enhancing pr operties when mixed with cement or lime, most of the times the origin is irrelev ant. What counts are the properties, primarily particle size and purity (absence of carbon), and the results! Definition and Use of Pozzolans A "pozzolan" is defined as "a siliceous or siliceous and aluminous material, whi ch in itself possesses little or no cementing property, but will in a finely div ided form - and in the presence of moisture - chemically react with calcium hydr oxide at ordinary temperatures to form compounds possessing cementitious propert ies." (Reference: "Pozzolanic and Cementitious Materials" by Malhotra and Mehta (Gordo n and Breach Publishers, 1996)