Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of CO2 Utilization

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcou

Carbonation of concrete made with high amount of fly ash and recycled T

concrete aggregates for utilization of CO2
⁎
Rawaz Kurda, Jorge de Brito , José D. Silvestre
CERIS, DECivil, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper mainly focuses the effect of high incorporation ratios of fly ash (FA) and recycled concrete aggregates
Carbonation (RCA) on the carbonation resistance of concrete. The aim of using high volumes of these non-traditional ma-
Concrete terials is to decrease the use of natural resources and capture CO2. For that purpose, the carbonation resistance of
Fly ash low- and high-strength concrete mixes produced with various incorporation ratios of FA, fine RCA and coarse
Recycled concrete aggregates
RCA, jointly and individually, is obtained and related with compressive strength, water absorption and chloride
Sustainability
ion penetration. The results show that the carbonation depth of concrete increased up to 3 and 6 times when
incorporating 30% and 60% of FA, respectively, and 100% of RCA led to up to 2.7 times increment. Therefore,
the concrete cover for mixes made with FA and/or RCA should be increased in order to obtain an equivalent
service life to that of conventional concrete. In spite of this fact, it is recommended to incorporate FA in RCA
concrete because, in most concrete mixes, the carbonation depth due to the combined effect of both RCA and FA
was lower than the sum of the values due to each effect. Additionally, the results show that, although the
carbonation rate of concrete mixes containing high volumes of FA and RCA is high, their service life is also
relatively high and the concrete reinforcement can be protected for up to 50 years.

1. Introduction
One way to produce a sustainable concrete is by using high volumes
of non-traditional materials without jeopardizing most of its durability
characteristics. An alternate way is by sequestration of a high amount of
CO2 in concrete, and this can be made by producing a concrete with
high rate of carbonation. However, the mentioned process may not be
considered as a sustainable solution since it may significantly decrease
the durability (e.g. carbonation) of reinforced concrete and its service
life due to the following reasons.
The reinforcement of concrete is protected from corrosion by its
alkalinity that results from the cement’s hydration process. The pH
decreases when a physical-chemical process named carbonation occurs.
Carbonation occurs by the reaction of CO2 with calcium from Ca(OH)2
creating CaCO3 (Eq. (1)). As a result, CaCO3 precipitation reduces the
pH level of concrete.
Ca (OH )2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2 O
Generally, there are several parameters that affect the rate of car-
bonation, namely the concentration of CO2 gas in the atmosphere, the
pores system of hardened concrete (the pores depend on the water/
binder ratio (w/b)), the type and content of binder and the degree of
hydration over time, and the relative humidity (for dissolution of Ca
(OH)2). CO2 cannot be dissolved in very low humidity environments
because the carbonation process requires the presence of H2O, to form
HCO3− (Eqs. (2)–(4)).
H2 O + CO2 → HCO3− + H+ (2)
HCO3− → H+ + CO3−2 (3)
Ca (OH)2 + 2H+ + CO−3 2 → CaCO3 + 2H2 O (4)
As previously mentioned, concrete sustainability also relies on its
durability. The subsequent discussion classifies concrete durability
based on the accelerated carbonation coefficient (kac). A relationship
between the natural and accelerated carbonation resistance was found
by Neves et al. [1]. In that study, cores were drilled from 96 sites of
(1) various structural elements with 4–32 years and exposure to environ-
mental class XC3 or XC4 [2]. The investigation estimated the carbo-
nation depth development (x) under natural conditions along time (Eq.

Abbreviations: NA, natural aggregate; OPC, ordinary portland cement; RCA, recycled concrete aggregates; SP, superplasticizer; w/b, water to binder ratio; Dnssm,
non-steady state chloride ion migration coefficient; kac, coefficient of accelerated carbonation; kn, coefficient of natural carbonation
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rawaz.kurda@tecnico.ulisboa.pt (R. Kurda), jb@civil.ist.utl.pt (J. de Brito), jose.silvestre@tecnico.ulisboa.pt (J.D. Silvestre).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2018.11.004
Received 15 September 2018; Received in revised form 29 October 2018; Accepted 13 November 2018
2212-9820/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R. Kurda et al. Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19

Table 1 weight). The target workability was S2 and the binder content was kept
Carbonation resistance of concrete mixes up to 50 years. constant at 350 kg/m3 in all concrete mixes. The w/b of reference
Carbonation depth after 50 years (mm) Kaverage (assumed) kac Resistance concrete with and without SP was 0.40 and 0.53, respectively. Further
details regarding the mix compositions, the adopted raw materials and
5 12.45 9 Very good the test standards are provided elsewhere [13–15].
25 12.45 44 Good
The carbonation test determines the concrete resistance to CO2
50 12.45 88 Moderate
> 50 12.45 > 88 Poor
penetration by exposing samples in a chamber with a high content of
CO2 and thus subjecting them to an accelerated carbonation process.
For this test, LNEC E391 [16] standard was followed. 24 h after casting,
(5)). Ø150 × 300 mm concrete cylinders were cured. After 7 days in the wet
chamber, the samples were cut with a water-cooled diamond saw into
kac 5Ø150 × 50 mm disks and placed back in the wet chamber. At 24 days,
x= . t
kn (5) the samples were covered with insulating liquid rubber. Several layers
were applied to both sides of the samples to avoid CO2 penetration later
Where: x is the depth of carbonation (mm); kac the accelerated carbo-
on in the carbonation chamber. At 28 days, the specimens were put in a
nation coefficient (mm. year−0.5); kn the natural carbonation coefficient
carbonation chamber with a CO2 content of 5 ± 0.1%, a temperature
(10 and 15 for environmental classes of XC3 and XC4, respectively);
of 23 ± 3 °C and a RH of 60 ± 5%, which allows gas entry and exit
and t the exposure period to CO2 (year). Further information regarding
(Fig. 1a). Samples were arranged so that the CO2 gas was equally spread
the environmental classes XC4 and XC3 can be seen in EN 206-1 [2].
through the chamber. From each composition, three concrete disks
The threshold value was selected based on to the average of XC4
were tested at 7, 28, 90, 180 and 365 days. For that purpose, the disks
and XC3 exposure classes. Therefore, according to Table 1, the average
were removed from the chamber at those ages and broken into four
kn is considered to be 12.45 in Eq. (5). Furthermore, carbonation depths
pieces with a hammer and chisel (Fig. 1b). The inner sides of the tri-
of 0.5, 2.5, 5.0 and over 5.0 cm were assumed to be evaluated as very
angle pieces were sprayed with phenolphthalein. After that, it was
good, good, moderate and poor resistance, respectively. In that case,
necessary to wait 30 min for the phenolphthalein solution reaction with
and according to Table 1, by assuming the carbonation depth and the
the non-carbonated area and for the transition zone to be clearly visible.
average kn, kac can be estimated.
According to the standard, in those samples that have regular car-
There have been many studies regarding the individual effects of fly
bonation front, an average value was obtained, while in the other
ash (FA) and recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) on the carbonation of
samples it is convenient to read the maximum and average value.
concrete mixes. However, few studies also concern the combined effects
However, in this study, four measurements of the carbonated depth
of FA and RCA in concrete [3–12]. For example, Kou and Poon [5]
parallel to the painted surface were registered for one side per piece by
showed that the carbonation depth of FA concrete increases as the in-
using a Vernier calliper ruler. Thus, the average carbonation depth
corporation level of coarse RCA increase. They also show that after ten
value was obtained by measuring 32 times the samples, which results
years of outdoor exposure, relative to a conventional concrete, the
from using four depth measurements of each one from the four pieces of
carbonation coefficient of FA concrete was about 1.9 and 1.7 times
the two disks.
bigger when coarse RCA and coarse NA incorporated. In addition, Ar-
Apart from the carbonation test, the compressive strength, chloride
redondo-Rea et al. [6] showed that the carbonation depth of coarse RCA
ion penetration and water absorption are also performed for the same
increased with increasing volume of FA. Limbachiya et al. [3] reported
concrete mixes (Table 3). Further experimental details regarding the
that the incorporating coarse RCA with FA in concrete may improve the
compressive strength, chloride ion penetration and water absorption
long-term resistance to carbonation. Additionally, Sim and Park [4]
tests of this study can be found in the previous studies made by the
showed that the carbonation resistance of concrete increased with in-
same authors [13,17,18], respectively.
creasing incorporation of fine RCA and FA. However, these studies are
limited because they did not study the effect of superplasticizer (SP),
3. Results
fine RCA, coarse RCA and FA simultaneously on high- and low-strength
concrete. None of these studies focused the combined effects of high
The accelerated carbonation test was performed according to §2,
incorporation ratio of FA, fine RCA and coarse RCA on the carbonation
with the aim of ensuring identical preconditioning and CO2 exposure
of low- and high-strength concrete. Apart from the carbonation re-
for all compositions. The carbonation depth was measured at 7, 28, 90,
sistance and CO2 sequestration, this study also focused the service life
180 and 365 days (Table 4), and the coefficient of accelerated carbo-
prediction of concrete mixes up to 50 years.
nation (kac) was obtained by linear regression of the graph of evolution
of the carbonation depth as a function of the square root of time.
2. Experimental methods
4. Discussion
In this experimental study, cement (CEM I 42.5 R) and FA (type F)
were used as binders. Further information regarding the chemical 4.1. Influence of RCA on the carbonation resistance
composition of CEM I 42.5 R and FA of this study can be found in the
previous studies made by the same authors [13]. In addition, crushed The pores system of hardened concrete may also be affected by the
limestone and natural silica from river were used as gravel and sand, content and type of aggregates. Namely in terms of density [15] and
respectively. Furthermore, two main sizes of RCA (fine and coarse) water absorption [18], it is agreed that RCA’s incorporation decreases
were used, made from the same source concrete to replace natural sand the quality of concrete because of the adhered mortar. RCA concrete
and gravel. The cement used in the source concrete contained FA (63% has more pores than natural aggregates (NA) concrete, which allow
CEM II/A-L Class 42.5 R and 37% type II additions, equivalent to CEM atmospheric CO2 to more easily diffuse into hardened concrete and,
IV/B). In this study, 28 concrete mixes were produced with various when the carbonation reaction takes place, the pH of concrete is re-
incorporation ratios of FA (0%, 30% and 60%), fine RCA (0%, 50% and duced. Moreover, the effect of RCA concrete on carbonation may de-
100%) and coarse RCA (0% and 100%) jointly and individually pend on the RA’s incorporation ratio, RA’s crushing procedure, quality
(Table 2). of the RCA, concrete exposure to different curing conditions, the use of
To understand the effect of the water to binder ratio (w/b), half of admixture and mineral additions and hydration degree over time [23].
the concrete mixes were repeated with using SP (1% by cements In this study, the carbonation depth was measured for fine RCA

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R. Kurda et al. Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19

Table 2
Mixes composition.
RAC (%) Coarse RCA 0 100

Fine RCA 0 50 100 0 50 100

FA (%) 0 M1 & M1sp M2 M3 & M3sp M10 & M10sp M11 M12 & M12sp
30 M4 M5 & M5sp M6 M13 M14 & M14sp M15
60 M7 & M7sp M8 M9 & M9sp M16 & M16sp M17 M18 & M18sp

Fig. 1. Carbonation test: (a) Carbonation chamber and CO2 tank and (b) Tools and phenolphthalein solution.

concrete (Fig. 2a), coarse RCA concrete (Fig. 2b) and RCA concrete
made with fully coarse RCA and various incorporation ratios of fine
RCA (Fig. 2c) at different ages (7–365 days). It is clear that increasing
the incorporation ratio of RCA leads to higher carbonation depths.
Various studies [24–26] agree with the previous statement when binder
content is kept constant. In fact, the carbonation depth increases with
porosity’s increment [27]. However, Levy and Helene [28] obtained
lower carbonation depth for fine RCA concrete. The authors reported
that this can be explained by increased cement content to achieve the
same compressive strength of NA concrete. But for 100% replacement
of NA with RCA, carbonation increased even when the cement content
increased in the mixes.
In this study, the carbonation depth increased up to 70% and 120%
for fine RCA concrete and up to 4% and 31% for coarse RCA, and 76%
and 138% for fine and coarse RCA concrete at 28 and 365 days, re-
spectively. Normally, the difference of the carbonation depth between
the reference concrete and RCA concrete decreases over time, but in
this study the opposite occurred. This can be explained by the fact that
the cement of the source concrete used to obtain the RCA contained FA.
The concrete mixes may get denser over time and less CO2 may pene-
trate in the sample, but the FA particles (that exist in the RCA) absorb
more Ca(OH)2 and thus increase the carbonation depth.
As expected, the carbonation depth of concrete made with 100% of
fine RCA was up to 100% bigger than that of the mixes made with 100%
coarse RCA [29–31]. Moreover, the difference between the sum of the
increments due to the individual effects of fine and coarse RCA and the
real increment of the concrete mixes made with both fine and coarse
RCA was not significant.
4.2. Influence of FA on the carbonation resistance
Fig. 3a shows that the carbonation of concrete increases as the in-
corporation of FA increases. The results show that the carbonation (kac)
of concrete without SP increased up to 3 and 6 times with incorporation
of 30 and 60% of FA (Table 4). However, the carbonation depth over
time in this study and others [4,5,32–35] is variable (Fig. 3b), i.e. it
depends on a number of parameters that are explained briefly in
Table 5. Again, notwithstanding that the density of FA concrete (the
same mixes) increases over time [15], the carbonation rate of FA con-
crete did not slow down. This is because of the factors mentioned in
Table 5 (second and third rows in this table).
4.3. Combined influence of RCA and FA on the carbonation depth of
concrete
Fig. 4 shows that incorporating 30% of FA and 0%, 50% and 100%
of fine RCA resulted in carbonation depth 1.76, 1.91 and 1.97 times
higher at 28 days and 2.6, 3.0 and 3.9 times higher at 365 days when
coarse RCA was not incorporated in the concrete mixes, and 1.84, 1.92
and 1.99 times higher at 28 days and 3.1, 3.3 and 3.8 times higher at
365 days when coarse NA was fully replaced with coarse RCA, re-
spectively. These trends further amplified when incorporating 60% of
FA.
Broadly speaking, the carbonation depth increased with increasing
FA and RCA content due to the reasons given in the previous sections.
Similar results can be seen for the combined effects of FA and RCA in
previous studies [3–5]. However, in most concrete mixes either with or
without SP, the carbonation depth due to the combined effect of both
fine RCA and FA was lower than the sum of the values due to each
effect. Therefore, it is positive to incorporate FA in fine RCA concrete.

Table 3
Number of tests performed per mix.
Test Specification Sample Testing ages Further details

Carbonation LNEC E391 [16] Ø150 x 50 mm disks 7, 28, 90, 180 and 365 days –
Compressive strength EN 12390-3 [19] 150 mm cubes [13]
Chloride ion penetration LNEC E463 [20]/NordTest BUILD NT 492 [21] Ø100 x 50 mm disks [17]
Capillary absorption LNEC E393 [22] Ø150 x 100 mm disks [18]

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R. Kurda et al. Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19

Table 4
Carbonation of the concrete mixes at 7–365 days.
Mixes Fine FA (%) Coarse SP (%) Age (days) Kac (mm/
RCA RCA (%) year0.5)
(%) 7 28 90 180 365

Carbonation Δa Carbonation Δa Carbonation Δa Carbonation Δa Carbonation Δa

(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)

M1 0 0 0 0 2.0 1.0 4.7 1.0 5.8 1.0 7.4 1.0 12.7 1.0 11.3
M2 50 3.4 1.7 6.7 1.4 9.6 1.6 13.5 1.8 20.0 1.6 18.7
M3 100 3.6 1.8 8.2 1.7 12.0 2.1 16.6 2.3 27.9 2.2 26.9
M4 0 30 2.6 1.3 8.3 1.8 11.5 2.0 19.0 2.6 33.0 2.6 33.7
M5 50 4.0 2.0 9.0 1.9 12.8 2.2 20.1 2.7 38.1 3.0 37.7
M6 100 4.2 2.1 9.3 2.0 16.3 2.8 23.2 3.2 49.0 3.9 49.5
M7 0 60 8.5 4.2 18.7 4.0 34.3 5.9 45.0 6.1 62.0 4.9 61.6
M8 50 8.2 4.1 19.3 4.1 35.2 6.1 47.0 6.4 63.0 5.0 63.3
M9 100 7.9 3.9 19.5 4.1 44.4 7.6 50.5 6.9 65.1 5.1 66.4
M10 0 0 100 0 2.0 1.0 4.9 1.0 6.0 1.0 7.7 1.0 16.7 1.3 15.4
M11 50 3.4 1.7 6.8 1.5 10.0 1.7 15.3 2.1 26.7 2.1 26.1
M12 100 3.7 1.8 8.3 1.8 12.3 2.1 20.0 2.7 30.2 2.4 30.3
M13 0 30 3.5 1.7 8.6 1.8 14.3 2.5 22.5 3.1 38.8 3.1 39.9
M14 50 4.1 2.0 9.1 1.9 14.3 2.5 24.3 3.3 41.3 3.3 42.3
M15 100 4.3 2.1 9.4 2.0 14.5 2.5 26.0 3.5 48.0 3.8 49.6
M16 0 60 9.6 4.8 19.4 4.1 34.2 5.9 44.2 6.0 61.7 4.9 59.8
M17 50 10.7 5.3 19.6 4.2 36.4 6.3 49.0 6.7 65.1 5.1 64.0
M18 100 12.3 6.1 21.2 4.5 40.0 6.9 55.8 7.6 67.2 5.3 66.3
M1sp 0 0 0 1 0.1 1.0 0.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.4 1.0 1.6
M3sp 100 0.5 5.0 2.0 6.7 5.0 5.0 5.5 4.6 7.3 5.2 7.8
M5sp 50 30 3.1 31.3 4.9 16.3 5.9 5.9 6.6 5.5 7.0 5.0 4.2
M7sp 0 60 8.6 86.3 12.0 40.0 20.3 20.3 40.0 33.3 58.0 41.4 59.8
M9sp 100 13.3 133.1 14.0 46.7 19.5 19.5 38.4 32.0 55.5 39.6 51.8
M10sp 0 0 100 1 0.4 3.5 0.9 3.0 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.3 1.7 1.2 1.5
M12sp 100 2.5 25.0 4.5 15.0 8.0 8.0 8.8 7.3 10.3 7.3 9.0
M14sp 50 30 5.9 58.8 6.2 20.7 10.3 10.3 12.4 10.3 15.8 11.3 12.2
M16sp 0 60 0.0 0.0 13.1 43.7 19.2 19.2 37.0 30.8 50.0 35.7 57.1
M18sp 100 14.6 146.3 15.0 50.0 21.5 21.5 41.0 34.2 48.5 34.6 44.0

a
M1 and M1sp were the reference concrete for mixes without and with SP, respectively.

Fig. 2. Effect of incorporation of (a) fine RCA, (b) coarse RCA, and (c) fine RCA plus 100% coarse RCA on the carbonation depth of concrete mixes between 28–365
days.

Fig. 3. Effect of the incorporation of FA on the carbonation depth of concrete over time in (a) the current study), and (b) current and previous studies.

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R. Kurda et al. Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19

Table 5
Factors affecting FA concrete carbonation.
Factors Concrete carbonation depth Reasons Sources

W/b A high ratio increases concrete carbonation
Pozzolanic mineral Generally, by increasing the level of pozzolanic mineral
additives additions, concrete carbonation increases
FA content FA acts as a pozzolanic material, it decreases carbonation
resistance as explained in previous line. But it may lead to an
improvement in resistance at older ages
Relative humidity (RH) It depends on the rate of humidity
Environment As the environment temperature goes up, concrete
temperature carbonation reaction rate increases
Porosity of concrete A high porosity increases concrete carbonation
More porous and permeable concrete made by using a high w/b. [36,37,38]
This phenomenon is primarily due to the reduction of the alkali [36,37,38,39]
content in the cementitious materials and because the C-S-H from the
pozzolanic reaction absorbs more alkali ions, hence lowering the pH
level in concrete.
Under the same environmental conditions, concrete carbonation [39,40]
quickens as the FA content increases. Because of the consumption of
cement and the pozzolanic reaction of FA, the alkaline reserve of
concrete decreases. However, with the increase of carbonation time,
the resulting C-S-H gel of the pozzolanic reaction further fills the
pores, increases the density of concrete and the intrusion resistance.
As a result, adequate curing and reasonable content must be
emphasized, as they may lead to an improvement in the resistance of
concrete with FA to carbonation.
The carbonation process requires the presence of water because CO2 [3,40,41]
dissolves in water forming carbonic acid (H2CO3). If concrete is too
dry (RH < 40%), CO2 cannot dissolve and no carbonation occurs. If,
on the other hand, it is too wet (RH > 90%), CO2 cannot enter
concrete and it will not carbonate. Optimal conditions for
carbonation occur at a RH of 50%.
With temperature increasing, spreading of CO2 molecules in the pore [40]
solution of concrete, the migration of the materials which can be
carbonized and the chemical reactions all accelerate.
High porosity helps CO2 of the air to enter inside paste and attack the [39,40]
Ca(OH)2 paste to convert it to CaCO3.

Other factors: Mix proportions; Concentration of CO2 in the environment; etc.

This is because the amount of Ca(OH)2 in RCA slightly offsets the
quantities of Ca(OH)2 consumed by SiO2 of FA. As a consequence, the
carbonation rate slightly decreased over time. However, this did not
occur for the carbonation depth of the FA concrete containing coarse
RCA. This behaviour is associated with the lower Ca(OH)2 amount in
coarse RCA compared to fine RCA. This is due to the fact that the old
cement content in coarse RCA is lower than that in fine RCA, from the
same source concrete [26].
4.4. Influence of w/b on the carbonation depth of concrete
The results show that the use of SP decreased the carbonation depth
of concrete (Table 4) because it decreases the water content required to
maintain the target slump (§2), specifically decreasing the porosity of
the concrete mixes. This is due to the lower effective w/b that was used
in the concrete mixes (≈0.40), resulting in lower porosity and hence
lower permeability to gases [27]. Moreover, the carbonation of con-
crete mixes was 2–12 mm, 5–21 mm, 6–44 mm, 7–56 mm and
13–67 mm without SP (M1-M18), and 0–15 mm, 0–15 mm, 1–22 mm,
1–41 mm and 1–58 mm with SP (M1sp-M18sp) at 7, 28, 90, 180 and
365 days, respectively.
Fig. 5 shows the carbonation depth ratio of mixes with SP versus the
same mixes without SP. By comparing the results with and without SP
(Msp vs. M) for different mixes, as for other concrete properties, the

Fig. 4. Effect of the incorporation of FA and fine RCA on concrete’s carbonation depth with (a) 0% and 30%, (b) 100% and 30%, (c) 100% and 60%, and (d) 100%
and 60% of coarse RCA and FA, respectively.

16
R. Kurda et al.
Fig. 5. Effect of the incorporation of SP on the carbonation depth of concrete mixes.
mixes with SP seemed to be more sensitive to the amount of fine RCA.
This is due to the reasons invoked for compressive strength [13],
chloride ion penetration [17] and water absorption [18], namely the
higher surface area of fine RCA. Similar conclusion can be made for
other mixes with different incorporation ratios of coarse and fine RCA
and also in the study by Cartuxo et al. [42].
Concrete mixes with SP were found to be less affected by in-
corporating coarse RCA than fine RCA. This is due to the fact that the
total surface area of aggregates increases significantly more with the
incorporation of fine RCA than of coarse RCA. However, this negative
effect starts to decrease at older ages, because SP disperses RCA parti-
cles and hence the old cement particles can spread within the mixes and
increase the alkalinity of concrete due to Ca(OH)2. Also, after 7 days,
the carbonation depth of FA concrete without SP was higher than that
of the corresponding mixes with SP due to lower w/b and porosity, but
the difference was not significant. This is due to the chemical compo-
sition of FA. The use of SP helps the particles of FA to disperse in the
mix and absorb more Ca(OH)2 and hence decrease the pH of concrete
[38,43].
The Kac of all concrete mixes with and without FA, RCA and SP is
lower than 88 mm.year−0.5 (Table 5). Thus, the resistance of concrete
mixes to the exposure to environmental class XC3 or XC4 is between
moderate and very good (Table 1). In other words, the results show
that, although the carbonation rate of concrete mixes was high, their
service life was also relatively high and the concrete reinforcement can
be protected for up to 50 years when the cover of concrete mixes is
5 cm.
4.5. Relationship between the carbonation depth and other concrete
properties
As shown in Fig. 6a, a strong correlation was found between com-
pressive strength and Kac of concrete (R2 = 0.71). In fact, the aggregate
Fig. 6. Relationship between carbonation and (a) compressive strength, and (b) capillary absorption of concrete mixes at 28–365 days.
17
Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19
affects the two properties differently, i.e. in concrete mixes with low w/
b (namely mixes with SP), the aggregate has a slight effect on the
carbonation resistance but strongly affects the compressive strength.
Nonetheless, a general trend was found between the carbonation
coefficient and the compressive strength, as both characteristics are
affected by the paste’s porous structure [44]. In terms of binder, FA also
affects these two concrete properties but differently, especially at early
and later ages. At early ages, the carbonation and mechanical resistance
decreased with increasing incorporation ratios of FA, but for later ages
the mechanical resistance significantly increased while the opposite
was seen for carbonation resistance.
Fig. 6b shows the relationship between capillary absorption after
72 h and carbonation depth at 28, 80, 180 and 365 days. A poor cor-
relation between these two properties was expected because the con-
crete carbonation depth primarily depends on diffusion phenomena. It
is known that the carbonation depth of concrete is also affected by the
CO2's binding capacity by the paste that leads to a progressive densi-
fication of the micro structure of the carbonated zones, reducing the
rate of CO2 diffusion [44–46]. While water absorption by capillary does
not depend on any of these factors, both properties are affected by the
porosity of the mix, i.e. moderate linear correlations with determination
coefficients of 0.58 were detected when only OPC was used. In addition,
for FA concrete, there was no clear relationship between the mentioned
properties. This is due to the same factors that affect the relationship of
carbonation and compressive strength that were explained in the pre-
vious paragraph, namely the chemical composition of FA.
Fig. 7 shows a strong correlation between chloride ion penetration
resistance and carbonation of the concrete mixes over time
(R2 = 0.78–0.95). The results show that increasing the incorporation
ratio of FA led to a chloride ion penetration decrease. The opposite
behaviour occurred with carbonation resistance.
R. Kurda et al.
Fig. 7. Relationship between carbonation and chloride ion penetration resistance over time for concrete containing (a) 0%, (b) 30% and (c) 60% of FA and various
incorporation of RCA. Dnssm - non-steady state chloride ion migration coefficient.
5. Conclusion
This study allows a better understanding of the carbonation of
concrete obtained with high volumes of recycled concrete aggregates
(RCA) and fly ash (FA), and either with or without superplasticizer (SP).
The following conclusions can be drawn from this study:
- One way for sequestering high amounts of CO2 in concrete is by
producing a mix with high volume of FA and RCA (concrete mixes
with high rate of carbonation). Although this process may not be
considered a sustainable solution since it decreases the durability of
reinforced concrete and its service life as a result, this study shows
that the service life of mixes containing high volume of RCA and FA
is relatively high and the reinforcement can be protected for up to
50 years without increasing the rebars’ cover. Thus, the main ob-
jective of this study is to show the construction industry that the
amount of CO2 sequestration in RCA concrete containing FA is high
and also that its service life is sufficient;
- There is a benefit in incorporating FA in RCA concrete in terms of
service life when compared with the sum of the service life due to
the addition of each material individually. For example, the carbo-
nation depth increased with increasing FA and RCA contents, while
in most concrete mixes, either with or without SP, the carbonation
depth due to the combined effect of both fine RCA and FA was lower
than the sum of the values due to each effect;
- The results of this study show that it is positive to use SP with RCA
concrete containing FA. This is due to the fact that the percentage of
improvement with the addition of SP to the mentioned concrete is
higher than that of the conventional concrete;
- The carbonation depth increased as the incorporation of RCA and FA
increased;
- Normally, the difference of the carbonation depth between the re-
ference concrete and RCA concrete decreased over time, but in this
study the opposite occurred. This can be explained by the fact that
the source concrete used to obtain the RCA contained cement with
FA;
- As expected, the carbonation depth of concrete made with 100% of
fine RCA was up to 100% bigger than that of the mixes made with
100% coarse RCA. Moreover, the difference between the sum of the
increments due to the individual effects of fine and coarse RCA and
the real increment of the concrete mixes made with both fine and
coarse RCA was not significant;
- The carbonation of concrete significantly increases as the in-
corporation of FA increases. The results show that the carbonation
18
Journal of CO₂ Utilization 29 (2019) 12–19
increased up to 3 and 6 times with incorporation of 30% and 60% of
FA, respectively;
- In terms of carbonation resistance, it is beneficial to incorporate FA
in fine RCA concrete. However, the decrement in carbonation depth
of concrete made with coarse and fine RCA and FA does not ne-
cessarily decrease CO2 sequestration. In fact, it may be higher than
in concrete mixes with either FA or RCA. Furthermore, the use of
non-traditional materials simultaneously delays the process and in-
creases the service life of the concrete;
- The mixes with SP appeared to be more sensitive to the incorpora-
tion of fine RCA than coarse RCA;
- The results show that high volumes of RCA and FA decrease the
carbonation resistance of concrete. Therefore, the concrete cover for
concrete mixes made with FA and/or RCA should be increased in
order to obtain the same service life as equivalent conventional
concrete.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank CERIS research unit from IST/University of
Lisboa and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
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