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Assessment of CO2 emissions and cost of fly ash concrete

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Assessment of CO2 emissions and cost in fly ash concrete
Y.R. ZHANG, M.H. Liu, H.B. Xie & Y.F. Wang
School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, PR China.
ABSTRACT: Concrete is the most widely used construction material around the world; however, its produc-
tion emits quantities of CO2. The usage of fly ash in concrete has been proposed as an important factor for
“greening of the concrete industry”. In consideration of the complex composition of concrete, it is not rigor-
ous to simply assert that the addition of fly ash can reduce the concrete CO2 emission. Therefore, in this pa-
per, 350 virtual concrete mixes were designed and the corresponding CO2 emission and cost were calculated.
Results indicate that the compressive strength and the fly ash content have an important impact on CO2 emis-
sion and cost. For a given compressive strength grade, the CO2 emission and cost will vary a lot, similarly,
under the same compressive strength grade, the effects of fly ash content on CO2 emission and cost are enor-
mous.
KEYWORD: Concrete; CO2 Emission; Cost; Compressive Strength; Fly Ash
posed as an important factor for “greening of the
concrete industry” [4]. Many previous studies have
1 INTRODUCTION pointed out that the addition of fly ash in the con-
crete can reduce the total CO2 emissions, and energy
Currently, the world is facing a serious challenge of consumption, on the premise that the basic perfor-
climate change, energy and environmental issues, mance of concrete is satisfied. However, concrete is
which have been the most pressing issues in the in- a complex composite, in contrast to many other ma-
ternational agenda. In the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio jor construction materials，in the mix recipes, the
de Janeiro, Brazil, two conventions, i.e. Rio Declara- contents of its other constituents will change with
tion on Environment and Development, Agenda 21 the change of a constituent, so we cannot simply as-
were passed. However, during the past 20 years, the sert that the addition of fly ash can reduce the con-
rapid development of economy, culture and life crete CO2 emission. Therefore, in this paper, the two
bring with an accelerated deterioration of living en- most important factors, i.e. the compressive strength
vironment. Therefore, “Rio +20” pointed out that all and the fly ash content were analyzed, and the rela-
countries should regain their commitment to sustain- tionships between compressive strength and CO2
able development [1]. emission, fly ash content and CO2 emission were ob-
The construction sector, due to its high input and tained. In addition, similar research was also con-
low output mode, has been considered as a big ener- ducted to analyze the effect of the compressive
gy consumer and emission emitter. Currently the strength and the fly ash content on the cost.
world is striving to boost the infrastructure construc- In general, the concrete CO2 emission and cost
tion, especially in the developing countries, which assessment process was conducted for the raw mate-
makes a huge resource and energy consumption. rial production, transportation, and concrete produc-
Due to the widespread availability of its constitu- tion stages, considering the actual situation that the
ents, durability, and its versatility, etc. concrete is composition of concrete of different mix proportion
the most widely used construction material around used in this paper are identical, therefore, CO2 emis-
the world currently. On average, about 2 tons of sions and cost occurred during the period of raw ma-
concrete are produced each year for every human terial transportation, and concrete production stages
being in the world[2]. However, in the process of are ignored.
concrete manufacturing, there are serious problems
of resource and energy consumption and environ-
ment pollution, especially in the process of cement 2 CO2 EMISSIONS OF FLY ASH CONCRETE
production, a main constituent of concrete, which
contributes to 7% of the total CO2 worldwide[3].
2.1 Mix design and CO2 emissions calculation
Generally, for every ton of cement there is one ton
of CO2 produced. In summary, 350 virtual concrete mixes, as a func-
Facing with the increasingly serious challenge of tion of the most important mix design variables,
global warming and the depletion of the natural re- were designed, on the basis of mix design method
source, sustainable development of the concrete in- provided in “Specification for mix proportion design
dustry has already been a research hotspot in con- of ordinary concrete”. , The three design variables
struction sector, it is imperative to produce concrete were taken into account, i.e.:
based on an index of emission reduction in the fu- (1) The addition of fly ash: 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%,
ture. The usage of fly ash in concrete has been pro- and 30% replacement of cement;
(2) Water content: for the same addition of fly ash
and water-binder ratio, by adjusting the contents of
cement and water, different mix recipes can be ob-
tained. The water content increased from 170 kg/m3
to 215 kg/m3, for a total of 10 options.
(3) Water-binder ratio: 7 compressive strength
grades from C20 to C50 were designed in this paper,
and the water-binder ratio differed for each strength
grade. Although the application of high strength and
ultra-high strength concrete is becoming more and
more widespread, normal strength concrete still has
a broad application in many civil infrastructure
fields. , Therefore, this paper mainly focuses on ana-
lyzing the concrete CO2 emissions with compressive
strength grades of C20 to C50.
Based on the first two design variables mentioned
above, 50 mix families were given. For each mix
family, individual mixes were designed for 7 com-
pressive strength grades from C20 to C50, therefore,
giving a total of 350 virtual concrete mixes.
Decomposition analysis was used to determine the
magnitude of CO2 emissions produced of 1 m3 fly
ash concrete. The emission factors of concrete raw
materials, i.e. cement, fly ash, fine aggregate, coarse
aggregate, water and superplasticiser, multiplied by
the corresponding dosage of the raw materials used
to batch 1 m3 fly ash concrete were used to deter-
mine the CO2 emissions of fly ash concrete, as seen
in Equation 1.
=∑ × (1)
Where is the dosage of raw materials
(kg/m3), i refers to cement, fly ash, fine aggregate,
coarse aggregate, water and superplasticiser, and
is the emission factor of different raw materi-
al (kg CO2-e/kg), they are 0.92[5], 0.027[6], 0.0408[7],
0.0139[5], 0.000213[8] and 0.72[9], respectively.
2.2 Results and Discussion
2.2.1 CO2 emissions as a function of cement content
Cement is the major contributor to the CO2 emis-
sions of fly ash concrete, due to its largest emission
factor among the compositions. Thus, it is undoubt-
ed that the CO2 emissions increase as the cement
content increases. As the amount of cement in-
creased, the CO2 emissions increased linearly, indi-
cating that the amount of cement and the CO2 emis-
sions are closely related to each other. Therefore, a
relationship can be yielded by using regression anal-
ysis, i.e.
= 0.8945 + 68177,
= ( ⁄
) (2)
2
In consideration of a high R of 0.9997 in this re-
gression equation, thus, this equation can be used to
calculate the CO2 emissions of concrete with other
cement contents.
2.2.2 CO2 emission as a function of the concrete
compressive strength grade
As we all know, the concrete compressive
strength grade increases as the cement content in-
creases generally. Therefore, it is not surprising to
observe that the CO2 emissions increase with the
strength grade. Besides, a regression formula relat-
ing the strength grade to the CO2 emissions was de-
veloped.
= 5.5011 + 159.96,
= ℎ ( ) （3）
Similar to the Equation 2, Equation 3 has a high
R2 of 0.9855, as well. Thus, this equation can also
apply to calculate the CO2 emissions of concrete
with a strength grade less than C20 or greater than
C50.
In addition, for a given compressive strength
grade, the CO2 emissions vary a lot among different
mixes, the difference of more than 100kg CO2-e in
1m3 concrete can be existed. In consideration of the
tremendous production of concrete worldwide,2, if
the concrete can be produced in a mix with the low-
est CO2 emissions, then the CO2 emission savings
can be quite dramatic.
As shown in Fig. 1 (a), for any two adjacent
strength grades, the difference of CO2 emissions
tends to be similar, this indicates that the increase of
CO2 emission is proportional to the enhancing of
strength grade, therefore, it is reasonable to use the
linear regression equation given above.
(a)
(b)
Figure 1. CO2 emission and CO2 emission per unit strength as a
function of the concrete compressive strength grade
However, it is obvious that for supporting a given
load, the mass of high strength concrete is less than
the mass of low strength concrete. Thus, it is mean-
ingless to solely consider the CO2 emission as a
function of the concrete compressive strength grade.
Therefore, the CO2 emission is normalized with re-
spect to strength grade. As shown in Fig. 1 (b), the
CO2 emissions per strength grade decrease with the
strength grade. Besides, a regression formula relat-
ing the strength grade to the CO2 emissions per
strength grade was developed.
.
= 59.093 , concrete strength. In addition, we can also find that
= ℎ ,( ) （4）
Similarly, Equation 4 has a high R2 of 0.9631, as
well. Thus, this equation can also apply to calculate
the CO2 emissions of concrete with a strength grade
less than C20 or greater than C50. In addition, for
any two adjacent strength grades, the difference of
CO2 emissions tends to non-uniform distribution.
Therefore, a power function fit is used to describe
their relationship.
2.2.3 CO2 emission as a function of the addition of
fly ash
Generally speaking, where an increase in fly ash
content is accompanied by a reduction in cement
content, the relative contribution of cement to the
CO2 emissions is reduced. Due to the pozzolanic
contribution of the fly ash to the strength appeared
gradually after some days curing, so with the in-
crease of fly ash content, the strength of fly ash con-
crete is reduced, this has been confirmed by many
researches. , , However, can we reach a similar con-
clusion, i.e. with the increase of fly ash content and
the reduction of cement content, due to a high emis-
sion factor of cement, whether a reduction of the
CO2 emissions of fly ash concrete will be achieved?
To answer this question, an analysis of the rela-
tionship between the fly ash content and the CO2
emissions under different strength grades is con-
ducted, take C20 and C50 for example, their rela-
tionships are shown in Figure 2.
(a)
(b)
Figure 2. CO2 emission as a function of the addition of fly ash
As shown in Figure 2, under the same strength
grade, the effects of fly ash content on CO2 emis-
sions are enormous, the CO2 emissions in 1 m3 con-
crete can vary from 100kg to 180 kg, and further-
more, the variation will increase with increase of
through reasonable design, the CO2 emissions with
low fly ash content can be lower than that with high
fly ash content. Therefore, it is a wrong understand
that increasing the content of fly ash in concrete can
reduce the CO2 emission, because there are many
factors influencing the concrete CO2 emission, and
fly ash content is just one of them.
3 COST OF FLY ASH CONCRETE
3.1 Cost calculation of different mix design
concrete
The cost of fly ash concrete can be considered as
the amount of money required to purchase the raw
materials. Thus, the cost of fly ash concrete is calcu-
lated based on the quantity and the unit cost of the
raw materials, as shown in Equation 5.
=∑ =∑ × (5)
Where i refers to cement, fly ash, fine aggregate,
coarse aggregate, water and superplasticiser, Qi is
the quantity of material (i) mentioned above (kg/m3),
and UCi is the unit cost of material (i) (Yuan/ t). Ac-
cording to China’s building materials prices[10], their
unit cost are 500, 80, 80, 60, 5 and 5000 yuan, re-
spectively.
3.2 Results and Discussion
3.2.1 Cost as a function of cement content
As mentioned above, the unit cost of superplasti-
ciser is the highest; however, as the amount of su-
perplasticiser used in concrete is almost negligible
when compared with other materials, thus, in con-
sideration of the high price of cement, the cost as a
function of cement content was analyzed. As the
amount of cement increased, the cost increased line-
arly, indicating that the amount of cement and the
cost are closely related to each other, similarly to the
relationship between the amount of cement and the
CO2 emissions. A relationship can be yielded by us-
ing regression analysis, i.e.
= 0.4834 + 149.41,
= ,( ⁄ ) (6)
3.2.2 Cost as a function of the concrete compressive
strength grade
As mentioned above, with the increasing of ce-
ment content, the concrete compressive strength
grade will increase subsequently. Besides, there is a
linear relationship between the amount of cement
and cost, so a linear fitting is used to describe the re-
lationship between cost and strength grade. In addi-
tion, for any two adjacent strength grades, the differ-
ence of costs tends to be similar, this indicates that
the increase of cost is proportional to the enhancing
of strength grade; therefore, it is reasonable to use
the linear regression equation given above.
Figure 3. Cost as a function of the concrete compressive
strength grade
3.2.3 Cost as a function of the addition of fly ash
Generally speaking, where an increase in fly ash content is
accompanied by a reduction in cement content, the relative
contribution of cement to the cost is reduced, due to low price
of the fly ash when compared with the cost of cement. Howev-
er, while equally replacing cement with different proportions of
fly ash, the contents of coarse and fine aggregates will increase
to achieve the same compressive strength of concrete without
fly ash. Therefore, an analysis of the relationship between the
fly ash content and cost under different strength grades is con-
ducted, take C20 and C50 for example, their relationships are
shown in Figure 4.
As shown in Figure 4, under the same strength grade, the
effects of fly ash content on cost are enormous. In addition, we
can also find that through reasonable design, the cost with low
fly ash content can be lower than that with high fly ash content.
300
C20
280
Cost （Yuan）
260
240
220
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure 4. Cost as a function of the addition of fly ash
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4 CONCLUSION
This paper has shown that it is not rigorous to simply assert
that the addition of fly ash can reduce the concrete CO2 emis-
sion. For a given compressive strength grade, the CO2 emis-
sions and cost both vary a lot among different mixes, in addi-
tion, for any two adjacent strength grades, the difference of
CO2 emissions tends to non-uniform distribution, while the dif-
ference of costs tends to be similar. Under the same strength
grades, the effects of fly ash content on CO2 emissions and cost
are enormous, therefore, through reasonable design, the CO2
emissions and cost with low fly ash content can be lower than
that with high fly ash content.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial sup-
port from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant
No. 51108021).
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