Flowable Fill Using Flue Gas Desulfurization Material

摘要

Flowable fills are an effective and practical alternative to commonly used compacted earth backfills. Flowable fill is a cementious material, commonly a blend of cement, fly ash, sand, and water, that does not require compaction, may be self-leveling at time of placement, may harden quickly within a few hours, and can be excavated in the future if need be. Many flue gas desulfurization (FGD) materials have low unit weight and good shear strength characteristics and thus hold promise for flowable fill applications. This paper focuses on the potential of using two types of FGD materials (spray dryer and wet fixated FGD material) in flowable fill as a replacement for conventional fly ash. Several design mixes were considered. The design mixes consisted of varying amounts of FGD material, cement, lime, and water. The mixes were tested in the laboratory for flowability, unit weight, moisture content, unconfined compressive strength, erodibility, set-time, penetration, and long-term strength characteristics. Tests were conducted for up to 90 d of curing. Without any additives, the FGD material was observed to be as good as a regular (normal set) flowable fill in terms of placeability, unconfined compressive strength, and diggability. FGD material flowable fill with additives and admixtures compares favorably with the characteristics of conventional quick set flowable fills.