Wood Ash Valorisation for Sustainable Materials: Circular Manufacturing, Characterization, Digital Modelling, and...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Circular Economy
• Sustainable Manufacturing

Background:

• Biomass combustion generates significant wood ash (WA), posing environmental challenges.
• WA presents an opportunity for sustainable resource utilization within a circular economy framework.
• Previous research often focused on isolated WA applications, lacking a holistic integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively assess recent advances in wood ash valorization for sustainable engineering materials.
• To integrate material characterization, manufacturing, performance evaluation, computational modeling, and commercialization pathways.
• To establish a holistic framework for transforming wood ash into value-added products.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on wood ash utilization in cementitious, glass, and composite materials.
• Analysis of material characterization, mechanical performance, and advanced manufacturing techniques.
• Examination of standardized testing procedures (ASTM, CSA, European standards), AI/ML, computational modeling, and economic assessment models.

Main Results:

• Wood ash (pH 9-13.5, particle size 1-1000 µm) can enhance cementitious materials (0.10-20% replacement), lightweight glass, radiation shielding, and polymer/ceramic composites (above 0.5% filler).
• Quality control and assurance frameworks ensure the reliability of WA-derived materials.
• AI, machine learning, and computational modeling optimize processing and predict behavior for digitalized manufacturing.

Conclusions:

• Wood ash can be transformed into sustainable engineering materials for construction, energy, and composites.
• Integrating circular economy principles, material science, digital technologies, and economic assessment is key.
• This review provides a holistic framework for industrial commercialization of WA-based products.