This study presents a source-specific experimental evaluation of particle board waste sludge (PBWS), a sludge-type industrial by-product from the wood-based panel industry, as a partial cement replacement in Portland cement paste systems. The hydration-related behavior of cement pastes containing 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% PBWS at 7, 28, and 90 days was investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermogravimetry/Derivative Thermogravimetry (TG/DTG). The results showed that PBWS affected phase development and thermal decomposition behavior depending on replacement level and curing age. In the TG/DTG analysis, mass losses in the 30–230 °C region were generally higher in the PBWS-containing mixtures than in the reference paste, particularly at 28 and 90 days, suggesting differences in dehydration-related phase development. FT-IR and XRD results further showed that PBWS modified the evolution of hydration-related phases in the blended systems. From an environmental perspective, increasing PBWS replacement reduced the calculated energy intensity, CO2 emissions, and production cost; at 20% replacement, these values decreased from 3300 to 2654 MJ/t, from 830 to 706.77 kg/t, and from 3400 to 2867.16 TL/t, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that PBWS has the potential to improve the environmental profile of cement-based production while influencing hydration-related phase evolution in blended paste systems.
Şükrü Özkan (Fri,) studied this question.