The Valorisation of Selected Quarry and Mine Waste for Sustainable Cement Production within the Concept of Circular Economy

Abstract

The cement industry could potentially consume large amounts of solid industrial waste in order to improve its sustainability. The suitability of selected quarry and mine waste as secondary raw materials (SRM) was examined for the sustainable production of cement following the concept of a circular economy. The chemical, mineralogical, and radiological characterization of SRM was conducted in this study. Its potential use in low-carbon and low-energy belite-sulfoaluminate cement was investigated by incorporating the examined SRM into cement clinker. Various characterization methods were used to characterize the cement, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (DTA/TG), and isothermal calorimetry. Depending on the chemical composition of the waste, lower or higher amounts were allowed to be incorporated into the raw clinker mixture for a targeted clinker phase composition. Among the samples, differences were observed in the phase composition of synthesized clinkers, which slightly influenced the reactivity of the cement but did not significantly change the compressive strength of the final product.

Radiological landscape of natural resources and mining: Unveiling the environmental impact of naturally occurring radioactive materials in Ghana's mining areas

“…Given that NORM residues are often generated in substantial quantities, their use as mixtures or additive materials in building production could yield significant economic benefits while minimizing potential radiological impacts [ 61 ]. Literature suggests that mixtures or additives of NORM residues usually result in reduced activity concentration in the raw residue [ [62] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] ]. There are potential opportunities to reuse these soils from the study areas as building materials.…”

The New Conception of Radiological Sustainability Possibilities by Reutilization of Residues Products and Building Materials

“…Sulphur polymer metrics with cement Phosphogypsum [44,45] Binding with zeolite Bottom Ash and Phosphogypsum [46,47] Firing method Clay for Bricks or Ceramics [1,25] Proportionate or reducing residue with cement for concrete mixtures NORM Residues, Fly Ash, Bottom Ash, Red Mud, Blast Furnace Slag [17,37,38,42,[48][49][50] Proportionate with Woodchip ashes Fly Ash and Bottom Ash [51,52] Volarisation for cement or Building material production Red Mud, Bauxite Quarry Waste Limestone, Gypsum, Phosphogypsu, Slag, Ilmenite Mud [30,44] Alkali activation concrete Fly Ash and Red Mud [53,54] Table 4. Estimated Production of NORM residue usable in building material production (Schroeyers, 2014).…”