Microstructure Characterization of Cement Pastes with Recycled Aluminum Spent Pot Lining
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 7
Abstract
The use of locally available industrial by-products as supplementary cementitious materials and mineral fillers is vital for reducing the embodied carbon of modern concretes. Spent pot lining (SPL), a by-product of the aluminum industry, is massively produced worldwide. SPL treated with the low caustic leaching and liming process (LCLL-ash) is no more hazardous and can be used as cementitious material. This study aims to better understand the microstructure changes of cement paste incorporating aluminum smelter wastes, such as LCLL-ash and synthetic anhydrite. Ground LCLL-ash was used to partially replace cement in cement pastes with a constant water-to-binder ratio of 0.35. A small amount of anhydrite was added to some mixes. This study investigated chemo-micromechanical properties of cement paste systems through multiple techniques, including X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy, and microindentation test. The results showed that the reactive alumina from LCLL-ash modified the hydrated phases with the presence of the carbo-aluminate phases. The pastes containing LCLL-ash exhibited a higher CH, and C-S-H contents refer to the reference, suggesting that LCLL-ash has a slight nucleation effect. Moreover, LCLL cement paste showed an increase in the Ca/Si ratio of the C-S-H phase intermix. Finally, microindentation results revealed that adding anhydrite with 10% LCLL-ash enhanced the mechanical property of the cement paste at 28 days.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The research discussed herein was funded by the NSERC CRD Grant Program (CRDPJ 515485–17) and the CRITM consortium. In addition, the authors thank Professor Wilson for the MATLAB algorithm to do the statistical clustering analysis and his advice for the results of WDS. We also thank Rio Tinto and Cement Quebec Inc. for financing this industrial project. We finally acknowledge Mr. Laurent Birry from Rio Tinto and Mr. Martin Beaulieu of Cement Quebec for their expert advice during the project.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 7 • July 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jun 16, 2022
Accepted: Nov 21, 2022
Published online: Apr 29, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 29, 2023
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