A new insight upon the use of weathered basalt as alternative raw material in Portland clinker production

Abstract

Weathered basalt (WB) is a useless and costless material with a negative environmental impact. The use of WB to replace clay in Portland clinker manufacturing is a successful strategy to enhance clinker quality, cost and reduce environmental impact. In this study, four mixes were prepared by replacing clay with 25, 50, 75 and 100 wt% of WB (M1-M4, respectively) keeping the ratio of the other mix constituents (limestone, sand and iron ore) constants. Another mix (M5) was prepared using 100% WB, with increasing sand percent and deduction iron ore content. The major innovation presented in M5 is the possibility to make a substitution of clay and iron ore with WB. This allows for much higher levels of mixture cost reduction. WB allows higher levels of substitution down of the number of raw mix components and improvement in burnability. Also promotes the formation of main clinker phases, especially alite phase.

Keywords

• Portland clinker
• Weathered basalt
• Reactivity
• Burnability
• Alite