Conversion of Low Cost Mineral Material to Pozzolana and its Impact on Cement Parameters and Cost of Production

Abstract

Cement manufacturing is an energy intensive process. Due to global energy crisis and limited resources of fossil fuels, cement manufacturers are under stress for maintaining the sustainability of cement manufacturing. The research has been focused on the addition of pozzolanic material with cement clinker to reduce the energy consumption. In the present study, a locally available mineral material has been investigated for use as a pozzolana with cement. The material has been tested for mixing with cement in different blends i.e. 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % without treatment and with thermal activation at 200, 400, 600 and 800 °C. The mineralogical composition and phase identification were analyzed by XRF, FTIR, XRD and TGA, while mechanical properties were tested by Vicat apparatus, Blaine air permeability and Universal testing Machine (UTM). It has been found that the locally available mineral material can be mixed with cement clinker upto maximum of 15 %, if thermally activated at 600 °C.