Detoxified Spent Pot Lining from Aluminum Production as (Alumino-)Silicate Source for Composite Cement and AutoClaved Aerated Concrete

Abstract

New sources of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are needed to meet the future demand. A potential new source of SCM is spent pot lining, a residue from aluminum production. The present work showed that the refined aluminosilicate part of spent pot lining (SPL) has a moderate chemical reactivity in a cementitious system measured in the R3 calorimetry test, comparable to commercially used coal fly ash. The reaction of SPL led to the consumption of Ca(OH)2 in a cement paste beyond 7 days after mixing. At 28 and 90 days a significant contribution to strength development was therefore observed, reaching a relative strength, which is similar to composite cements with coal fly ash. At early age a retardation of the cement hydration is caused by the SPL, which should most likely be associated with the presence of trace amounts of NH3. The spent pot lining is also investigated as silica source for autoclaved aerated concrete blocks. The replacement of quartz by spent pot lining did not show an adverse effect on the strength-density relation of the lightweight blocks up to 50 wt% quartz substitution. Overall, spent pot lining can be used in small replacement volumes (30 wt%) as SCM or as replacement of quartz (50 wt%) in autoclaved aerated concrete blocks.

Keywords

• supplementary cementitious materials
• cement replacement
• spent pot lining
• autoclaved aerated concrete
• cement hydration
• lightweight blocks