Hydration and mixture design of calcined clay blended cements: review by the RILEM TC 282-CCL

The RILEM technical committee 282-CCL: Calcined Clays as Supplementary Cementitious Materials, investigates all the aspects related to calcined clays, from clay exploration and characterization to calcination process, hydration reactions and concrete properties. This white paper focuses on the hydration mechanisms of calcined clay-blended Portland cements, covering both 1:1 and 2:1 calcined clays. The pozzolanic reaction of calcined clay is detailed, and the main reaction products are described. The differences observed depending on the clay type are also discussed, as well as the potential influence of the secondary phases present in calcined clay. The factors controlling and limiting the reaction of calcined clay are investigated, evidencing the role of porosity saturation and refinement of the microstructure. The complete characterisation of the hydration of calcined clay cements is made possible by the determination of the reaction degree of calcined clay. Several methods are compared to estimate the extent of calcined clay reaction. The influence of clinker and limestone mineralogy are also discussed. Finally, guidelines for optimising the mixture design of calcined clay blended cements are provided, with special attention to sulphate adjustment and clinker factor

Clay calcination technology: state-of-the-art review by the RILEM TC 282-CCL

The use of calcined clays as supplementary cementitious materials provides the opportunity to significantly reduce the cement industry’s carbon burden; however, use at a global scale requires a deep understanding of the extraction and processing of the clays to be used, which will uncover routes to optimise their reactivity. This will enable increased usage of calcined clays as cement replacements, further improving the sustainability of concretes produced with them. Existing technologies can be adopted to produce calcined clays at an industrial scale in many regions around the world. This paper, produced by RILEM TC 282-CCL on calcined clays as supplementary cementitious materials (working group 2), focuses on the production of calcined clays, presents an overview of clay mining, and assesses the current state of the art in clay calcination technology, covering the most relevant aspects from the clay deposit to the factory gate. The energetics and associated carbon footprint of the calcination process are also discussed, and an outlook on clay calcination is presented, discussing the technological advancements required to fulfil future global demand for this material in sustainable infrastructure development

Alkali-activated binder containing wastes: a study with rice husk ash and red ceramic

In addition to several positive aspects in technical properties, geopolymeric binders have considerable advantages in the environmental point of view, with lower energy consumption and lower CO2 emission. In this study, it was conducted an overview about the utilized materials by some Brazilian researchers in geopolymers production, and also an experiment employing two types of wastes (red ceramic waste and rice husk ash). The compressive strength of the resulting material developed very fast, reaching a value of 11 MPa after one day. The microstructure was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, revealing a compact microstructure and the presence of starting materials from the red ceramic waste that not completely reacted. The results indicated the feasibility of producing geopolymeric material without using commercial sodium silicate and cured at room temperature, showing an option for building materials production with lower environmental impacts.ISSN:0366-691