A New Hybrid Decision Support Tool for Evaluating the Sustainability of Mining Projects

The integration of sustainable development challenges and opportunities into the decision making process during the design and/or implementation of multi-disciplinary mining projects is generally not supported by decision support systems (DSS). A new hybrid decision support tool, which features an integrated assessment of sustainable development issues as they apply to mining projects, is hereby proposed. The proposed DSS framework, named “Acropolis DSS”, can be used to assist involved stakeholders in critical decisions, especially when addressing issues such as stakeholder participation, transparency, and trade-offs. The proposed DSS is based on a multi-criteria decision analysis combined with the multi-attribute utility theory

Alkaline activation of ceramic waste materials

Ceramic materials represent around 45 % of construction and demolition waste, and originate not only from the building process, but also as rejected bricks and tiles from industry. Despite the fact that these wastes are mostly used as road sub-base or construction backfill materials, they can also be employed as supplementary cementitious materials, or even as raw material for alkali-activated binders This research aimed to investigate the properties and microstructure of alkali-activated cement pastes and mortars produced from ceramic waste materials of various origins. Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate were used to prepare the activating solution. The compressive strength of the developed mortars ranged between 22 and 41 MPa after 7 days of curing at 65 C, depending on the sodium concentration in the solution and the water/binder ratio. These results demonstrate the possibility of using alkaliactivated ceramic materials in building applications.The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for supporting this study through Project GEOCEDEM BIA 2011-26947, and also to FEDER funding. They also thank Universitat Jaume I for supporting this research through Lucia Reig's granted research stay.Reig Cerdá, L.; Mitsuuchi Tashima, M.; Soriano, L.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). Alkaline activation of ceramic waste materials. Waste and Biomass Valorization. 4:729-736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-013-9197-zS7297364Puertas, F., García-Díaz, I., Barba, A., Gazulla, M.F., Palacios, M., Gómez, M.P., Martínez-Ramírez, S.: Ceramic wastes as alternative raw materials for Portland cement clinker production. 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Effect of curing time on the microstructure and mechanical strength development of alkali activated binders based on vitreous calcium aluminosilicate (VCAS)

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of curing time on the microstructure and mechanical strength development of alkali activated binders based on vitreous calcium aluminosilicate (VCAS). Mechanical strength of alkali activated mortars cured at 65 °C was assessed for different curing times (4¿168 h) using 10 molal NaOH solution as alkaline activator. Compressive strength values around 77 MPa after three days of curing at 65 °C were obtained. 1·68 MPa/h compressive strength gain rate was observed in the first 12 h, decreasing to 0·95 MPa/h for the period of 12¿72 h. The progress of geopolymeric reaction was monitored by means of TGA and, electrical conductivity and pH measurements in an aqueous suspension. Significant decrease in pH and electrical conductivity were observed in the 4¿72 h period, demonstrating the geopolymerization process. Furthermore, SEM images showed an important amount of (N, C)ASH gel and low porosity of the developed matrix.To the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN) of the Spanish Government (BIA2011-26947) and also to FEDER for funding and to Vitrominerals company for supplying VCAS samples.Mitsuuchi Tashima, M.; Soriano Martínez, L.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). Effect of curing time on the microstructure and mechanical strength development of alkali activated binders based on vitreous calcium aluminosilicate (VCAS). Bulletin of Materials Science. 36:245-249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-013-0466-zS24524936Bernal S A, Gutiérrez R M, Pedraza A L, Provis J L, Rodriguez E D and Delvasto S 2011 Cem. Concr. Res. 41 1Criado M, Fernández-Jiménez A, Sobrados I, Palomo A and Sanz J 2011 J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. avaiable onlineDavidovits J 2008 Geopolymer chemistry and applications Institute Geopolymere, Saint-Quentin, FranceDuxson P, Fernández-Jiménez A, Provis J L, Lukey G C, Palomo A and van Deventer J S J 2007 J. Mater. Sci. 47 2917Fernández-Jiménez A, Palomo A and Criado M 2005 Cem. Concr. Res. 35 1204Hossain A B, Shrazi S A, Persun J and Neithalath N 2008 J. Transp. Res. Board 2070 32Komnitsas K and Zaharaki D 2007 Miner. Eng. 20 1261Lampris C, Lupo R and Cheeseman C R 2009 Waste Manage. 29 368Lin T, Jia D, Wang M, He P and Liang D 2009 Bull. Mater. Sci. 32 77Lloyd R R, Provis J L and van Deventer J S J 2009 J. Mater. Sci. 44 608Marín-López C, Reyes Araiza J L, Manzano-Ramírez A, Rubio Avalos J C, Perez-Bueno J J, Muñiz-Villareal M S, Ventura-Ramos E and Vorobiev Y 2009 Inorg. Mater. 45 1429Najafi Kani E, Allahverdi A and Provis J L 2012 Cem. Concr. Comp. 34 25Neithalath N, Persun J and Hossain A 2009 Cem. Concr. Res. 39 473Pacheco-Torgal F, Castro-Gomes J and Jalali S 2008a Constr. Build. Mater. 22 1315Pacheco-Torgal F, Castro-Gomex J and Jalali S 2008b Constr. Build. Mater. 22 1201Pacheco-Torgal F, Castro-Gomex J and Jalali S 2008c Constr. Build. Mater. 22 2212Payá J, Borrachero M V, Monzó J, Soriano L and Tashima M M 2012 Mater. Lett. 74 223Puertas F, Martínez-Ramírez S, Alonso S and Vázquez T 2000 Cem. Concr. Res. 30 1625Puertas F, Barba A, Gazulla M F, Gómez M P, Palacios M and Martínez-Ramírez S 2006 Mater. Construc. 56 73Reig L, Tashima M M, Borrachero M V, Monzó J and Payá J 2010 II Simposio aprovechamiento de residuos agro-industriales como fuente sostenible de materiales de construcción p. 83Rodriguez E D, Bernal S A, Provis J, Payá J, Monzó J and Borrachero M V 2012 Cem. Concr. Comp. (submitted)Tashima M M, Borrachero M V, Monzó J, Soriano L and Payá J 2009 COMATCOMP09 p.421Tashima M M, Akasaki J L, Castaldelli V N, Soriano L, Monzó J, Payá J and Borrachero M V 2012 Mater. Lett. 80 50Xu H and van Deventer J S J 2000 Int. J. Miner. Process. 59 247Yao X, Zhang Z, Zhu H and Chen Y 2009 Thermochim. Acta 493 49Zivica V 2004 Bull. Mater. Sci. 27 179Zivica V, Balkovic S and Drabik M 2011 Constr. Build. Mater. 25 220