ABSTRACT Effect of gradual substitution of altered basalt by a few percent of cement dust (0, 5, 10, and wt.15%) on the ceramic properties of basalt-de-aluminated kaolin fired up to 1100ºC was studied. The results show that the samples containing 5 and 10 wt% cement dust give the higher suitable ceramic properties than the other samples. As the cement dust contents increases in the sample the apparent porosity enhances and the bulk density decreases at all temperature. Also, The XRD results reveal that the peaks of plagioclase and pyroxene of the altered basalt completely disappears in the sample containing cement dust and the intensity peaks of diopside sharply increase with cement dust content and firing temperature

E A Mohammed

El-Alfi

Hala Abu-El-Naga

Mona S Hossein

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                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
©2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. 
 
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2125
THE ROLE OF CEMENT DUST IN BASALT-DE-ALUMINATED 
KAOLIN BRICKS 
 
Hala Abu-El-Naga Hossein, Mona S. Mohammed and E. A. EL-Alfi 
Building Materials, Ceramics and Refractories, Inorganic Chemical Industries and Mineral Resources, National Research Center, 
Dokki, Cairo, Egypt 
E-Mail: halahossein@yahoo.com 
 
ABSTRACT 
Effect of gradual substitution of altered basalt by a few percent of cement dust (0, 5, 10, and wt.15%) on the 
ceramic properties of basalt-de-aluminated kaolin fired up to 1100ºC was studied. The results show that the samples 
containing 5 and 10 wt% cement dust give the higher suitable ceramic properties than the other samples. As the cement 
dust contents increases in the sample the apparent porosity enhances and the bulk density decreases at all temperature. 
Also, The XRD results reveal that the peaks of plagioclase and pyroxene of the altered basalt completely disappears in the 
sample containing cement dust and the intensity peaks of diopside sharply increase with cement dust content and firing 
temperature.  
 
Keywords: altered basalt, cement dust, de-aluminated kaolin, apparent porosity, bulk density, compressive strength. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
A lot of research is currently being done on 
recycling and how to reuse the waste in the building 
industry [1]. In the brick-making industry, there has also 
been researched on how to reuse different wastes in order 
to manufacture better quality bricks [2-4]. 
A previous study evaluated basalt waste (In 
Egypt, basalt extrusions at Abu Zaabal near Cairo are 
being quarried) in the manufacturing of bricks [5]. The 
quality of the basalt was determined by means of chemical 
analysis, differential thermal analysis (DTA), TGA and X-
ray diffraction techniques. The physico-mechanical 
properties of the fired sample were investigated. The 
results showed that good ceramic properties were 
produced at a firing temperature of 1050ºC.  
On another study, investigation was carried out 
for making building bricks from Abu Zaabal altered basalt 
and de-aluminated kaolin waste. Samples were prepared 
and dried at 105ºC as well as fired at different temperature 
ranging from 900 to 1100ºC for 2 h soaking time, The 
result revealt that good quality bricks can be produced 
from 90-70 basalt at 10-30% de-aluminated kaolin at all 
firing temperatures [6]. 
Cement dust is a hazardous solid waste that is 
produced by the cement industry. It is produced in two 
forms either as kiln dust, which leaves the kiln with the 
flue gases or as by-pass dust which is associated with the 
part of the fine flue gases that are made to leave the kiln 
near its upper end in order to eliminate as much possible 
alkali salts which can negatively affected the properties of 
the clinker of cement [7]. 
Duschene and Readon [8], in their attempt to 
study the behavior of the cement dust, have stated that it 
consists of extremely fine particles mainly calcium, 
sodium and potassium salts. In the building bricks 
industry, on the other side, cement dust was incorporated, 
as a fluxing agent, with clay bricks [9, 10] and recently, as 
a partial replacement of feldspare in the manufacture of 
wall tiles [11]. In both cases, the maximum recommended 
percent addition did not exceed 10%.  
The aim of this study is to evaluate the ceramic 
properties of basalt-de-aluminated kaolin bricks containing 
cement dust. The physico-mechanical properties as well as 
mineralogical composition for some selected samples were 
then compared to those of similar bricks without cement 
dust. The use of this additives in bricks could produce cost 
saving in raw materials for brick manufactures and serve 
as an efficient means of recycling a waste product. 
 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK 
 
Materials and methods 
The waste materials used in this study were 
altered basalt (From Abu Zaabal quarries), de-aluminated 
kaolin (it was obtained from Egyption Shaabah Company 
and cement dust as a by-product of National Cement 
Company, Egypt. The chemical analysis of these waste 
materials was performed by XRF and is given in Table-1. 
 
Table-1. Chemical oxide composition of starting materials, wt %. 
 
 SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO TiO2 SO3 LOI 
Basalt 47.95 15.30 12.04 10.35 6.22 3.45 0.11 1.02 
DAK 83.20 5.13 0.70 0.11 0.20 2.37 0.85 9.37 
Cement dust 13.40 3.85 1.92 46.25 1.85 0.05 5.12 22.31 
 
DAK de-aluminated kaolin 
                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
©2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. 
 
www.arpnjournals.com 
 
 
2126
It is clear that altered basalt has CaO, MgO, total 
iron as Fe2O3, Al2O3 and SiO2 with predominance of SiO2. 
These are the main oxides forming the plagioclase and 
pyroxene minerals. The de-aluminated kaolin was mainly 
composed of SiO2 and traces other oxides. Some authors 
have shown de-aluminated kaolin to have high quartz and 
amorphous silica levels along with amorphous Al2O3 [6]. 
On the other hand, cement dust was found to consist 
mainly of calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, calcium 
silicate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride and quartz 
[7].  
 
Methods  
Basalt waste material was ground using a 0.6 mm 
roller mill. The output was further ground on a fine roller 
mill to a fine powder of about 100 um. The specific 
surface area of the de-aluiminated kaolin was 90.5 m2/g 
[14]. The cement dust was sieved through (150µm) sieve. 
The characterization of the altered basalt by means of 
DTA, TG, and XRD were done in the previous work [5]. 
The mix composition of different batches is shown in 
Table-2.  
 
Table-2. Mix composition of different batches, wt %. 
 
Mix no Basalt DAK Cement dust 
M0 90 10 0 
M1 85 10 5 
M2 80 10 10 
M3 75 10 15 
 
These mixes were formed into a compact mass in 
a 1-inch cylindrical mould with 5% water at a pressure of 
150 g/cm2. The samples were dried at a rate of 5ºC/min 
from room temperature to 105ºC. The dried samples were 
then fired at 800, 900, 1000 and 1100ºC for 0.5 h soaking 
time. The firing rate used was 10ºC/ min until the desired 
firing temperature was reached. The physico-mechanical 
properties of the fired samples were investigated. These 
properties included linear firing shrinkage, apparent 
porosity, bulk density and crushing strength. Some 
selected fired samples were investigated to their mineral 
composition by XRD techniques. 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 
 
Linear shrinkage  
The linear shrinkage of fired samples is shown in 
Figure-1. The results show that the firing shrinkage was 
gradually increased with temperature up to 1100ºC. This 
can be explained by the sintering process, which increases 
with the firing temperature. During heating of the altered 
basalt in the samples to maturing temperature, some of its 
minerals continued to dehydrate up to 700 ºC, giving rise 
to a mixture of active amorphous SiO2, Al2O3 [5]. 
Between 700 and 800ºC, notably at temperature exceeding 
800ºC, impurities such as iron, titanium, alkalis and 
alkaline earth oxides act as fluxing agents for the total 
SiO2 and Al2O3 in the fired body. The presence of these 
oxides tends to reduce the maturing temperature and 
decrease the melting point of the liquid phase. On the 
other side, the data indicates that the firing shrinkage for 
samples containing cement dust slightly enhances with 
cement dust content. This may be due to the expansion 
associated with decomposition of calcium carbonate and 
hydrated lime. 
 
Apparent porosity 
The apparent porosity of the samples fired up to 
1100ºC was shown in Figure-2. It is clear that the apparent 
porosity of the fired samples was gradually enhanced up to 
1000ºC, then rapidly decreased from 1000 to 1100ºC. This 
can be illustrated to the sintering process, which increases 
with the firing temperature. Also, by increasing the cement 
dust content from 0 to 15%, the porosity was increased. 
This attributed to the fact that the altered basalt contains a 
higher amount of fluxing oxides, which leads to give a 
higher liquid phase content with heating temperature up to 
1100ºC.  
 
Bulk density 
The bulk density of the fired samples with and 
without cement dust was shown in Figure-3. The data 
shown that the bulk density of fired samples decreases 
with the increasing cement dust content at all firing 
temperatures. Also, the sample without cement dust has a 
higher value of bulk density than the other samples with 
firing temperatures. On the other side, when the basalt 
content increases in the sample, the mixes are rich in iron 
oxide, titania, magnesia, and fluxing oxides, namely, 
Na2O, K2O, Fe2O3, TiO2 and MgO. The presence of these 
oxides tends to reduce the maturing temperature along 
with reducing the melting point of the liquid phase, which 
leads to increase the sintering properties with fired 
temperature and the bulk density was increased. It can be 
concluded that the samples containing cement dust have a 
lower bulk density with suitable apparent porosity than the 
control sample. 
 
Compressive strength 
The compressive strength of fired samples is 
illustrated in Figure-4. The results show that the 
compressive strength of the fired samples increases with 
increasing firing temperature up to 1100ºC; on the other 
hand, with the increasing cement dust in the sample, the 
compressive strength was slightly decreased. This may be 
due to increase the apparent porosity with cement dust 
content at all firing temperatures (Figure-2). Also, the 
control sample contains a higher amount of fluxing oxides 
which tends to increase the liquid phase content and 
reducing the melting point of the samples to give good 
mechanical properties with firing temperatures. 
In the ternary phase diagrams (5) of alumina, 
silica and fluxing oxides, the temperatures of initial liquid 
phase formation due to each oxide are (in ºC): TiO2 1478, 
Mg 1425, FeO+Fe2O3 1210-1300, Na2O 1050, K2O 980. 
                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
©2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. 
 
www.arpnjournals.com 
 
 
2127
The problem of melt development is concerned with the 
phase equilibrium in an eight component system. 
Therefore, the liquid phase is expected to form at a 
temperature lower than 980ºC, the lower of the above 
invariant points. So, with increasing of the firing 
temperature up to 1100ºC, the higher fluxing oxide 
contents lead to a reduction in the viscosity of the liquid 
phase and good vitrification parameters are expected.  
It can be illustrated that the samples containing 5 
and 10% cement dust give suitable mechanical properties 
for building bricks. 
 
Phase composition of the fired samples 
The XRD patterns of the fired samples without 
cement dust fired at 800, 1000, 1100ºC are shown in 
Figure-5. The results show that Labradorite and calcium 
orthosilicate are the main crystalline phases detected in the 
sample and intensity of their peaks increases with 
temperature. In addition, some XRD lines belong to 
diopside (CaO.MgO.2SiO2) are shown especially at 1100 º 
C. This is mainly due to the fluxing effect of the high 
content of the impurity oxides, namely Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, 
Na2O, and K2O on firing of the samples up to 1100ºC. 
This leads to the formation and development of 
corresponding amounts liquid phase which solidifies after 
cooling into a glassy silicate phases which act as a bond 
for the crystalline phases. 
The XRD patterns of the sample containing 15% 
cement dust and fired at 800, 1000, and 1100ºC are 
illustrated in Figure-6. The results show that the relative 
amounts of plagioclase and pyroxene phases of the basalt 
raw materials are reduces with firing. Also, with 
increasing firing temperature the labradorite and calcium 
orthosilicate phases decrease and the intensity of the 
diopside phase content is gradually enhanced. This is due 
to the fact that when calcite and dolomite breakdown into 
CaO and MgO, the CaO and MgO are incorporated into 
the structure of new mineral phases, principally in high 
temperature such as diopside (CaO.MgO.2SiO2). It is 
evident that the development of diopside phase in samples 
containing cement dust is responsible for improvement the 
mechanical strength especially at higher temperature. 
 
 
800 900 1000 1100
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
 M0
 M1
M2
 M3
Li
ne
ar
  
  
S
 h
 r
 i 
n 
k 
a 
g 
e,
 %
Firing   Temperature, 
0
C  
 
Figure-1. Firing shrinkage of fired samples with and without cement dust. 
 
                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
©2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. 
 
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2128
800 900 1000 1100
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32 M0
 M1
 M2
M3
T
 o
 t 
a
 l 
   
 p
 o
 r
 o
 s
 i 
t 
y,
 %
Firing   Temperature, 
0
C  
 
Figure-2. Apparent porosity of fired sample fired up to 1100ºC. 
 
800 900 1000 1100
2.15
2.20
2.25
2.30
2.35
2.40
 M0
 M1
M2
M3
B
 u
 l 
k 
   
D
 e
 n
  s
 i 
t y
,  
g
/c
m
3
Firing   Temperature, 
0
C  
 
Figure-3. Bulk density of fired sample fired up to 1100ºC. 
800 900 1000 1100
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
 M0
 M2
 M2
 M3
C
 o
 m
 p
 r
 e
 s
 s
 i 
ve
  
  S
 t 
re
 n
 g
 t 
h
,  
kg
/c
m
2
Firing   Temperature, 
0
C  
 
Figure-4. Compressive strength of samples with and without cement dust. 
 
                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
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2129
10 20 30 40 50 60
D: Diposide  L: Labradorite
C: Calcium aluminium orthsilicate
M
0
1100
1000
800
2-Theta
L
L C
L
D
C
C
C
 
 
Figure-5. XRD patterns of samples without cement dust fired at 800, 1000, 1100ºC. 
 
10 20 30 40 50 60
D: Diposide  L: Labradorite
C: Calcium aluminium orthsilicateM
3
1100
1000
800
2-Theta
L
C
L D
C
L D
D
D
L
D
D L
 
 
Figure-6. XRD patterns of samples containing cement dust fired at 800, 1000, 1100ºC. 
 
CONCLUSIONS 
 The main results obtained from this investigation 
are summarized as follows: 
 
 The addition of cement dust to basalt de-aluminated 
kaolin improves the apparent porosity and reduces 
bulk density of the samples. 
 The results show that the samples containing 5 and 10 
wt% cement dust give the higher suitable ceramic 
properties than the other samples. 
 With increasing firing temperature of the samples 
containing cement dust the labradorite and calcium 
orthosilicate phases decrease and the intensity of the 
diopside phase content is gradually enhanced.    
 
 
 
 
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[2] Dominguez EA and Ullmann R. 1996. Ecological 
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Appl. Clay Sci. 11: 237-249. 
 
[3] Wiebush B and SeyfridCF. 1997. Utilization of 
sewage sludge ashes in the brick and tile industry. 
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[4] Lin KL. 2006. Feasibility study of using brick made 
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                                        VOL. 9, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014                                                                                                              ISSN 1819-6608            
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
 
©2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. 
 
www.arpnjournals.com 
 
 
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[5] El-Alfi EA and Radwan AM. 2004. Physico-
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[6] Radwan AM, Osman RM and Abu-EL-Naga H. 2011. 
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[7] El Sherbiiny SA, Youssef NF, Ibrahim MF and 
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[8] Duschene J and Readon EJ. 1998. Determining 
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THE ROLE OF CEMENT DUST IN BASALT-DE-ALUMINATED KAOLIN BRICKS

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THE ROLE OF CEMENT DUST IN BASALT-DE-ALUMINATED KAOLIN BRICKS

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