Study of the use of residual diatomite in the generation of eco-cements

Abstract

The results diatomite (TD) properties for its reuse in eco-cements as partial replacement study are presented in this paper.

This look to allow a lower demand for cement and, therefore, the production cost and environmental pollution caused by the CO2 emission in the Clinker production process. Additionally, it would be possible to make use of a waste of the beer industry that is currently thrown away.

For this purpose, three Clinker replacements have been studied: 10, 20 and 30% by weight of the cementing material.

The results indicated that diatomite has an important pozzolanic activity, meaning that its capable of combining with calcium hydroxide to form (mainly) hydrated calcium silicate. On the other hand, its main disadvantage is that the eco-cement has a higher requirement of water in comparison to the cement without the replace, because of the highest specific surface.