CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, No.

2, 83-85, 2006

USE OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION WASTES

AS RAW MATERIALS IN CEMENT CLINKER PRODUCTION
Christos-Triantafyllos Galbenis* and Stamatis Tsimas
Laboratory of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering,
National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou, Zografou Campus, 15773, Athens, Greece
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel:0030-2107722893, Fax: 0030-2107723188, E-mail: ctgalben@central.ntua.gr

The aim of the present paper was to investigate the possibility of utilizing Construction and Demolition
(C&D) wastes as substitutes of Portland cement raw meal. The C&D wastes that were so used, were the Recycled
Concrete Aggregates (RCA) and the Recycled Masonry Aggregates (RMA) derived from demolished buildings in Attica
region, Greece. RCA and RMA samples were selected because of their calcareous and siliceous origin respectively,
which conformed the composition of the ordinary Portland cement raw meal. For that reason, six samples of cement raw
meals were prepared: one with ordinary raw materials, as a reference sample, and five by mixing the reference sample
with RCA and RMA in appropriate proportions. The effect on the reactivity of the generated mixtures, was evaluated on
the basis of the free lime content (fCaO) in the mixtures sintered at 1350C, 1400C and 1450C. Test showed that the
added recycled aggregates improved the burnability of the cement raw meal without affecting negatively the cement
clinker properties. Moreover, the formation of the major components (C3S, C2S, C3A and C4AF) of the produced clinkers
(sintered at 1450C) was corroborated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD).

Abstract

Keywords

recycled concrete aggregates, recycled masonry aggregates, cement raw meal, burnability study

1. Introduction
Nowadays, the exploitation of Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes is considered very attractive in most
industrialized countries, due to the environmental benefits
from their reutilization. Since C&D wastes are mostly inert
materials, they are already used in various applications as
road pavement materials, sub-basements, soil stabilization,
improvement of sub-ground, production of concrete of
many categories, etc. (Symonds Group, 1999; Cuperus &
Boone, 2003). Particularly, recycled concrete, masonry
and tiles, which comprise the largest amount of C&D
wastes (Oikonomou, 2004), offer many opportunities for
their reutilization as aggregates substituting quarried (primary) aggregates.
On the other hand, the general trend today for the cement industries is the use of alternative raw materials for
the production of cement clinker. Several materials, mainly
the wastes and by-products of other industrial processes,
have been proposed for that purpose (Bhatty et al., 2004).
It has been found that materials such as marginal limestones, cement kiln dust, slags, fly ash, bottom ash, bauxite, rice husk ash, red mud etc., improve the burnability of
the cement raw meal without affecting significantly the
cement clinker properties (Bhatty et al., 2004; Tsakiridis et
al., 2004; Krammart & Tangtermsirikul, 2003; Kakali et al.,
2003; Bhatty et al., 2002). Moreover, the replacement of
the natural raw materials can minimize the effects of quarrying, reduce the impact of the cement plant on the local
environment and enable the cement industry to become a
major player in materials recycling.
The current paper investigated the potential use of Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) and Recycled Masonry
Aggregates (RMA), obtained from demolished buildings,

as substitutes of the Portland cement raw meal. Special

emphasis was given to the preparation of the cement raw
meals that contained the examined materials in suitable
proportions as well as the burnability study of the generated mixtures at various temperatures. Furthermore, the
produced clinkers (sintered at 1450C) were characterized
by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for their major phases (C3S,
C2S, C3A and C4AF) to ensure complete burning.

2. Experimental
2.1 Materials
RCA and RMA samples were collected from a recycling
unit which is established in Attica region, Greece. It should
be noted that the exact source and age of the samples
were unknown. RCA sample was taken in the fraction
0-8 mm while RMA sample in the fraction >32 mm. The
materials used in this study were ground in a laboratory
Bond ball mill in order to have a common residue at 90 m
with the Portland cement raw meal (approximately 12%).
According to the chemical analyses of RCA and RMA
samples, their calcareous and siliceous origin was confirmed respectively (Galbenis & Tsimas, 2004). Portland
Table 1

Chemical compositions of raw materials used in the present

study (% w/w)

Component

RCA

RMA

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
CaO
MgO
K2O
Loss on Ignition

4.78
1.32
0.67
46.19
1.29
0.11
40.36

44.59
9.70
4.58
26.77
2.31
1.49
9.14

Portland cement
raw meal
13.55
3.31
2.55
41.95
1.98
0.41
35.12

84

CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, No. 2, 2006

cement raw meal was provided from a Hellenic cement

industry. Its residue at 90 m was 12%. Table 1 presents
the chemical compositions of the above materials.
The above-mentioned materials were evaluated for their
chemical composition by X-Ray Fluorescence using an
Oxford MDX 1000 spectrometer.

by means of mineralogical analysis to ensure completeness of burning using a Siemens D-5000 X-ray diffractometer with nickel-filtered CuK=1.5405 . All patterns were
obtained in a scanning range from 5 to 65 in 2 scale.
-1
The testing rate that was applied was 0.02min for all
samples.

2.2 Cement raw meals preparation, burning

process and clinker production

3. Results and Discussion

Five samples of cement raw meals were synthesized by

mixing the Portland cement raw meal with RCA and RMA
in appropriate proportions. The sixth cement raw meal,
obtained from the cement industry, was the reference raw
meal as a basis of comparison. All mixtures were homogenized in a laboratory ball mill and their homogenization was examined by determining the loss on ignition at
1100C. After the homogenization process, the residue at
90 m of all mixtures was the same (approximately 7%).
The applied burning process was common in all mixtures.
The cement raw meals were first formed into small spheres,
with a diameter of 2 cm, and dried at 110C for one day.
Then, they were placed in an electrical furnace at 1350C,
1400C and 1450C for 1 h. At the end of the burning
process, the samples were rapidly cooled in air. The effect
on the burnability was evaluated on the basis of the unreacted lime (free lime, fCaO) content in samples sintered at
the above temperatures. Free lime was determined according to the standard ethylene glycol method (ASTM C
114-03).
The produced clinkers (sintered at 1450C) were studied
Table 3
Moduli

Usual limits (Desired limits)

LSF
SM

3.1 Mix proportions of raw materials

Based on the chemical compositions of the Portland
cement raw meal, RCA and RMA (Table 1), and aiming to
produce clinkers with Lime Saturation Factor (LSF) at the
same order with the reference raw meal, the required mix
proportions were determined. Table 2 presents the syntheses of the cement raw meals used in this paper.
Table 2
Raw materials
Portland cement raw meal
RCA
RMA

Mix proportions of raw materials (% w/w)

Cement raw meals
CRM
CRM
CRM
2
3
4

CRM
Ref

CRM
1

CRM
5

100

80

60

40

20

15

31

46

62

77

14

18

23

Table 3 shows the computational determination of LSF,

Silica Moduli (SM), Alumina Ratio (AR) and Hydraulic
Moduli (HM) of the raw meals. This table contains the usual
limits as well as the desired limits of the above moduli.

Values of LSF, SM, AR and HM of cement raw meals

Cement raw meals
CRMRef

CRM 1

CRM 2

CRM 3

CRM 4

CRM 5

0.66-1.02 (0.92-0.96)

0.96

0.95

0.96

0.95

0.97

0.95

1.9-3.2 (2.3-2.7)

2.31

2.41

2.51

2.64

2.75

2.89

1.3
1.41
1.52
1.67
1.84
2.07
AR
1.3-2.5 (1.3-1.7)
HM
1.7-2.3 (~2)
2.16
2.15
2.2
2.18
2.24
2.22
LSF=C/(2.8S+1.18A+0.65F), SM=S/(A+F), AR=A/F, HM=C/(S+A+F); C,S,A,F: % content of CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3
respectively, in cement raw meal.

It can be noticed in the table that LSF as well as HM are

constant in all raw meals. It is especially important for LSF
to be constant because it plays a major role in the burnability of the raw meals. SM and AR increase with the
percentage of RCA and RMA in the raw meals, though they
remain between their usual limits.

3.2 Burnability study of cement raw meals

The reactivity of the cement raw meals was evaluated on
the basis of the free lime (fCaO) contents after sintering at
1350C, 1400C and 1450C which are shown in Table 4.
The same table gives the Burnability Capacity (BC) of the
raw meals, calculated according to the following equation
(Kolovos, 2003):
BC=3.75(fCaO1350C+fCaO1400C+2fCaO1450C)
1/4
/(fCaO1350C)

Table 4
Cement raw
meals
CRMRef
CRM 1
CRM 2
CRM 3
CRM 4
CRM 5

fCaO and BC values of generated clinkers

1450
1.47
0.99
0.82
0.68
0.73
0.71

fCaO / %
Temperature / C
1400
1350
2.84
7.90
1.64
6.21
1.32
5.47
1.07
4.00
1.07
4.79
0.88
4.06

BC
25.97
23.72
23.11
24.90
22.95
23.44

It can been seen that the substitution of the Portland

cement raw meal with the recycled aggregates improves
the burnability of the raw meals in relation to the reference
cement raw meal (CRMRef). A significant decrease in fCaO
content is noted for all modified cement raw meals as are

Galbenis & Tsimas: Use of Wastes as Raw Materials in Cement Clinker Production
for the BC values. The above result reflects a possible
reduction of the final clinker burning temperature. The
burnability improvement may be attributed to the fact that
the added recycled aggregates consist of materials (cement, bricks) that have already been burnt at high temperatures. For that reason, they need less energy in order
to form the main phases of cement clinker.

3.3 Mineralogical analysis of produced clinkers

Figure 1 shows the XRD analyses of the produced
clinkers (sintered at 1450C).

85

Portland cement raw meal for the production of cement

clinker. According to the above results, the samples examined could well replace the Portland cement raw meal in
significant proportions (even 100%), without affecting the
characteristics of the modified raw meals (chemical composition, moduli). Tests also showed improved burnability
of the raw meals in comparison to the CRMRef. The values
of fCaO decreased significantly in all modified raw meals.
As to the generated clinkers, it should be remarked that the
main mineralogical phases were well formed in all samples.
XRD analysis also confirmed the results of the burnability
study relative to the fCaO content.

References

Fig. 1

XRD patterns of clinkers sintered at 1450C.

It should be noted that the main mineralogical phases,

C3S, C2S, C3A and C4AF, are present in all clinkers, implying that the addition of the recycled aggregates did not
affect the mineralogical composition of the generated
clinkers. In addition, the completeness of burning was
ensured. The clinker obtained from CRMRef also shows
higher peaks of fCaO which is in agreement with the results of the burnability study, where the fCaO content was
also higher in the clinker derived from CRMRef.

4. Conclusions
RCA and RMA appeared to be applicable substitutes of

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Manuscript received December 17, 2005 and accepted March 10, 2006.