Resources, Conservation and Recycling 52 (2008) 11151120

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Resources, Conservation and Recycling

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Review

Utilization of copper slag in cement and concrete

Caijun Shi a , Christian Meyer b , Ali Behnood c,
a

College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China Department of Civil Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-6623, USA c Department of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Copper slag is a by-product obtained during matte smelting and rening of copper. The common management options for copper slag are recycling, recovering of metal, production of value added products such as abrasive tools, roong granules, cutting tools, abrasive, tiles, glass, road-base construction, railroad ballast, asphalt pavements. Despite increasing rate of reusing copper slag, the huge amount of its annual production is disposed in dumps or stockpiles to date. One of the greatest potential applications for reusing copper slag is in cement and concrete production. Many researchers have investigated the use of copper slag in the production of cement, mortar and concrete as raw materials for clinker, cement replacement, coarse and ne aggregates. The use of copper slag in cement and concrete provides potential environmental as well as economic benets for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. This paper reviews the characteristics of copper slag and its effects on the engineering properties of cement, mortars and concrete. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 3 February 2008 Received in revised form 25 June 2008 Accepted 25 June 2008 Keywords: Aggregate Copper slag Clinker Cement Concrete Recycled materials

Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1115 Production of copper slag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116 Chemical composition of copper slag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116 Physical properties of copper slag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116 Use of copper slag in cement clinker production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116 Use of copper slag in blended cement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117 Use of copper slag in concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120

1. Introduction Production of industrial slag dates back to the beginning of extracting of metals from ores through metallurgical processes. Copper slag is a by-product obtained during the matte smelting and rening of copper (Biswas and Davenport, 2002). Production of one ton of copper generates, approximately 2.23 tons copper slag. In the United States, the amount of copper slag produced is about four million tons, and in Japan, it is about two million tons per year (Collins and Ciesielski, 1994; Ayano and Sakata, 2000). Approximately 360,000, 244,000 and 60,000 tons

Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 912309 8421; fax: +98 218802 4784. E-mail address: a behnoud@iust.ac.ir (A. Behnood). 0921-3449/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.06.008

of copper slag is produced in Iran, Brazil and Oman, respectively (Behnood, 2005; Moura et al., 1999; Taeb and Faghihi, 2002; Al-Jabri et al., 2002). Current options for management of copper slag include recycling, recovering of metal, production of value added products and disposal in slag dumps or stockpiles. Currently, copper slag has been widely used for abrasive tools, roong granules, cutting tools, abrasive, tiles, glass, road-base construction, railroad ballast, asphalt pavements, cement and concrete industries. The reports of Portland Cement Association show that copper slag has been used in full-scale cement manufacturing in different plants. Production of Portland cement includes the grinding of raw materials, the calcinations of them at 1500 C and the grinding of cement clinker with gypsum. The average energy input required to produce one ton of cement is approximately 4.8 million Btu. As seen, it is an energyintensive process which releases signicant amount of pollution such as CO2 . Consequently, the production of Portland cement has

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Table 1 Chemical composition of copper slag from different sources by mass (%) No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fe2 O3 44.78 44.80 49.50 45.3 62 52.0 60.00 53.72 36 41.53 39.65 SiO2 , 40.97 24.7 34.51 36.0 26 35.5 30.07 34.3 31 37.13 31.94 CaO 5.24 10.9 2.20 9.30 2.5 2.11 0.6 7.91 4 3.95 MgO 1.16 1.7 1.48 3.24 3.7 1.06 0.75 0.94 2.82 Al2 O3 3.78 15.6 6.55 3.45 5.90 3.97 3.83 6 2.4 SO3 1.06 0.28 1.20 0.49 0.14 0.32 3.02 0.11 CuO 2.1 0.43 0.33 1.4 0.88 0.79 0.330.80 0.79 1.01 Country (Reference) Iran (Marghussian and Maghsoodipoor, 1999) USA (Mobasher et al., 1996) Canada (Douglas and Mainwaring, 1986) Australia (Roper et al., 1983) Brazil (Moura et al., 1999) Japan (Ayano and Sakata, 2000) Spain (Sanchez de Rojas et al. (2004)) Taiwan (Hwang and Laiw, 1989) Malaysia (Zain et al., 2004) Chile (Imris et al., 2000) Turkey (Kiyak et al., 1999)

many environmental problems as well as economic considerations. By using copper slag as a partial replacement of cement, substantial amounts of energy required for production of cement will be saved because its use needs only grinding. Furthermore, it will be possible to reuse a waste by-product material benecially. Also, more amounts of copper slag will be utilized by using it as ne and coarse aggregates in concrete because more than 75% volume of concrete is occupied by aggregates. Many researchers have investigated the use of copper slag in cement clinker production, and the effects of copper slag on the properties of Portland cement mortar and concrete in the form of cement replacement, coarse and ne aggregate. The use of copper slag in cement and concrete provides potential environmental as well as economic benets for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. This paper reviews the characteristics of copper slag and its effects on the properties of cement, mortars and concrete. 2. Production of copper slag Copper slag is a by-product obtained during the matte smelting and rening of copper (Biswas and Davenport, 2002). Major constituents of a smelting charge are sulphides and oxides of iron and copper. The charge also contains oxides such as SiO2 , Al2 O3 , CaO and MgO, which are either present in the original concentrate or added as ux. It is iron, copper, sulphur, oxygen and their oxides which largely control the chemistry and the physical constitution of the smelting system. A further important factor is the oxidation/reduction potential of the gases which are used to heat and melt the charge (Gorai et al., 2002). As a result of this process, copper-rich matte (sulphides) and copper slag (oxides) are formed as two separate liquid phases. The addition of silica during smelting process forms strongly bonded silicate anions by combining with the oxides. This reaction produces copper slag phase, whereas sulphides form matte phase due to low tendency to form the anion complexes. Silica is added directly for the most complete isolation of copper in the matte which occurs at near saturation concentration with SiO2 (Shi and Qian, 2000). The slag structure is stabilized with the addition of lime and alumina. The molten slag is discharged from the furnace at 10001300 C. When liquid slag is cooled slowly, it forms a dense, hard crystalline product, while as quick solidication by pouring molten slag into water gives granulated amorphous slag (Gorai et al., 2002). 3. Chemical composition of copper slag The composition of a specic slag depends on the type of furnace, the metallurgical process producing it and the composition of the extracted ore. In general, the percentages of the main oxides of copper slag can be varied in the ranges as followsFe2 O3 : 3560%, SiO2 : 2540%, CaO: 210%, Al2 O3 : 315%, CuO: 0.32.1%, MgO:

0.73.5%. The chemical compositions of copper slag obtained from different regions are given in Table 1. 4. Physical properties of copper slag The physical properties of copper slag are given in Table 2. As seen, the density of copper slag varies between 3.16 and 3.87 g/cm3 based on the amount of iron content. The average specic gravity of copper slag is about 3.5 g/cm3 that means copper slag is denser than ordinary natural aggregates. In general, water absorption of copper slag is very low. As stated previously, when liquid slag is cooled slowly, it forms a dense, hard crystalline product whereas quick solidication by pouring molten slag into water gives granulated amorphous slag. The granulated copper slag has a higher water absorption and less unit weight compared with air-cooled copper slag due to its more porous texture. 5. Use of copper slag in cement clinker production As shown in Table 1, copper slag has a high Fe content and has been used as an iron adjustment material during the cement clinker production (Huang, 2001). Since the main composition of copper slag is vitreous FeSiO3 , it has low melting point and could reduce the calcination temperature for cement clinker. Thus, the use of copper slag to replace iron powder as iron adjusting materials facilitates cement production, reduces or eliminates the need of mineralizer. However, the use of iron powder does not show this advantage. The performance testing results indicated that cement produced by using copper slag performed even better than using iron powder. In another publication, it was reported that copper slag was successfully used as an iron adjustment material in cement clinker production (Guo, 2003). In another study, researchers used the tailings from Mo ores and copper slag to produce cement clinker. In addition, CaF was used as a mineralizer. The performance of the cement was even better than that produced using traditional clay, limestone and mill scale (Liu et al., 2007).
Table 2 Physical properties of copper slag (Ayano and Sakata, 2000; Khanzadi and Behnood, 2007; Gorai et al., 2002; Hwang and Laiw, 1989; Moura et al., 1999; Shoya et al., 2003, 1997) Appearance Particle shape Density (g/cm3 ) Water absorption (%) Hardness (mohs) Water soluble chloride (ppm) Soundness (%) Aggregate crushing value (%) Aggregate impact value (%) Abrasion loss (%) Conductivity ( s/cm) Black, glassy, more vesicular when granulated Irregular 3.163.87 0.150.55 67 <50 0.80.9 1021 8.216 24.1 500

C. Shi et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 52 (2008) 11151120 Table 3 Regulatory limits for various heavy metals according to Malaysian Environmental Quality Orders (MEQO) and United States Environmental Agency (USEPA) Element (mg/l) MEQO Standard A Cu Ni Pb Zn As Cr Cd 0.20 0.20 0.20 1.00 Standard B 1.00 1.00 0.50 1.00 N/R 5.0 N/R 5.0 5.0 1.0 USEPA

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The use of copper slag also results in lower required calcination temperature and improved grindability of the clinker although the raw materials cost may or may not be reduced depending on the local availability of copper slag (Tan et al., 2000; Huang, 2001). 6. Use of copper slag in blended cement The use of copper slag as a pozzolanic material for a partial substitute for ordinary Portland cement and its effects on the hydration reactions and properties of mortar and concrete have been reported in several publications (Al-Jabri et al., 2006; Taha et al., 2007; Malhotra, 1993; Tixier et al., 1997; Arino and Mobasher, 1999; Douglas and Mainwaring, 1986; Deja and Malolepszy, 1989). Roper et al. (1983) reported that copper slag does not need to be completely glassy for signicant hydration to occur. One potential concern for such materials is their heavy metal content and the leaching characteristics. The leachability of copper, nickel, lead, and zinc ions from copper slag was lower than the regulatory limits. Table 3 shows the leachability limits imposed by the Malaysian Environmental Quality Orders (MEQO) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Standard A is the limit allowed for the efuent to be safely released into any catchment area, whereas Standard B is for the efuent to be released into any terrestrial water system. Zain et al. (2004) reported that the mortar incorporating waste copper slag up to 10% replacement is safe with respect to leachability of the above heavy metal based on the mentioned standards. They used direct air-acetylene ame AAS method to determine the concentration of the respective ions in the leachability test. Furthermore, Sanchez de Rojas et al. (2004) showed that the copper slag incorporation into the cement mortar does not cause an increase in the leached elements. Another work

showed that the amounts of leached elements of copper slag are signicantly lower than the regulatory levels determined by United States Environmental Protection Agency (Alter, 2005). The United Nations (UN) Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal considered such reports and ultimately ruled that copper slag is not a hazardous waste. Moura et al. (1999) investigated the compressive and exural strength of concrete containing copper slag as 10% of the cement by mass. The results indicated that concrete with copper slag had lower compressive strength than concrete without copper slag admixture up to 91 days. The exural strengths of concrete with and without copper slag were similar for water to cement ratio of 0.40.5. Arino and Mobasher (1999) prepared mortar specimens containing up to 15% copper slag as a cement replacement with constant water to cementitious solids ratio of 0.4. The compressiontest results indicated that copper slag concrete was signicantly stronger but more brittle than ordinary Portland cement concrete. Fracture test results conrmed that the increased brittleness of concrete was due to the use of copper slag in the mentioned study. Fig. 1 indicated that copper slag containing approximately 19% CaO had good cementitious property under the activation of NaOH. The NaOH-activated copper slag mortars had higher strength than that of Portland cement mortars even after 4 h of curing at 80 C (Deja and Malolepszy, 1989, 1994). In addition, they reported higher corrosion resistance of copper slag mortars in comparison to plain Portland cement mortars. Fig. 2 shows the compressive strength of copper slag mortars as a function of replacement level (Zain et al., 2004). Based on the results of this work, the strength of copper slag mortar is generally lower than that of the control mortar. They reported an optimum strength performance of the copper slag mortars containing 57.5% copper slag by cement weight. In another study, it was found that the replacement of 1015% cement clinker does not have a signicant effect on compressive strength, but signicantly increases the abrasion resistance of the cement mortar (Dai et al., 1998). 7. Use of copper slag in concrete Several researchers have investigated the possible use of copper slag as ne and coarse aggregates in concrete and its effects on the different mechanical and long-term properties of mortar and concrete. With some benets of using copper slag as ne and coarse aggregates, some negative effects such as delaying of the setting time, especially when only copper slag has been used as ne aggregate have also been reported. Ayano and Sakata (2000) reported

Fig. 1. Compressive strength of NaOH-activated copper slag and Portland cement mortars (Shi and Qian, 2000).

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Fig. 3. Drying shrinkage strain using copper slag and river sand (Ayano and Sakata, 2000). Fig. 2. Compressive strength of copper slag mortars as a function of replacement level (Zain et al., 2004).

that the slag component was an insoluble residue of 0.15 mm size that could be readily removed by washing. They concluded that the effect of copper slag on the setting time was different with the particle size of copper slag (that is, the smaller size of copper slag causes the longer delay in the setting time). However, the effect of copper slag on the setting time was decreased by increasing the washing times. Since concrete oors and pavements are one of the useful applications for copper slag aggregates due to high hardness and good mechanical properties, it is important to know its effects on the bleeding of such concrete. Bleeding is dened as the movement of water in freshly placed concrete to its surface, and is a form of settlement of heavier solids in the concrete while the water travels to the surface. When bleeding is excessive, harmful effects arise on concrete quality by producing defects such as the formation of water channel, water pocket beneath the aggregates, the increase of water to cement ratio near the top of surface and nally, the formation of a weak top layer. These defects will result in less durable concrete. Shoya et al. (1997) reported that the amount and rate of bleeding increased by using copper slag ne aggregate depending on the water to cement ratio, the volume fraction of slag and air content. They recommended using less than 40% copper slag as partial replacement of aggregate to control the amount of bleeding to less than 5 l/m2 . Hwang and Laiw (1989) reported that the amount of bleeding of mortar made with copper slag is comparatively less than that using natural sand. However, the heavy specic

weight and the glass-like smooth surface properties of irregular grain shape of copper slag aggregates are effective for characteristics of bleeding. Hwang and Laiw (1989) and Ayano and Sakata (2000) reported that the shrinkage of specimens containing copper slag ne aggregate is similar or even less than that of specimens without copper slag (Fig. 3). Several works reported that the compressive and tensile strengths of concrete specimens made with copper slag ne and coarse aggregates are almost the same as that of normal concrete or even signicantly more than control mixtures (Caliskan and Behnood, 2004; Shoya et al., 1997; Ayano and Sakata, 2000; Hwang and Laiw, 1989). It was noticed that the use of copper slag as ne aggregate could greatly increase the abrasion resistance of the cement mortar (Tang et al., 2000). Hwang and Laiw (1989) evaluated the compressive strength development of mortars and concrete containing ne copper slag aggregate with different water to cement ratios (Figs. 4 and 5). Fig. 4 shows the mortars containing the larger amounts of copper slag sand had lower early strengths at w/c of 0.48. The strengths of mixtures with 2080% substitution of copper slag were higher than that of the control specimens. Fig. 5 indicates similar trends of compressive strength development of concrete containing copper slag ne aggregate to those of mortars. Li (1999) and Zong (2003) also reported that concrete containing copper slag as ne aggregate exhibited similar mechanical properties as that containing conventional sand and coarse aggregates.

Fig. 4. Compressive strength development of mortars containing copper slag sand with different water to cement ratios (Hwang and Laiw, 1989).

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Fig. 5. Compressive strength development of concrete containing copper slag sand with different water to cement ratios (Hwang and Laiw, 1989).

Fig. 6. Resistance of sulfate attack of concrete using copper slag judged by (a) weight change, (b) relative dynamic youngs modulus (Ayano and Sakata, 2000).

Evaluation of the effects of copper slag aggregate on the sulfate attack resistance (Fig. 6) and the depth of carbonation (Fig. 7) showed no signicant attack and slower rate of carbonation by using copper slag (Hwang and Laiw, 1989; Ayano and Sakata, 2000). Some researchers reported the freezingthawing resistance of concrete containing copper slag aggregate is lower than that of control samples (Shoya et al., 1997, 2003), whereas others reported similar or higher resistance for specimens made with copper slag ne aggregate (Li, 1999; Ayano and Sakata, 2000).

Caliskan and Behnood (2004) investigated the compressive strength of normal-strength concrete containing copper slag coarse aggregate (Fig. 8). As seen, the compressive strength of copper slag coarse aggregate concrete was marginally higher than that of limestone aggregate concrete. Good performance of copper slag as ne and coarse aggregates in normal concrete is the basis for researchers to evaluate its possible use in producing special concrete such as self-consolidating concrete (Shoya et al., 2003), high-performance concrete (Al-Jabri,

Fig. 7. Carbonated thickness of concrete using copper slag and river sand (Ayano and Sakata, 2000).

Fig. 8. Compressive strength development of concrete containing copper slag and limestone coarse aggregates (Caliskan and Behnood, 2004).

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C. Shi et al. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 52 (2008) 11151120 Dai Y, Yan S, Shen X. A study on copper slag road cement. Jiangsu Building Materials 1998;2:2930. Deja J, Malolepszy J. Resistance of alkali activated slag mortars to chloride solution. In: Proceedings of the third international conference on the use of y ash, silica fume, slag, and natural pozzolans in concrete, SP-114, vol. 2; 1989. p. 167795. Deja J, Malolepszy J. Long-term resistance of alkali activated slag mortars mortars to chloride solution. In: Proceedings of the third CANMET/ACI international conference on durability of concrete; 1994. p. 65771. Douglas E, Mainwaring PR. Pozzolanic properties of Canadian non-ferrous slag, SP91-75. Farmington Hills, MI: American Concrete Institute; 1986. p. 152550. Gorai B, Jana RK, Premchand. Characteristics and utilization of copper slag. Resources Conservation and Recycling 2002;39:299313. Guo Y. Investigations on the use of industrial wastes in cement production. Arid Environmental Monitoring 2003;17(3):1779. Huang K. Use of copper slag in cement production, Sichuan Cement, No. 4; 2001. p. 257. Hwang CL, Laiw JC. Properties of concrete using copper slag as a substitute for ne aggregate. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on y ash, silica fume, slag, and natural pozzolans in concrete, SP-114-82; 1989. p. 167795. Imris I, Rebolledo S, Sanchez M, Castro G, Achurra G, Hernandez F. The copper losses in the slag from the el teniente process. Canadian Metallurgy Quarterly 2000;39(3):28190. Khanzadi M, Behnood A. Mechanical properties of high-strength concrete incorporating copper slag as coarse aggregate. Cement and Concrete Composites (under review) 2007. Kiyak B, Ozer A, Altundogan SH, Erdem M, Tumen F. Cr reduction in aqueous solution by using copper smelter slag. Waste Management 1999;19:3338. Li F. Test research on copper slag concrete. Journal of Fuzhou University (Natural Science Edition) 1999;127(5):5962. Liu, et al. Using mo ore tailings and copper slag as cement raw materials, blast furnace slag and phosphorus slag as blending components to produce blended cements, Chinese Building Materials, No. 5; 2007. p. 98100. Malhotra VM. Fly ash, slag, silica fume, and rice-husk ash in concrete: a review. Concrete International 1993;15(4):238. Marghussian VK, Maghsoodipoor A. Fabrication of unglazed oor tiles containing Iranian copper slag. Ceramics International 1999;25:61722. Mobasher B, Devaguptapu R, Arino AM. Effect of copper slag on the hydration of blended cementitious mixtures. In: Proceedings of the ASCE materials engineering conference; 1996. p. 167786. Moura W, Masuero A, Dal Molin D, Vilela A. Concrete performance with admixtures of electrical steel slag and copper concerning mechanical properties. In: Proceedings of the 2nd CANMET/ACI international conference on high-performance concrete, SP-186; 1999. p. 81100. Roper H, Kam F, Auld GJ. Characterization of a copper slag used in mine ll operations. In: Proceedings of the 1st international conference on y ash, silica fume, slag, and natural pozzolans in concrete, SP-79-58; 1983. p. 1091109. Sanchez de Rojas MI, Rivera J, Frias M, Esteban JM, Olaya M. Leaching characteristics of blended mortars containing copper slag. In: Proceedings of the sixth CANMET/ACI international conference on durability of concrete, SP-221-56; 2004. p. 92540. Shanxi Provincial Construction Standard Association (SPCSA). DBJ0499: technical specications for the replacement of sand with copper slag in concrete and masonry mortar; 1999. Shi C, Qian J. High-performance cementing materials from industrial slag. Resources Conservation and Recycling 2000;29:195207. Shoya M, Aba M, Tsukinaga Y, Tokuhashi K. Frost resistance and air void system of self-compacting concrete incorporating slag as a ne aggregate. In: Proceedings of the sixth CANMET/ACI international conference on durability of concrete, SP212-67; 2003. p. 1093108. Shoya M, Nagataki S, Tomosawa F, Sugita S, Tsukinaga Y. Freezing and thawing resistance of concrete with excessive bleeding and its improvement. In: Proceedings of the fourth CANMET/ACI international conference on durability of concrete, SP-170-45; 1997. p. 87998. Tan Y, Zhou Q, Wei R. The initial study on the use of copper slag as a additional materials for cement production. Journal of Xinjiang Institute of Technology 2000;21(3):2369. Taeb A, Faghihi S. Utilization of copper slag in the cement industry. ZKG International 2002;55(4):98100. Taha RA, Al-Nuaimi AS, Al-Jabri KS, Al-Harthy AS. Evaluation of controlled lowstrength materials containing industrial by-products. Building and Environment 2007;42:336672. Tang M, Wang B, Chen Y. The Research on super high strength, high wearability cement mortar with the incorporation of copper slag as aggregates, concrete, No. 4; 2000. p. 302. Tixier R, Devaguptapu R, Mobasher B. Effect of copper slag on the hydration and mechanical properties of cementitious mixtures. Cement and Concrete Research 1997;27(10):156980. Zain MFM, Islam MN, Radin SS, Yap SG. Cement-based solidication for the safe disposal of blasted copper slag. Cement and Concrete Composites 2004;26: 84551. Zong L. The replacement of granulated copper slag for sand concrete. Journal of Qingdao Institute of Architecture and Engineering 2003;24(2):202.

2006) and high-strength concrete (Khanzadi and Behnood, 2007). One province in China published technical guidelines for the use of copper slag as sand for mortars and concrete (SPCSA, 1999), some other provinces are developing the specications. 8. Conclusion This paper reviews the engineering characteristics of copper slag and its effects on the properties of cement and concrete. When copper slag is used as a raw material for clinker production, it can act as both iron adjusting and mineralizing component. Further, it also improves the grindability of the clinker. When it is used as a cement replacement or an aggregate replacement, the cement, mortar and concrete containing different forms of copper slag have good performance in comparison with ordinary Portland cement having normal and even higher strength. Such studies will be more important due to the fact that the production of Portland cement is an energy-intensive process which releases signicant amount of pollution such as CO2 . Also, the production of cement has many environmental problems as well as some economic considerations. By using copper slag as a partial replacement of cement, substantial amounts of energy required for production of cement will be saved because its use needs only grinding. Furthermore, it will be possible to reuse a waste by-product material benecially. Also, more amounts of copper slag will be utilized by using it as ne and coarse aggregates in concrete because more than 70% of concrete volume is occupied by aggregates. From environmental point of view, copper slag is a safe material based on the criteria of different standards such as United States Environmental Protection Agency, so that the United Nations (UN) Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal ruled that copper slag is not a hazardous waste. The review of the results of other works which were presented in this paper encourages increasing the rate of reuse and recycling of properly prepared copper slag. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the utilization of copper slag in cement and concrete provides additional environmental as well as technical benets for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. However, the economic considerations need further evaluations in different areas. References
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