Lightweight Alkali-Activated Material from Mining and Glass Waste by Chemical and Physical Foaming

Abstract

A foamed alkali-activated material (FAAM) based on tungsten mining waste (TMW) and municipal waste glass (WG) is fabricated by using aluminum powder and organic surfactant foaming agents. The compressive strength and density of the FAAM are investigated in terms of different parameters of production and formulation, including curing temperature as well as the dosage of Na 2 O, foaming agent, foam catalyzing agent, and stabilizing agent. FAAM made with aluminum powder consists of smaller open macropores and exhibits higher compressive strength compared with FAAMs with larger closed macropores obtained by organic surfactant counterparts. The final aluminum powder-based FAAM reaches a 7-day compressive strength in excess of 3 MPa and a density below 0.7 g=cm 3. The implementation of an appropriate amount of foam stabilizer leads to a further 15% increase in compressive strength, 6% reduction in density, and a thermal conductivity below 0.1 W=mK. The FAAM explored in this study represents an ideal material for building envelope insulation.

Quarry Waste as Precursors in Geopolymers for Civil Engineering Applications: A Decade in Review

“…It was suggested that the production of such material could be a competitive and viable solution, which could lead to the manufacturing of aggregates for road paving materials. Similar studies related to the same project verified that artificial aggregates can be produced through the geopomymerization of tungsten mine tailings [38,80].…”

“…Different precursors have been used in various research studies such as fly ash [ 22 , 28 , 29 ], metakaolin [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], and blast furnace slag [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. In most cases, the reviewed studies have investigated the feasibility of using quarry dust, mine tailings, or industrial waste as precursors in geopolymer cements and binders [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Since quarry dust and mining by-products are the focus of the current paper, a separate section has been dedicated to them.…”

Discarded Cathode Ray Tube Glass as an Alternative for Aggregate in a Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer

“…Notwithstanding, scientists concluded that glass waste could partially replace fly ash as a raw material. Aside from the geopolymers based on conventional raw materials, previous studies also cover the addition of powdered waste glass to geopolymer based on red mud [33], tungsten mining waste mud [34], low purity metakaolin [35] or marble sludge [36].…”

Overview of mining residues incorporation in construction materials and barriers for full-scale application

“…The replacement for natural products or secondary alternatives would present benefits for the environment. The reuse of tungsten mining wastes into innovative alkali-based materials for road pavement applications (Sangiorgi et al, 2016), red clay bricks (Sedira et al, 2018;Gavali et al, 2019) and light weight construction products (Kastiukas et al, 2019) have proof to be a feasible strategy for the construction sector. For local communities, and since the mining sector is not stable along the time, the potential to reuse these secondary sources in different sectors may lead to an increase of the economic and social impact.…”