Portland cements activated with pozzolanic zeolitic sandstone

The proper use of pozzolans enables the production of special cements with lower manufacturing cost and higher durability in comparison with cements without mineral additions. It also enables significant gains in productivity and in equipment service life in the factory as well as reduce the CO2 emission into the atmosphere.

Zeolites have been used as pozzolanic material in mixtures with Fuller's Earth and water in buildings from the ancient Roman Empire. Nowadays, there are many discussions involving pozzolanic reactivity of natural zeolites in the incorporation to Portland cement.

In the Northeastern region of Brazil, sedimentary zeolites related to sandstones of the Parnaiba Basin were discovered by the Geological Survey of Brazil in the 2000s. These sandstones are mainly composed by quartz, natural zeolites (estilbity) and clay (smectite). Preliminary studies have pointed that this sandstone may be used as pozzolanic material in Portland cements. The material must be previously grinded to remove quartz and thermally activated, since stilbite is a zeolite with low pozzolanic activity.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ideal amount of thermally activated zeolitic sandstone to be incorporated in the Portland cement in order to improve its mechanical and mineralogical properties.

In the laboratory, the < # 200 fraction of the zeolitic sandstone was calcined at 500 º C. Chemical and miner-alogical analysis were carried out by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), respectively. The hydration behavior of the cements was evaluated using heat-flow calorimetry, besides thermal analysis and XRD. To evaluate the physical properties, mechanical testing of compressive strength in cement mortar Portland with different proportions of sandstone was carried out.

The results showed that the AZ2-3 zeolitic sandstone with the proportion of 10% incorporated in Portland cement type CPI-S, showed the best result of compressive strength and mineralogical properties of the samples suitable for the production of CPII-Z type commercial cement.

pozzolan; Portland cement; limestone; zeolite; stilbite