Analysis of the use of steelmaking residue for application in red ceramics through chemical and mineralogical characterization

ABSTRACT

The chemical composition of ceramics has a deep impact on our understanding of their physical and chemical properties. This work performed a chemical and mineralogical characterization of clay mixtures with incorporation of a residue from the steel industry. The clay mixtures could be used in the brick production. Two types of clays were mixed with the proportion of 1:1 and the residue were incorporated with the proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. Each material had their chemical composition analysed before the burning step. Five specimens were used to analyse their mineralogical composition after the burning step at the temperature of 800 °C. The tests performed to make the characterization were: X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The XFR analysis showed that the main components of the clays are the silicon oxide (SiO₂) and the aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), and for the residue, the main components are the iron oxides, represented by iron content (T-Fe). The XRD analysis showed the quartz as the most abundant mineral in clays, but that hematite, the most abundant mineral in the residue, appeared more as the amount of residue increased in the sample. Thermal Analysis confirmed the expected peaks in clays and identified an exothermic reaction in the sample with residue. The increase in the percentage of residue caused changes in the chemical composition of the samples, however, these variations were not remarkable, which suggests the red clay industry could add the residue in its production.

Keywords
Red ceramic; Steel residue; Characterization