The feasibility of recycling marble & granite sludge in the polymer-modified cementitious mortars Part A: In polymer-modified cementitious adhesive mortar

• Published in: Process safety and environmental protection 2022-03, Vol.159, p.978-991
• Main Author: Gado, R.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adhesive strength; Adhesives; Calcite; Cementitious adhesive; Chemical composition; Compressive strength; Feasibility studies; Flexural strength; Fluorescence; Fourier transforms; Granite; Marble; Marble & granite sludge; Minerals; Mortars (material); Polymer-modified mortar; Polymers; Raw materials; Recycling; Reuse and recycle; Silica; Sludge; Workability; X-ray diffraction; X-ray fluorescence
• ISSN: 0957-5820; 1744-3598
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2022.01.059

•Recycling process of marble and granite sludge into the system of pre-packed polymer-modified cementitious mortar products has been investigated.•Marble and granite sludge was well-characterized by using different scientific techniques.•The optimum sludge addition percentage was in the range of 10–15%.•The Pre-blended cementitious adhesive product within the optimum percentage range of marble and granite sludge complies with the requirement of the European standard BS EN 12004 for the polymer-modified cementitious adhesive (C2TE).•This recycling process will reduce the negative environmental impacts of the landfills of this kind of wastage originating from natural stone factories and positively influences the final product's manufacturing cost. In the present scientific article, a potential assessment and feasibility study of the recycling process of marble and granite sludge into the system of pre-packed polymer-modified cementitious mortar products has been investigated instead of being disposed of or landfilled. Therefore, several polymer-modified mortar formulations were designed to explore the inclusion effect of marble and granite sludge waste on the overall performance of the prepared mortar formulations in the application area of the polymer-modified cementitious adhesive. In this work, starting raw materials and hardened mortar specimens (28 days) of the prepared mortar formulations were well-characterized by different scientific techniques, including X-ray fluorescence for chemical oxides composition, X-ray diffraction for mineral phases composition Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). To achieve the study's goals, different percentages of marble and granite sludge were incorporated into the prepared mortar formulations in the range of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% to replace the used silica sand in each formulation. The results showed that the marble and granite sludge waste is mainly composed of calcite and quartz minerals, with an average particle size of 4.86 µm. The results also showed an improvement in the workability, performance, and adhesion strength of the prepared polymer-modified cementitious adhesive mortar formulation upon using the optimum sludge addition percentage. Moreover, the experimental results show that the compressive and flexural strength of the prepared mortar formulations were also enhanced by increasing the sludge content.