Thermal behavior of calcite as an expansive agent

Abstract

In this paper, thermal behavior of calcite as raw material of CaO-based expansive agent was investigated. The products were characterized by using differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). DTA curves show that calcite has endothermic peak and impurity affects the onset of reactions. The more the impurity increases, the more energy changes increase. At 800-900°C, calcite was decomposed into solid calcium oxide (CaO) and gaseous CO2. Lime (CaO) used as the base of expandable material is the ultimate product of heated calcite. The calcium oxide phase, in reaction to water forms portlandite, at an onset temperature of about 900°C was also characterized by the appearance of the FT-IR mode at 867,3424 and 3644 cm-1. XRD results show that quartz impurity in calcite samples at 900 °C forms larnite phase (Ca2SiO4). The expansions are mainly generated from the hydrations of CaO in the CaO-type expansive agent. © Journal of Mining and Metallurgy.