Use of marble dust as clinker replacement in cements

Abstract

Around 6 million tonnes of marble dust, which is a waste product of marble polishing and grinding, is currently being dumped annually in three states in India. Though previous studies have investigated the use of this material as a replacement offine-aggregate, since its particle size distribution is closer to that of cement, it could be more suitable as a clinker replacement. As the primary molecule in marble dust is calcium carbonate, the same as limestone, this study looks at the possible us of marble dust in ways similar to crushed limestone. Blends of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with marble dust, with and without fly-ash and calcined clays as sources ofalumino-silicates, were prepared and tested in the laboratory. The role of activators such as gypsum and sodium sulphate was also studied. The results show that althoughmarble dust may be less reactive in such systems than limestone, it offers the advantageof better workability in concretes using these blends.