Usability of waste perlite in the technology of production of autoclaved aerated concrete

Abstract

The building industry constantly seeks ecological solutions and accents utilization of industrial wastes. For this reason, even less examined alternatives are considered. This is true also for manufacture of autoclaved aerated concrete. This paper addresses usability of waste perlite in the technology of production of autoclaved aerated concrete. Waste perlite has been examined to great extent in particular in the area of cement based composite materials, where its positive influence is known. This leads to the idea of finding out if waste perlite could contribute positively to the technology of autoclaved aerated concrete. In this basic research, four replacement amounts of quartz sand with waste perlite were tested: 10%, 30%, 50% and 100%. Replacement of 30% appears to be most promising. At this amount, the compressive strength increased and at the same time, volume weight was reduced by 40%.