Co-calcination of kaolinitic clay and green liquor dregs to produce supplementary cementitious materials

Elijah D.  Adesanya; Alastair T.M. Marsh; Sreejith Krishnan; Juho  Yliniemi; Susan Bernal Lopez

doi:10.1016/j.cscm.2025.e04520

Co-calcination of kaolinitic clay and green liquor dregs to produce supplementary cementitious materials

Elijah D. Adesanya, Alastair T.M. Marsh, Sreejith Krishnan, Juho Yliniemi, Susan Bernal Lopez

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Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the co-calcination temperature (600, 700, and 800 °C) and the blending ratio of green liquor dreg (GLD) and kaolinitic clay (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) to produce a limestone calcined clay (LC2)-type supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The phase assemblage and hydration process of composite cements comprising CEM I and varying replacement ratios (15 and 30 wt%) of the produced SCM were evaluated. An effective co-calcination temperature of 700 °C was identified considering the chemical reactivity of the LC2-type SCM determined by the rapid, relevant, and reliable (R3) testing. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed variations in the phase assemblage of the composite cements and the reference CEM I. Calcium carbonate from GLD and metakaolinite from the calcined clay contributed to the formation of carboaluminate in the composite cements, lowering its porosity. The 7- and 28-day compressive strengths of the mortars produced by replacing 15–30 wt% of the cement with this SCM, were comparable to those of the CEM I reference mortar. These findings demonstrate the industrial symbiosis potential between the paper and cement industries via applying co-calcination for resolving challenges for utilization of GLD, while producing a suitable kaolinitic clay based SCM.

Original language	English
Article number	e04520
Journal	Case Studies in Construction Materials
Volume	22
Early online date	16 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2025.e04520
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors

Funding

Elijah Adesanya acknowledge the financial support by the Finnish Cultural Foundation for a postdoctoral research grant (Grant #00201230) to undertake this research, and the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. Participation of A.T.M. Marsh and S.A. Bernal was sponsored by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through an Early Career Fellowship (EP/R001642/1). J. Yliniemi was funded by Research Council of Finland (#354263). Dr Oday Hussein of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield is acknowledged for the MIP test. Mehedi Rabbil is acknowledged for laboratory contributions during this study. The SEM analysis was done with the support of the Centre for Material Analysis, University of Oulu, Finland.

Funders	Funder number
School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield
Suomen Kulttuurirahasto	00201230
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	EP/R001642/1
Research Council of Finland	354263

Keywords

Co-calcination
Composite cement
Green liquor dreg
Kaolinite
Supplementary cementitious material

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science (miscellaneous)

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Cite this

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title = "Co-calcination of kaolinitic clay and green liquor dregs to produce supplementary cementitious materials",

abstract = "This study investigated the effect of the co-calcination temperature (600, 700, and 800 °C) and the blending ratio of green liquor dreg (GLD) and kaolinitic clay (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) to produce a limestone calcined clay (LC2)-type supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The phase assemblage and hydration process of composite cements comprising CEM I and varying replacement ratios (15 and 30 wt\%) of the produced SCM were evaluated. An effective co-calcination temperature of 700 °C was identified considering the chemical reactivity of the LC2-type SCM determined by the rapid, relevant, and reliable (R3) testing. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed variations in the phase assemblage of the composite cements and the reference CEM I. Calcium carbonate from GLD and metakaolinite from the calcined clay contributed to the formation of carboaluminate in the composite cements, lowering its porosity. The 7- and 28-day compressive strengths of the mortars produced by replacing 15–30 wt\% of the cement with this SCM, were comparable to those of the CEM I reference mortar. These findings demonstrate the industrial symbiosis potential between the paper and cement industries via applying co-calcination for resolving challenges for utilization of GLD, while producing a suitable kaolinitic clay based SCM. ",

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AU - Adesanya, Elijah D.

AU - Marsh, Alastair T.M.

AU - Krishnan, Sreejith

AU - Yliniemi, Juho

AU - Bernal Lopez, Susan

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N2 - This study investigated the effect of the co-calcination temperature (600, 700, and 800 °C) and the blending ratio of green liquor dreg (GLD) and kaolinitic clay (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) to produce a limestone calcined clay (LC2)-type supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The phase assemblage and hydration process of composite cements comprising CEM I and varying replacement ratios (15 and 30 wt%) of the produced SCM were evaluated. An effective co-calcination temperature of 700 °C was identified considering the chemical reactivity of the LC2-type SCM determined by the rapid, relevant, and reliable (R3) testing. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed variations in the phase assemblage of the composite cements and the reference CEM I. Calcium carbonate from GLD and metakaolinite from the calcined clay contributed to the formation of carboaluminate in the composite cements, lowering its porosity. The 7- and 28-day compressive strengths of the mortars produced by replacing 15–30 wt% of the cement with this SCM, were comparable to those of the CEM I reference mortar. These findings demonstrate the industrial symbiosis potential between the paper and cement industries via applying co-calcination for resolving challenges for utilization of GLD, while producing a suitable kaolinitic clay based SCM.

AB - This study investigated the effect of the co-calcination temperature (600, 700, and 800 °C) and the blending ratio of green liquor dreg (GLD) and kaolinitic clay (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) to produce a limestone calcined clay (LC2)-type supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The phase assemblage and hydration process of composite cements comprising CEM I and varying replacement ratios (15 and 30 wt%) of the produced SCM were evaluated. An effective co-calcination temperature of 700 °C was identified considering the chemical reactivity of the LC2-type SCM determined by the rapid, relevant, and reliable (R3) testing. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed variations in the phase assemblage of the composite cements and the reference CEM I. Calcium carbonate from GLD and metakaolinite from the calcined clay contributed to the formation of carboaluminate in the composite cements, lowering its porosity. The 7- and 28-day compressive strengths of the mortars produced by replacing 15–30 wt% of the cement with this SCM, were comparable to those of the CEM I reference mortar. These findings demonstrate the industrial symbiosis potential between the paper and cement industries via applying co-calcination for resolving challenges for utilization of GLD, while producing a suitable kaolinitic clay based SCM.

KW - Co-calcination

KW - Composite cement

KW - Green liquor dreg

KW - Kaolinite

KW - Supplementary cementitious material

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Co-calcination of kaolinitic clay and green liquor dregs to produce supplementary cementitious materials

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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