Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Waste and Biomass Valorization https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0342-6 ORIGINAL PAPER Efect of the Addition of Aluminum Recycling Waste on the Pozzolanic Activity of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Zeolite Inara Guglielmetti Braz 1  · Mirian Chieko Shinzato 1  · Tarcísio José Montanheiro 2  · Thelma Miranda de Almeida 1  · Flávio Machado de Souza Carvalho 3 Received: 11 August 2017 / Accepted: 12 May 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract The pozzolanic activity of aluminum recycling waste (AW) was evaluated along with sugarcane bagasse ash (BA) and zeo- lite (ZE) to give a more sustainable use. These materials were characterized and submitted to the pozzolanic activity test by a modifed Chapelle test and the compressive strength of mortars prepared with limestone Portland cement (LPC). The fnal solids were characterized again to determine the hydrated products. The main reactive chemical components of AW are Al 2 O 3 and MgO, which are in the form of hydroxides, such as nordstrandite (Al(OH) 3 ), meixnerite ([Mg 5 Al 3 (OH) 16 ] [(OH) 3 ·(H 2 O) 4 ]), brucite (Mg(OH) 2 ) and magnesium chloride hydroxide hydrate (Mg 3 (OH) 5 Cl·4H 2 O). All of the studied materials were classifed as pozzolans by the modifed Chapelle test, and the main hydrated products formed in the AW sam- ple were katoite, ettringite, talc and amesite. When mixed with BA and ZE, C-A-S-H and C-S-H phases were also formed. The C-S-H phases and portlandite were detected only in the solids of the modifed Chapelle test of BA and ZE. Calcite was present in all samples, indicating that part of the Ca(OH) 2 was consumed by the carbonation process. The compressive strength test of mortars revealed that only ZE is a pozzolan. In mortars containing AW the production of ettringite and cal- cium carboaluminate increased due to the reactions of aluminum, respectively, with gypsum and calcite present in LPC. In addition to portlandite, C-S-H was formed only in the BA and ZE mortars. Although hydration reactions were not sufcient to form C-S-H in AW mortar, reactive aluminum favors the formation of primary ettringite. Keywords Aluminum hydroxide · Pozzolanic activity · Hydrated products · Carbonation Introduction Brazil is the largest aluminum can recycler in the world, having recycled 98.3% of cans in 2011, which corresponds to almost 248,700 tons of aluminum cans [1]. The recovery of aluminum metal brings economic and environmental ben- efts since it uses only 5% of the energy and releases about 5% of the greenhouse gases when compared with primary aluminum production [2]. Despite these advantages, the primary aluminum indus- try also produces many types of solid waste, such as slags (white dross), which amounted to about 1.44 million tons in 2011 in Brazil alone [1]. To recover aluminum metal, this waste and aluminum cans are melted in rotary kilns with the addition of salts such as NaCl and KCl. This pro- cess generates slags called black/salt dross. In 2014 alone, the recycling sector recovered 540,000 tons of aluminum scrap in Brazil [3]. According to the International Aluminum * Mirian Chieko Shinzato mirian.chieko@unifesp.br Inara Guglielmetti Braz inaragbraz@gmail.com Tarcísio José Montanheiro tarcisio.montanheiro@gmail.com Thelma Miranda de Almeida thelmamda@gmail.com Flávio Machado de Souza Carvalho favioms@usp.br 1 Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua São Nicolau, 210, Diadema, SP CEP: 09913-030, Brazil 2 Instituto Geológico do Estado São Paulo, Rua R. Joaquim Távora, 822, São Paulo, SP CEP: 04018-032, Brazil 3 Instituto de Geociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Lago, 562, São Paulo, SP CEP: 05508-080, Brazil