ORIGINAL ARTICLE Study of the optimal aggregate blending model for quarries Bascetin Atac 1 • Adiguzel Deniz 1 • Tuylu Serkan 1 • Baray Sukru Alp 2 Received: 10 March 2015 / Accepted: 24 September 2016 / Published online: 30 September 2016 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract The quality of concrete is extremely important for the construction and mining sectors. One of the most important factors determining the quality of concrete depends on aggregates, which are not always homoge- neous. On the other hand, there is an obligation to use aggregates obtained from different quarries. In such cases, the aggregates having different properties must be blended in order to maintain the desired concrete quality. In this study, optimization was performed using a linear pro- gramming in order to blend the aggregates at different qualities. Meanwhile, the objective function was deter- mined to minimize the cost of aggregate production on the model. The limit values in the literature and national standards for the usability of aggregates in concrete were defined as constraints in the linear optimization and eval- uated with the objective functions. Therefore, the most suitable aggregate blends were composed in order to obtain the requested concrete quality. As a conclusion, the most appropriate product blends were obtained in the research fields, and the usability of this model for those quarries was evaluated to provide the sustainability of product quality. Keywords Aggregate  Blending  Linear programming  Quarry  Optimisation Introduction Concrete is a widely used construction material made by mixing the appropriate amount of aggregate, cement, and water. The properties of the concrete are directly related to the properties and ratios of materials in the mixture. The quantity of the aggregates for the concrete is approximately 70 % of the volume of the concrete. Therefore, the most important factor which affects the quality of the concrete is the properties of the aggregates. In the aspect of the sustainable use of natural resources, the aggregates obtained from the quarries at different qualities should be used optimally depending on the aggregate demand. As indicated by Persson (2002), the planning of natural resources in any area, region or country implies an economic as well as an environmental benefit. Consequently, the aggregate resources must be known before a quarry or pit is opened in order to maintain desired quality of the aggregates. Meanwhile, the extraction of rock aggregate is more problematic because of variable bedrock properties. For example, operational problems may occur unless the quarry plan is based on detailed geological mapping (Raissanen and Torppa 2005). One of the most important problems in the quarries is the quality of the aggregate changing con- stantly due to the variable bedrock properties. Therefore, the properties of the concrete produced at the plant are directly influenced. For this reason, the aggregates should be blended to provide optimal usage for the concrete. Blending is a frequently encountered problem in mining, refinery, food, chemical, and metal industries (Sakalli 2010; Sarker and Newton 2008). The blending problems are divided into two objective functions as single and multiple while the single blending problem aims to obtain the optimal mixture for only one blend; the aim of the & Adiguzel Deniz deniza@istanbul.edu.tr 1 Mining Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Istanbul University, Avcilar, Istanbul, Turkey 2 Industrial Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Istanbul University, Avcilar, Istanbul, Turkey 123 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:1304 DOI 10.1007/s12665-016-6126-z