Clay-cement reactions

Table 2 presents the PSD of the binary models obtained by reaction of clay or polyphenol with Al- or Fe- polymers. Both Al- and Fe- were able to cement clay particles with initial size < 2 pm, into small packets with particle size prevailingly ranging from 5 to 15 pm. However, the C-Al packets are characterized by a noticeable dimensional homogeneity, since most of particles (70.5%) lies in the size range of 5-10 pm. Differently, the size of the C-Fe packets is more widely distributed between 5 (50.1%) and 15 (41.6%) pm. 

Abstract. Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) is a polymer soluble in hot water, it has the property of film formation and it can improve the concrete performance. The effects of PVA modified with nano clay on the cement hydration reaction have been investigated by means of semiadiabatic calorimeter, FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. FTIR spectroscopy was employed to monitor chemical transformation of cement. The morphology of the different samples was compared by means of SEM micrographs. With the semiadiabatic calorimeter the hydration kinetic was measured to compare the heat rate of the admixtures materials. Fixing the water-cement ratio, w/c, in 0,45, the ratio of polymer to cement (p/c) was 2 wt% and the ratio of clay to polymer was 4 wt% (0.8wt.% related to cement). The polymer and modified polymer admixtures produced a retardation effect on the kinetic of cement hydration, but the clay acts as nucleating agent. The increase of the temperature with time was measured and a new model with four parameters was employed and the kinetic parameters were determined for each sample. 

The most important example from an industrial point of view is the manufacturing of cement by reaction of silica (in clay form) with calcium carbonate (limestone), which leads to calcium silicates (main conqjonents of cement) such as tricalcium silicate according to... 

Barium carbonate prevents formation of scum and efflorescence in brick, tile, masonry cement, terra cotta, and sewer pipe by insolubilizing the soluble sulfates contained in many of the otherwise unsuitable clays. At the same time, it aids other deflocculants by precipitating calcium and magnesium as the carbonates. This reaction is relatively slow and normally requites several days to mature even when very fine powder is used. Consequentiy, often a barium carbonate emulsion in water is prepared with carbonic acid to further increase the solubiUty and speed the reaction. 

The theoretical energy requirement for the burning of Portiand cement clinker can be calculated from the heat requirements and energy recovery from the various stages of the process. Knowledge of the specific heats of the various phases, and the heats of decomposition, transformation, and reaction then permits calculation of the net theoretical energy requirement of 1760 kj (420 kcal) for 1 kg of clinker from 1.55 kg of dry CaCO and kaolin (see Clays) (8). 

In the cement industry, the term hydration is used to describe a range of reactions between cement and water to produce a hardened product. A cement clinker particle is a multiphase solid having massive calcium silicate grains (50-100 pm) in a matrix of interstitial aluminate and ferrite. This is described as analogous to a distorted clay sequence, which traps regions of porosity-pore size distribution from nanometer to micrometer. 

A.D. 79 and calcium carbonate, the stuff of seashells, chalk, and limestone. Adding water to these sets off a complex set of chemical reactions that convert the gritty pasty stuff into what is essentially artificial stone. The nineteenth-century rediscovery of Roman cement, the aforementioned Portland cement, is made from a combination of burned limestone, clay, and water. It is the single most heavily used human-made material on earth. 

The reaction products of interest to us in this respect are the salts of hydrogen cyanide, called cyanides,314 in particular, the iron cyanide group, formed by a compound of iron and cyanide. Iron occurs universally in nature. It is iron which gives brick its red color, sand its ochre color, and clay its color ranging from yellowish to reddish-brown. More precisely, we are speaking of iron oxide, popularly known as rust . Basically, all walls consist of at least 1% rust, as a result of sand, gravel, clay, and cement, of which the wall is constructed. 

Among the most common minerals are the feldspars and clays. These materials have been used for centuries in the manufacture of pottery, china, brick, cement, and other materials. Feldspars include the mineral orthoclase, K20 A1203 6Si02, but this formula can also be written as K2Al2Si60i6- Under the influence of carbon dioxide and water, this mineral weathers by a reaction that can be shown as... 

In the manufacture of Portland cement clinker, the raw materials, typically a limestone and a clay or shale, are intimately mixed and heated, ultimately to a temperature of about 1450°C. The principal reactions taking place are conveniently divided into three groups, viz ... 

The enthalpy change on formation of Portland cement clinker cannot be calculated with high precision, mainly because of uncertainties associated with the clay minerals in the raw material. Table 3.1 gives data for the main thermochemical components of the reaction, almost all of which have been calculated from a self-consistent set of standard enthalpies of formation, and which are therefore likely to be more reliable than other values in the literature. The conversion of the clay minerals into oxides is an imaginary reaction, but valid as a component in a Hess s law calculation. Few reliable thermochemical data exist for clay minerals those for pyrophyllite and kaolinite can probably be used with sufficient accuracy, on a weight basis. 

It should be noted that lime reacts with clay particles. This leads to strength increase by pozzolanic and carbonation cementation processes. Cation exchange and pozzolanic reactions result in strength increase. The level of reactivity and hence strength gained in soil-lime mixtures depends on the level of pozzolanic product created. The chemical reaction between soil and lime can be presented as below ... 

Geopolymers are another type of intermediate products that lie between cements and ceramics [7]. A geopolymer is made by pyroprocessing naturally occurring kaolin (alumina-rich clay) into metakaolin. This metakaolin is then reacted with an alkali hydroxide or sodium silicate to yield a rock-Uke hard mass. Thus, a chemical reaction, which is not fully understood, is employed to produce a hard ceramic-Uke product. Though this product is produced like cement, its properties are more like a sintered ceramic. It is dense and hard like a rock. 

The balance among the reactions in Table 1 evolves during late diagenesis as clay mineral reactions proceed, feldspars are consumed, and cements are precipitated. If local dissolution and precipitation reactions are out of balance at any point in this evolution, then transport of acid (and possibly other components) at scales larger than thin sections will be required. However, quantifying the acid balance among all the reactions in Table 1 requires information on shale composition and petrography that is not currently available. 

Portland cement is a finely ground, powdered mixture of compounds produced by the high-temperature reaction of lime, silica, alumina, and iron oxide. The lime (CaO) may come from limestone or chalk deposits, and the silica (Si02) and alumina (AI2O3) are often obtained in clays or slags. The blast furnaces of steel mills are a common source of slag, which is a byproduct of the smelting of iron ore. 

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