Proceedings of the Institution of
Civil Engineers
Construction Materials 163
August 2010 Issue CM3
Pages 143–148
doi: 10.1680/coma.800017
Paper 800017
Received 03/04/2009
Accepted 29/06/2009 Yining Ding
Keywords: Professor, Institute of
recycling & reuse of materials/waste Structure Engineering,
management & disposal Dalian University of
Technology, China
Recycling of metamorphic rock waste in ecological cement
Y. Ding Dipl Ing, Dr Techn, S. Jalali
Metamorphic waste can cause much damage to the
environment and so the partial substitution of Portland
cement with metamorphic rock waste to produce
environmentally-friendly cement/concrete has been sug-
gested. In the present study, the pozzolanic reactivity of
metamorphic rock waste was investigated and the
possibility of the partial replacement of Portland cement
blended with rock waste powder was analysed. The
results indicate that the compressive strengths of mortar
containing slate waste at both early age and after 28 days
were generally increased as the slate ratio increased up to
at least 15% replacement. The dry shrinkage of mortar
with or without rock powder was measured from 3 days
up to 56 days. The results show that the replacement of
Portland cement with 15% rock waste yielded high
pozzolannic reactivity, cost advantages and environmen-
tal benefits as a green material.
NOTATION
OM cement mortars/samples without slate waste addi-
tives
PSM X cement mortars/samples with slate waste replace-
ment of X%; for instance, PSM 10: samples with
slate waste replacement of 10%
FAM Y cement mortars/samples with fly ash replacement
of Y%; for instance, FAM 15: samples with fly ash
replacement of 15%
1. INTRODUCTION
Since 2002, the output of the cement industry in China has been
the greatest of any country in the world, and more than 1 t of
carbon dioxide may be emitted for each ton of cement
production. The total cement output was about 1?35 billion tons
in 2007, and this trend will continue due to rapid economic
growth. Consequently, it is important to take effective measures
to reduce the carbon dioxide pollution caused by the cement
industry.
China is the largest producer of ornamental slates and has many
mines that have been exploited for decades. The waste from slate
and schist mining is a serious problem, as there is 70% waste
from the mining and processing procedures. Thousands of
small- or medium-sized mines and companies produce more
than 1000 million tons of metamorphic waste each year. The
disposal of this waste not only occupies enormous land resource
Construction Materials 163 Issue CM3
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Said Jalali Christoph Niederegger
Professor, Civil MTI, Faculty of Civil
Engineering Engineering, University of
Department, University Innsbruck, Austria
of Minho, Portugal
MEng, MSc, PhD and C. Niederegger Dipl Ing, Dr Techn
but can also severely pollute the environment (Figure 1(a) and
(b)) and so the correct treatment of these materials is very
important.
On the one hand, damage to the environment due to the waste from
metamorphic rock mining is enormous; on the other, the carbon
dioxide pollution from the cement industry is a major problem that
is increasing continually. In the present study powdered rock waste
was used to replace cement in the ratio of 10, 15 and 20%, the
compressive strength of the mortars was measured at different
curing ages, and their workability and shrinkage behaviour was
evaluated. The results show that both the shrinkage and the
workability of the mortars containing rock waste were very similar
to those of cement mortars without rock powder.
There have been several previous studies that have investigated
the use of powdered igneous rocks, such as rhyolite, heulandite
or tuffs, as pozzolanic material (Kitsopoulos and Dunham, 1996;
Pedersen, 2004). However, the present study deals with an
innovative source of pozzolanic materials, namely the waste
from metamorphic rock mines or enterprises. This waste has
not been used before and in fact is rarely referred to in the
available literature on the subject. The recycling of rock waste
such as slate raises a number of issues associated with the
microstructural analysis, hydration process and chemical
analysis (Sololev et al., 2007; Pan et al., 2008). The flowability
of fresh concrete can depend on various factors such as the
water/cement ratio, the fineness of the slate powder filler with
its larger specific surface area and finally the alkali content, but
these factors could not be treated separately in the course of this
study. The present study was not intended to investigate every
aspect of the reuse of rock waste; instead the focus was on the
experimental evaluation of the pozzolanic reactivity, the
workability and shrinkage and the possibility of cost benefit
associated with the use of slate waste.
In order to analyse the possible reuse of crushed slate waste
powder as a cementious material replacement for Portland
cement, the pozzolanic reactivity of the metamorphic waste
powder was investigated. In addition, mortars containing fly ash
as the referenced pozzolanic material were also studied to
compare their properties with mortars that contained slate waste
powder. The results of the study are highly significant as they
indicate that slate waste can be used in partial substitution of
Portland cement. The market for the new pozzolanic material
could be enormous; China produces more than 1?35 billion tons
Recycling of metamorphic rock waste in ecological cement Ding et al. 143
 2.1. Materials
The slate waste was obtained from metamorphic enterprises in
north China near Beijing. The mix design is listed in Table 1.
Cement CEM I 42?5, with a specific surface area of 331 m2/kg,
and fly ash (FAM) were used as reference materials for
comparison with mortars containing waste slate powder as
replacement for 10, 15 and 20% of cement. The specific surface
area of the FAM was 475 m2/kg and the sand used conformed to
ISO 679:1989 (ISO, 1989). The water/binder ratio was 0?5.

There will be upper bound level of the possible replacement of

cement with waste powder. Referring to the investigation on
FAM, three different substitution ratios, namely 10% (desig-
nated PSM 10), 15% (PSM 15), and 20% (PSM 20) rock waste
powder with a specific surface area of 594 m2/kg, were tested.

2.2. Grain-size analysis

The powder was ground by SYM 5006500 testing crocus
equipment. The particle size distribution of cement, fly ash and
slate waste powder (measured by centrifugal particle-size
analyser) is illustrated in Figure 2. It can be seen that for any
particular size the percentage of grains of slate waste powder
was greater than that of fly ash and cement. The major part
(about 90%) of the slate waste powder was smaller than 40 mm.

2.3. Chemical analysis

The alkali environment of a mortar or concrete matrix is an
important factor that affects the durability. The evaluations of
the pH value of cement and slate at 20 ˚C were carried out
(Table 2). It can be seen that the pH value of the slate waste was
9?2, which indicates that it could be suitable for reusing in
concrete mix.

Figure 1. (a) and (b) Deposition of metamorphic rock waste in
North China
of cement per year and so 10% replacement of Portland cement
would require some 135 million tons of pozzolanic materials.
2. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
The experimental programme had the following three main
aims.
(a) Investigation of the workability of mortars containing slate
waste in comparison with normal cement mortar and
cement mortar with fly ash addition.
(b) Investigation of the compressive strength of samples
containing slate waste in comparison with normal cement
samples and cement mortar with fly ash addition.
(c) Investigation of the shrinkage behaviours of samples
containing slate waste in comparison with normal cement
samples and cement mortar with fly ash addition.
The aim of the present investigation was to use the recycled
metamorphic powder as a part of the concrete member. Hence,
the matrix should have a similar alkali ambient to cement, in
order to protect the steel reinforcement. The lower boundary of
pH value of rock powder was limited, in order to avoid reduction
of the general alkali value of the concrete matrix as this could
affect the durability of the reinforced concrete member.
The chemical composition of the materials was analysed using X-
ray fluorescence and the measured values are presented in Table 3.
The main chemical components of slate are silicon dioxide (SiO2)
and aluminium oxide (Al2O3), and they may contribute to the
pozzolanic activities of metamorphic waste powder. If the content
of potassium oxide (K2O) is too high, however, the compressive
strength of the samples may be reduced.
2.4. Workability of different mortars
Figure 3 illustrates the flowability of mixtures with different
ratios of waste powder and fly ash substitutions. It can be seen
that the metamorphic waste powder did not adversely affect the

Substitution ratio CEM I 42?5: g Slate/FA: g Standard sand: g Water: g Water/binder ratio

1) OM 0 450 0 1350 225 0?5

2) PSM/FAM 10 405 45 1350 225 0?5
3) PSM/FAM 15 382?5 67?5 1350 225 0?5
4) PSM/FAM 20 360 90 1350 225 0?5

Table 1. Mix design for reactivity test (10–15–20% replacement)

144 Construction Materials 163 Issue CM3 Recycling of metamorphic rock waste in ecological cement Ding et al.

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 100

90

80

70

60

Percentage
50

40 Cement
Fly ash
30
Slate
20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Grain size: mm
Figure 2. Comparison of the grain-size distribution curves

Average pH
160
CEM I 42?5 12?35 155
150

Slate 9?2
Table 2. Comparison of the pH values
workability of the mortar when the substitution ratio was lower
than 20%. The flowability of the PSM mixture declined if the
substitution ratio was 20%, which meant that mortar containing
20% slate waste would need a greater water content to achieve
the same flowability.
The flowability of fresh concrete can depend on various factors.
The alkali content could be one reason for the decline in the
flowability of the PSM mixture with substitution ratio of 20%.
Another reason could be that the fine filler effect of the slate
powder with a greater specific surface demands more water.
2.5. Compressive strength of mortars
The most important quality for pozzolanic reaction of recycled
cement is the compressive strength. According to Chinese
standard (SAPRC, 2005), the rock powder may show pozzolanic
Flowability: mm
145
140
135
130
125
120
OM FAM 10 FAM 15 FAM 20 PSM 10 PSM 15 PSM 20
Mortar
Figure 3. Flowability of mortar
reactivity, if the compressive strength of mortar with additional
materials is greater than 60% of the strength of normal cement
samples that have no rock powder addition. The samples (40 mm
6 40 mm 6 160 mm) were prepared, manufactured, cast and
wet cured at 20 ˚C according to Chinese code (SBQTS, 1999). The
comparisons of compressive strengths and rate of increase are
listed in Tables 4 and 5. It can be seen that in comparison with
the samples with no slate waste (OM), the compressive strength
of the samples with different ratios of slate waste powder (PSM)
increased more than 16% at 1 day, whereas the compressive
strength of samples with fly ash (FAM) was smaller than that of

SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO K2O Na2O Fe2O3

Percentage: % 60?4 20?6 0?19 1?77 6?21 0?91 8?41

Table 3. Chemical compositions of rock waste

OM FAM 10 FAM 15 FAM 20 PSM 10 PSM 15 PSM 20

1 day 10?3 8?83 9?1 9?9 11?9 14?9 12?5

28 days 44?3 49?50 45?2 43?5 54?5 50?4 43?7

Table 4. Comparison of compressive strengths of various mortars: N/mm2

OM FAM 10 FAM 15 FAM 20 PSM 10 PSM 15 PSM 20

1 day 1 0?86 0?88 0?96 1?16 1?45 1?21

28 days 1 1?12 1?02 0?98 1?23 1?14 0?99

Table 5. Comparison of the rate of increase of compressive strengths of various mortars: %

Construction Materials 163 Issue CM3 Recycling of metamorphic rock waste in ecological cement Ding et al. 145

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 cement. This indicates that the addition of slate powder can
increase the early age strength of samples significantly. In
addition, the high alkalinity of samples with 20% waste powder
(PSM 20) may be one of the reasons for the decrease in
compressive strength, which was slightly lower than that
of OM.
At 28 days, the compressive strengths of samples with 10 and
15% waste powder were both higher than those of the OM and
samples with fly ash. Furthermore, the compressive strength of
samples with slate waste powder increased from 14 to 23%. The
compressive strength of samples with 20% waste powder was,
however, slightly lower than that of OM. This implies that a
substitution ratio of 15% could be a possible upper bound for
the replacement.
The investigation on the compressive strength of the PSM 10,
PSM 15 and PSM 20 samples shows that the milled slate waste
powder with no heat treatment may have high pozzolanic
reactivity, which could be very cost-efficient for industrial use.
2.6. X-ray diffraction
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) testing of fly ash and slate waste
was carried out to evaluate and compare the crystal structures
and amorphous behaviour of the materials. The results for slate
waste powder and fly ash are presented in Figures 4 and 5. It can
be seen that slate waste powder had a more crystalline structure
than the fly ash. Furthermore, the slate waste also showed an
amorphous structure, which means that the crushed meta-
morphic rock waste could be used in concrete as both pozzolanic
reactive material and as fine filler.
2.7. Shrinkage behaviours of different mortars
In order to analyse the volume stability of the mortars with or
without rock waste powders, the shrinkage behaviour of mortars
was tested at intervals from 3 days up to 56 days. The
comparison of shrinkage properties among OM samples and
those containing replacement ratios of 15% slate powder (PSM)
and fly ash (FAM) is presented in Figure 6. It can be seen that
after 56 days the shrinkage of PSM 15 was very close to that of
OM and FAM 15, and the three mortars showed similar
shrinkage trends from 3 to 56 days. The comparison of the
shrinkage among OM, FAM and PSM is listed in Table 6.
Table 7 illustrates the variation of the shrinkages of samples
with different ratios of fly ash and slate waste powder. It can be
seen that the replacement ratio of 10 and 15% of slate waste
does not have any clear influence on the shrinkage behaviour of
mortars.
The shrinkage values of PSM 10 and PSM 15 were very close to
that of OM but, in comparison with OM, the shrinkage of PSM
20 increased by about 14%. This means that the replacement
ratio of 15% may be an upper bound limit for the shrinkage.

100 S3
90
80
70
Intensity: cps

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
2h
Figure 4. XRD of slate powder

100
90 Fly ash

80
70
Intensity: cps

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
2h
Figure 5. XRD of fly ash

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 0.700

0.600

0.500

Shrinkage: ‰
0.400

0.300

0.200
OM FAM 15 PSM 15
0.100

0.000
0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56
Concrete age: days
Figure 6. Comparison of the shrinkage properties of various mortars

Shrinkage: ø

Age of samples 3 days 7 days 14 days 28 days 56 days

OM 0?000 0?244 0?381 0?525 0?598

FAM 10 0?000 0?204 0?338 0?506 0?564
FAM 15 0?000 0?213 0?375 0?513 0?625
FAM 20 0?000 0?210 0?400 0?490 0?589
PSM 10 0?000 0?215 0?331 0?488 0?550
PSM 15 0?000 0?221 0?352 0?542 0?643
PSM 20 0?000 0?216 0?434 0?638 0?683

Table 6. Comparison of the shrinkage behaviour of different mortars

3. ECONOMIC EVALUATION
The above-mentioned investigations showed the good techno-
logical properties of slate powder when used as an additive for
ecological cement/concrete. For a possible practical reuse of
metamorphic waste, however, the cost benefit is also an
important precondition. It is useful to analyse whether the
replacement of cement with slate waste powder could reduce the
cost of cement production. Table 8 illustrates the cost compar-
ison of cement and recycled slate powder.
It would be necessary to specify an optimum ratio for the possible
substitution, which meets the demands of both strength and
economic benefit. The cost of slate powder is mainly derived from
the processing cost, which is similar to milling in the laboratory,
but no heating treatment is necessary. The present study indicates
a potentially valuable scenario for the industrial reuse of slate
waste due to its good pozzolanic reactivity, as shown by the XRD
results and the compressive strength measurements as well as the
shrinkage behaviour, and also the cost benefit of the use of slate
waste as a replacement for cement.

4. CONCLUSIONS
Age of
samples 7 days 14 days 28 days 56 days The pozzolanic reactivity of the slate waste powder is an
important precondition for recycling of metamorphic waste. The
OM 1 1 1 1 present investigations of slate waste led to the following
FAM 10 0?84 0?89 0?96 0?94 observations.
FAM 15 0?87 0?98 0?98 1?05
FAM 20 0?86 1?05 0?93 0?98
PSM 10 0?88 0?87 0?93 0?92 (a) The slate waste powder did not have a negative influence on
PSM 15 0?91 0?92 1?03 1?08 the workability of the mortar if the substitution ratio of
PSM 20 0?88 1?14 1?21 1?14 cement was not higher than 15%.
(b) The addition of slate waste powder enhanced the compres-
Table 7. Comparison of the increase rate of shrinkage of
different mortars: % sive strength of samples.
(c) The compressive strength of PSM 15 was higher than that of
PSM 20 after 28 days. In comparison with the OM samples,
Materials Cost: J/100 kg the compressive strength of PSM 10 increased by about
23%, and that of PSM15 increased by about 14%.
Cement 4?6 (d) The shrinkage of PSM 10 and PSM 15 was less than that of
Recycled slate waste 1?8 OM, whereas the shrinkage of PSM 20 was greater, which
means that the slate waste powder could reduce the
Table 8. Cost comparison between cement and recycled
slate waste shrinkage of the mortar if the replacement ratio was no
greater than 15%.

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 (e) The recycled slate waste powder with no heat treatment
showed high pozzolanic reactivity and a 15% substitution of
cement increased the compressive strength by 14%, which
may be very cost-efficient for possible industrial use.
The use of slate waste powder in replacement ratios of 10 and
15% showed both high compressive strength and cost benefit.
The substitution ratio of 15% appears to be both a reactive
efficient point and a possible economically favourable point.
This suggests that the addition of 15% slate waste as a
replacement for cement represents the optimal ecological and
economic substitution ratio.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors acknowledge the support of FCT (SFRH/BPD/22680
/2005), from the Chinese National Science Foundation (Grant
No. 50578026).
REFERENCES
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) (1989) ISO
679:1989: Methods of Testing Cements – Determination of
Strength. ISO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Kitsopoulos KP and Dunham AC (1996) Heulandite and
mordenite-rich tuffs from Greece: a potential source for
pozzolanic materials. Mineral Deposit 31(6): 576–583.
Pan J, Huang C, Kuo J and Lin S (2008) Recycling MSWI bottom
and fly ash as raw materials for Portland cement. Waste
Management 28(7): 1113–1118.
Pedersen MB (2004) Alkali-reactive and Inert Fillers in Concrete.
Rheology of Fresh Mixtures and Expansive Reactions.
Dissertation, Department of Structural Engineering,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
SAPRC (Standardisation Administration of the People’s Republic
of China) (2005) GB/T 12957-2005: Chinese Standard: Test
Method for Activity of Industrial Waste Slag Used as an
Addition to Cement. Standards Press of China, Beijing.
SBQTS (State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision)
(1999) GB/T 17671-1999: Chinese Standard: Method of
Testing Cements – Determination of Strength. Standards
Press of China, Beijing.
Sololev K, Tuerker P, Sololeva S and Iscioglu G (2007)
Utilization of waste glass in ECO-cement: strength properties
and microstructural observations. Waste Management 27(7):
971–976.

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