INFLUENCE OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON MECHANICAL STRENGTH OF ALKALI-ACTIVATED Fe-Si-Ca RICH MATERIALS

Enhanced Landfill Mining is a novel integrated waste management concept seeking the recovery of valuable resources from landfill sites. In the ELFM concept, the maximisation of valorisation of individual material streams is considered as critical for environmental sustainability and economic viability of the concept. The gasification and vitrification of refuse derived fuel (RDF) derived from ELFM is expected to generate significant volumes of Fe-Si-Ca rich residues of which the use as inorganic polymers (IP) precursors has been identified as a promising valorisation route. The use of these residues, commonly termed plasmastone as an IP precursor is incipient and suggested applications include – among others - pavers, mortars and insulating building materials. Aiming to contribute to the design and conceptual development of novel value-added plasmastone-based products, the present work aspires to identify the effect of different processing parameters on the synthesis of such IP binders. A Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology was used to evaluate the effect of three main compositional factors, their interaction, and the system responses.