Waste ammunition as secondary mineralizing raw material in Portland cement production

This paper presents a laboratory scale simulation that aims to investigate the possibility of partially substituting ordinary cement raw mix with waste ammunition materials (WAM), originated from a shooting range in Athens, Greece, in Portland cement clinker production. One reference and twelve modified mixtures, containing 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% w/w of three blends of corresponding types of waste ammunition materials, were examined. It was concluded that the three used WAM blends, improve remarkably the burnability of the cement raw mixture, even though in a different extent, without affecting considerably the hydration rate and the cement properties. In spite of the high volatile matter in the WAM, primarily due to high levels of lead present, incorporation degree of the heavy metals present in the WAM blends in the mineralogical clinker compounds was rather high during the sintering process. Leaching tests showed that the heavy metal concentrations in the leachates were kept low.