Using burnt stone slurry in mortar mixes

The accumulation of stone slurry waste resulting from quarries forms a serious environmental problem in many countries around the globe. The use of Jordanian burnt stone slurry (BSS) waste in concrete mixtures had been investigated throughout this study. The properties that were studied include setting time, workability, compressive and flexural strength, alkali-silica reaction, and micro-structure of mortar. The BSS was used as a partial replacement of cement and sand with different replacement percentages including 0%, 5%, 10% and 15%. Mortar mixes have a mix proportion of 1:3:0.7 by weight for cement, sand and water, respectively.Test results showed that BSS waste can be used in concrete mixtures to reduce the environmental pollution resulting from the accumulations of BSS waste. The setting time and workability decreased with the increase of BSS content. On the other hand, the compressive and flexural strength of mortar increased with the increase of BSS content under both moist and autoclaving curing. The autoclaved BSS concrete showed higher durability to alkali-silica reaction damage compared to the moist cured BSS concrete. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that BSS mortar is denser and have more homogeneous micro-structure compared to plain mortar.