3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 125

Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

Characterization of quarry fines for recycling uses in construction

M. Galetakis and K. Leventakis

Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Hania, Greece

ABSTRACT from limestone deposits that are widespread all

over the country, via quarrying operations
Quarrying and ornamental stone processing, be-
(Galetakis and Raka, 2004a). More than 300
ing a massive contributor to any construction
small to medium size quarries produce about
project regardless of the technology level in-
100 million tones of crushed limestone aggre-
volved, has been proven to attribute to a great
gates annually (Menegaki, 2008).
extent to the accumulation and harmful disper-
During the extraction, hauling and crushing
sion in water, air and soil of solid waste such as
processes for the production of aggregates, large
fine stone dust. In this study, the dominant
quantities of limestone fines, hereon referred to
mechanisms of dust production during extrac-
as quarry dust, are generated. Particularly at the
tion, crushing and processing have been ad-
stage of crushing and screening, fine airborne
dressed. Consecutively, the technical, legal, and
material such as silt and crusher dust can be lib-
economical issues arising from the lack of
erated and emitted into the surrounding atmos-
proper management of such a fine stone by-
phere. Silt is a material between 2 and 60 μm
product have been addressed. A characterization
reduced to this size by natural processes and it is
methodology, based on selected quality charac-
found in aggregates won from natural deposits.
teristics of quarry dust, has been developed and
Crusher dust is a fine material formed during
limestone dust, collected from a concrete and
the process of rock comminution. In concrete
asphalt mixture producer in Crete, has been
fine material is present in aggregates in the form
characterized as a case study.
of surface coating which interferes with the
bond between aggregate and cement paste.
1. INTRODUCTION Greek National Concrete Regulation
(Karavasili, 2003) limits the content of fine ma-
Recent years have seen an unprecedented terial in coarse crushed aggregates for structural
growth of interest on the environmental per- concrete, to 1% and in crushed stone sand to
formance of all industry sectors, as the global 15%. Limestone dust compared with coarser
economy is forced to evaluate its environmental aggregates used in structural concrete, exhibits
impact, under the pressure of evident recent higher specific surface and higher water absorp-
changes in climate, natural habitat, fauna and tion resulting to higher water demand. High wa-
flora. Construction, being a major component of ter-to-cement ratio, is in turn responsible for
human activities, regardless of the state of evo- higher shrinkage and creep values for the hard-
lution of state economy, has been accused from ened concrete. Quarry dust in Greece, usually
early years on for its heavy impact on natural removed from the aggregates by bag filters, suc-
environment. tion, or air cyclones, is estimated to 10% of the
Aggregate materials, used extensively for all total aggregate production (Galetakis and Raka,
construction applications, are essential for the 2004b). This quarry dust amounts to ~10 Mt an-
development of any modern economy. In nually (Menegaki, 2008) and poses severe dis-
Greece, the majority of aggregates are extracted posal and environmental problems. Since devel-
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 126
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

opment needs to take place in a way, which pro- Centre for Aggregate Research (ICAR) sympo-
tects the environment, in order to achieve sus- siums (1994 to 2008), devising ways of charac-
tainability, waste or by-product material re- terizing, assessing and testing aggregate proper-
quires management for proper disposal or fur- ties. The concept was to predict the properties of
ther utilization (Hill et al., 2001). concrete or concrete-based building elements
The Mineral Industry Research Organization made from it. Much of this research concerns
(MIRO), of UK, has issued a number of reports the fine fraction (<75µm) of aggregates. Efforts
(Manning, 2004; Petavratzi and Wilson, 2008) have been made by ICAR to the direction of de-
evaluating the following uses: quarry restora- veloping such a classification procedure, for the
tion, backfill/infill of voids, general fill (i.e. em- use of aggregate fines in concrete (ICAR 101-
bankments), road pavement construction (i.e. 2F).
sub-base, capping), remediation works, artificial In order to achieve sustainability, out-dated
soils, compost, filler applications (for example, or superseded specifications must be changed,
paper, paint, plastics, rubber), portland cement when appropriate, to allow the use of so-called
kiln meal, innovative products (for example, secondary material. Inappropriate specifications
green roofs, eco-slates, cob building ), con- and/or standards are a significant problem in the
trolled low strength materials - self compacting USA and there are numerous ICAR symposium
concrete, manufactured concrete, heavy ceram- papers related to this issue. For example, stan-
ics, manufactured aggregates, hydraulically dards set for the use of natural sands in con-
bound mixtures, asphalt. As far as construction crete, are still active in many states where
is concerned a lot of uses for quarry dust have crushed sand is used. In natural sands, the fines
been investigated such as: construction of vari- present tend to be clay minerals which reduce
ous types of masonry bricks and artificial concrete strength by inhibiting the bond be-
stones, mineral admixture in Self Compacted tween aggregate and cementitious mortar (Du-
Concrete (SCC), and high performance micro- katz, 1995). The restriction on the percentage of
concrete (Fowler, 1995). fine material present in concrete has originally
Quarrying enterprises in Greece belong in the risen from the later observation. When crushed
construction sector of the economy. Conse- sand is used, fines are typically non clay. To
quently construction uses for the fine quarry by- clarify this, chemical analysis can be used to de-
product would be much easier to encompass termine the clay mineral content (for example
into their production chain. methylene blue, titration test).
In this study a characterization methodology, Dumitru et al. (2001) in a study presented at
based on selected quality characteristics of the 2001 ICAR symposium, propose alternative
quarry dust, is presented. Its future utilization or complimentary methods for assessing fine
would point out the most suitable use for quarry aggregates. They concluded that mineralogical
dust of different qualities. In the second section analysis (for example X-ray diffraction analy-
of this paper the quality requirements as well as sis), should be used to identify and quantify
the characterization methods of quarry dust for secondary minerals harmful in some applica-
uses in construction industry is discussed. The tions (in particular clay minerals).
quality characteristics of the limestone dust col- Prior to 1997, quarries certified by the US
lected from a quarry in Crete is also presented. Department of Transportation were required to
In the third section results are discussed and fi- maintain grading target values of 0-7% passing
nally conclusions are given in the fourth part. mesh No 100 (150 μm) sieve and 0-2% passing
mesh No200 (75 μm) sieve. Users were forced
to add fines in order to improve workability and
2. CHARACTERIZATION OF QUARRY finishability. This specification for very low
FINES percentages of -75 mm fines, common in as-
2.1 Characterization and quality requirements phalt and concrete mix aggregates, in conjunc-
of quarry fines for construction uses tion with increased demand for crushed concrete
sand, have increased the rate of waste fines pro-
Over the years, there has been an increase in re- duction (Smith and Slaughter, 1996).
search efforts, presented at the International It is evident that size distribution, as well as
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 127
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

chemical and mineralogical composition is the the operation of the asphalt-mix plant. Fine
most important characteristics of bulk limestone aggregate particles are removed by the ex-
quarry dust. Since though, they exhibit wide haust fumes of the fuel oil-fired kiln and are
variations, even within a single day’s produc- then collected by air cyclones and bug filters.
tion, they should be monitored in order to indi- Consequently the collected dust contains a
cate the best suitable use for recycling this by- considerable amount of unburned particles of
product. Evaluation of the resulting composi- the heavy-oil. The resulting color of the col-
tional and physical data can be used as input in lected dust is directly related to the amount
the development of specifications and test pro- of the contained unburned fuel. The material
cedures used to evaluate and approve fines for is then wetted (for the elimination of air dust
the production of recycled products. Further- emissions) and disposed in tanks or piles lo-
more, this data should aid in identifying the cated inside the plant yard.
most appropriate economic use for fines, based Samples of white, dry material were col-
on spatial constraints associated with lithology lected by using a slotted sampling probe suitable
variations (McClellan et al., 2002). for fine bulk materials. This sampler assures the
collection of representative samples on all pile
3. CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUA- locations.
TION OF AGGREGATE FINES COLLECTED Slurry or semi-dry dust samples (disposed in
FROM A CONCRETE / ASPHALT MIXING the setting tanks) were collected uniformly from
PLANT the tanks’ surfaces due to the small and roughly
constant depth of the tanks, using a shovel. Col-
3.1 Quarry lithology and sampling lected samples of both dust varieties were ho-
For the purpose of this project, limestone dust mogenized and reduced in quantity by using a
samples where collected from a concrete ready- riffle sample divider to obtain suitable sub-
mix and asphalt mix production plant, situated samples required for the laboratory analysis.
in the Heraklion prefecture on the Island of 3.2 Laboratory analysis and results evaluation
Crete, Southern Greece. The company uses ex-
clusively aggregates provided from the near-by Laboratory tests carried out on selected samples
quarry, producing over 800.000 t of aggregates of the quarry dust, included grain size and mor-
annually, where rock samples were also col- phology analysis, determination of mineralogi-
lected. cal and chemical composition, specific surface
Aggregates are extracted from geological for- and bulk density.
mations consisting mainly of limestones me- Grain analysis of limestone dust was carried
dium bedded, light to dark gray. Two visually out by using a laser particle-size analyzer (Mal-
distinguishable limestone dust varieties gener- vern Instruments, Mastersize-S). Results, shown
ated as by-products, lead to different strategies in Figure 1, indicated that the white limestone
of sampling. This is due to the different mecha- dust collected from concrete aggregate is
nisms of limestone dust accumulation during the coarser to that collected from the asphalt plant
various production stages, attributing to differ- (brown and dark grey dust).
ent physical and chemical characteristics of the Grain morphology was studied by means of
final bulk fine by-product. These different varie- optical and scanning electron microscopy
ties are: (SEM). Size fractions of +75 μm, -75+56 μm
and -56 μm were taken by wet sieving from se-
- Dry White limestone dust (sample designa- lected samples of the quarry dust. The +75 μm
tion WD). This material is collected when and -75+56 μm fractions were optically studied
dedusting of coarse concrete aggregates is by using a stereomicroscope while the -56 μm
performed by mean of air separation. Dust is fraction by SEM. Typical microphotographs of
removed from coarse aggregates by high the white and the brown dust, taken from the
pressure air vents and then collected by cy- stereomicroscope, are shown in Figure 2. In
clones and bag filters. Figure 3 SEM images of the -56 μm fraction of
- Brown to dark grey limestone dust (samples brown dust are illustrated.
1-30). This type of dust is generated during
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 128
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

100 White dust Brown dust Dark grey dust

90
80

+75 μm
Cumulative % (passed)

70 White dry dust

1500 μm
60
50 Brown and dark grey dust

-75 +56 μm
40
30 500 μ m

20
Figure 2: Stereomicroscopic images indicating grains
10 morphology, for the different types and gradations of the
0 quarry dust.
0 40 80 120 160 200
Particle size (μm) is shown in Table 1. Dust consists mostly of
calcite, while small amounts of dolomite and
Figure 1: Particle size analysis of selected samples of
limestone dust. traces of quartz where also detected.
In a limited number of brown to dark grey
In Figure 2, it can be observed that the coarse dust samples, small amounts of NaCl were also
granulometric fraction (+75 μm) of both types detected. The presence of NaCl in the wetted
of dust is non-homogeneous. Relatively large dust is associated with the occasionally sub-
and flaky particles, that were likely drifted by saline water (especially during summer months)
the air vent, are also present. On the contrary, in used in the Heraklion industrial region. This ob-
fractions -75+56 μm, and -56 μm (Fig. 3) grains servation might lead to concern when examin-
appear homogeneous. Dust consists almost ex- ing the potential uses for quarry dust, as NaCl
clusively of angular calcite particles. has been identified as deleterious in many con-
Mineralogical analysis of dust, as well as bed struction applications.
rock samples (designated BD), was carried out The acid insoluble fraction of each sample of
by using an X-Ray diffractometer (Siemens by-product fines was determined after digestion
D500). Results indicated that quarry dust con- in 2N HCl and then analyzed by x-ray diffrac-
sists mainly of calcite (~98 wt %) with traces of tion (XRD) to determine its mineralogical com-
dolomite and less frequently of quartz (Fig. 4). position. The resulting data (Table 2) illustrate
The chemical composition of selected samples that the white limestone dust possesses much
(WD1, WD2, 28, 11, 13, 14, 19 and 24) of less acid insoluble content than the brown to
quarry dust as well as of bed rock samples dark grey limestone dust. XRD analysis of the
(BRA and BRB) collected from the quarry, was acid insoluble residues shows them to compose
determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry mainly of quartz, clay minerals and iron oxides.
(Siemens SRS 303 sequential spectrometer) and Most common is, quartz, which was detected in
Table 1: Chemical composition of quarry dust samples.
CaO Fe2O3 SiO2 Al2O3 MgO K2O Na2O CO2 Calcite Dolomite
Sample code
% % % % % % % % % %
WD1 51.46 0.06 0.52 0.15 3.36 <0.1 <0.1 44.55 83.60 14.85
WD2 30.40 0.07 0.63 0.14 21.90 <0.1 <0.1 47.70 <0.5 99.13
8 55.11 0.21 0.53 0.12 0.25 <0.1 <0.1 43.90 98.41 <0.5
11 55.17 0.27 0.55 0.11 0.23 <0.1 <0.1 43.85 98.51 <0.5
13 53.46 0.21 0.48 0.16 1.68 <0.1 <0.1 43.86 91.17 7.8
14 53.76 0.25 0.63 0.21 1.48 <0.1 <0.1 43.75 92.07 6.7
19 53.06 0.165 0.49 0.19 1.48 <0.1 0.6 43.26 90.88 7.02
24 53.46 0.179 0.55 0.17 1.68 <0.1 <0.1 43.85 91.17 7.80
BRA 55.44 0.03 0.26 0.10 0.24 <0.1 <0.1 43.89 99.00 <0.5
BRΒ 55.34 0.03 0.36 0.10 0.23 <0.1 <0.1 43.90 98.83 <0.5
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 129
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

Blaine values are high and exhibit moderate to

high variability (from 2988 to 5651 cm2/g).
Blaine value, also referred to as fineness, is re-
lated to the gradation of the dust. Other meas-
ured parameters were apparent density, pH and
organic matter content. pH was measured in
10 μm dust suspensions in distilled water. The calcu-
lated values were typical for limestone filler.
Figure 3: Scanning electron microscopy images showing The organic matter was determined by thermo-
grain size and morphology of the -56 μm granulometric
fraction of the dark grey dust.
gravimetric analysis (TGA-6 Perkins Elmer sys-
tem). The mean values of the above parameters
all studied samples. Clay minerals’ presence is are listed in Table 2.
also common, as a result of clay concentration
enrichment in the fine fraction. The quantifica-
4. CONCLUSIONS SUGGESTIONS
tion of clay minerals’ content is essential when
examining the potential applications for quarry The accumulation of fine limestone dust in
dust, as many of them possess shrink/swell quarries and concrete/asphalt-mix plants is a
characteristics, which have been recognized as chronic problem that threats the industry with
harmful in concrete structures. great legal and economic implications, in the
The specific surface of limestone dust was present environmentally sensitive global econ-
measured by the Blaine method (air permeabil- omy. The huge quantities of this by-product that
ity) and the calculated mean values for both have been stockpiled and are also currently pro-
types of dust are given in Table 2. Measured duced, call for a solution that could consume

Cc
7000
♦ Cc=Calcite
• Do=Dolomite
6000

5000
Lin (Counts)

4000

3000

2000

1000
Do

3 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

2-Theta - Scale
Figure 4: Typical X-ray diffractometer diagram of the quarry dust, indicating that quarry dust is consisted mainly of cal-
cite and of a small amount of dolomite.

Table 2: Average values of measured parameters for both types of dust

Number of Specific surface Apparent Acid insoluble Organic matter
Type of dust pH
samples cm2/g (Blaine) density g/cm3 residue % %
White 2 2988 1.26 0.75 9.34 0.02
Brown/dark
30 5645 1.12 2.27 9.04 1.27
grey
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 130
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

great quantities and produce even marginal ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

profits for the companies involved.
The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the
The characterization and evaluation of quarry
Research Committee of the Technical Univer-
dust samples collected from an asphalt/concrete
sity of Crete (ELKE) for the financial support of
plant in the area of Heraklion indicated that:
this research project.
- Limestone dust produced is not of uniform
quality, but exhibits large fluctuation, espe-
cially in gradation and composition. This REFERENCES
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