High activity pozzolan obtained from selection of excavation soils in a Construction and Demolition Waste landfill

Excavations soils from construction sites, when included as Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) can double waste amount and represent up to 80 % of waste composition. Limited recycling strategies are available for the material. In this work, soils with higher kaolinite contents were selected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to produce high activity pozzolan. Twenty soil samples were collected in an inert CDW landfill, and seven samples (one-third of the total) containing higher kaolinite content were composed as a single sample for thermal and mechanical activation as pozzolan. At the temperature of 600 °C, low crystallinity kaolinite was transformed into amorphous material (37 % g/g) achieving the highest pozzolanic activity [consumption of 519 mg Ca(OH)2/g of the sample]. The replacement of Portland cement by calcined soil (6, 10 and 18 %) had no significant rheological impact on the water to solid ratio and optimal dispersant content and affected slightly the heat and setting time of the pastes; therefore, workable, and technically applicable. The Portland cement replacement by calcined soil, despite a fixed water to solid ratio of 0.3 led to an increase in the water to cement ratios and in the porosities of the pastes. Due to the pozzolanic reaction, 6 and 10%-replacement of Portland cement by calcined soil did not impair the tensile strength of the pastes when compared to that of Portland cement paste. A 42-MPa 28-day age blended Portland with calcined soil might be feasible to produce regarding Brazilian cement industry standard. •Selection of enriched-kaolinite excavation soils by X-ray diffraction.•One-third of soils from a CDW inert landfill used as high activity pozzolan.•Heat and combined water of the pastes monitored.•Small-scale test to evaluate compressive strength of cement pastes.•Up to 10 % of calcined soil did not impair the tensile strength of the pastes.