Utilization of nickel slag as raw material in the production of Portland cement for road construction

This paper aims to use nickel slag as raw material to produce Portland cement for road construction. The burnability of cement raw meal with different contents of nickel slag was studied. The mineral compositions of prepared clinker and the hydration products of prepared cement were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry. The microscopic morphology of the clinker and hydration products were characterized by metallographic microscope and scanning electron microscope. The f-CaO content of the clinker, the mechanical properties and wear resistance of the cement pastes were tested. The result showed that the addition of nickel slag reduced the f-CaO content of clinker and improved the burnability of cement raw meal. Additionally, the hydration degree and the bending strength of cement paste were increased. When a proper amount (14 wt%) of nickel slag was incorporated into the raw materials and the sintering temperature was setted at 1350 degrees C, the 28-day compressive strength, bending strength and wear amount of cement paste were 52.4 MPa, 14.5 MPa and 2.1 kg/m(2), respectively. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.