Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF REDMUD BAUXITE WASTE AS A REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT IN CONCRETE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

R. Rathan Raja, E.B. Perumal Pillai and A.R. Santhakumar

Abstract

In terms of its outcome Indian construction industry has been widely acclaimed. Despite its growth it has certain limitation, in terms of environmental concern; hence in this alarming situation in the construction industry this paper vividly describes the need for a drastic change in the usage of cements. A bird’s eye view on the raw materials usage is the need of hour. The raw materials used in this industry are widely acclaimed; the products manufactured from the Indian construction industry have got global reputation despite these facts, the following points require attention, regarding the use of modern building materials: Energy consumed in the manufacturing processes; Natural resources and raw materials consumed; Recycling and safe disposal; Impact on environment and Long term sustainability. A bauxite residue is the one which has become the indispensable topic of today in alumina and aluminium related industries. The disposal of redmud bauxite waste through Bayer process is an inevitable subject to discuss. In this paper, an attempt has been made that the possibility to use redmud bauxite waste as a component of construction material by the way of replacement of cement in concrete of different proportions (0 to 14%). An attempt is also made to study the strength and durability characteristics of concrete with different water/binder (w/ b) ratios (0.40, 0.38, 0.36 and 0.33). According to the obtained results in corrosion test, it can be said that the redmud bauxite waste constitute a promising way to improve the rebar protection by acting as a corrosion inhibitor. In all w/b ratios the compressive strength of concrete increases up to 4% replacement.