Moroccan oil shale and coal waste as alternative raw materials in Portland cement clinker manufacture. Clinkerisation reactions and clinker characterisation

For some time the cement industry has been seeking procedures to effectively lower the higher energy costs involved in cement manufacture. Timahdit oil shale and Jerada coal waste could potentially be used as alternative raw materials to produce clinker. This study explored the possibility of applying those materials to a greener use, based on the reactivity and burnability of raw mixes containing Moroccan oil shale and coal waste. The findings showed that, irrespective of particle size, oil shale mixes delivered higher reactivity than coal waste materials, although reactivity was highest in the oil shale clinker with a particle size < 45 μm. The clinkers bearing oil shale with a particle size < 90 μm or a blend of oil shale and coal waste with a size < 45 μm contained higher proportions of alite ( > 70 %).