Estudio comparativo de las propiedades físicas de aluminosilicatos del cantón Guayaquil para sustitución parcial del cemento portland IP

Abstract

Since cement is a natural or artificial material present in almost all the buildings in the world, it is normal to say that it is the consumer of large amounts of natural resources and emitter of carbon dioxide, so there is a need to find a substitute of cement for sustainable and environmentally friendly materials. In the Civil Engineering laboratories, the physical (morphology, density, grain size, fineness) and chemical properties of the aluminosilicates ZA, ZI, ZZ (zeolites) of the canton of Guayaquil were compared with those of Selva Alegre IP cement. Apply the density test using the NTE INEN-156 standard, obtaining values of ZZ equal to 2,514, ZI equal to 2,485, and ZA equal to 2,445 grams on cubic centimeter by pycnometer calibration and other values of ZZ equal to 2,353, ZI equal at 2,233, and ZA equal to 2,408 grams per cubic centimeter at room temperature, which indicate that the density of the zeolite is very variable. I present the final percentages of fineness according to NTE INEN-489 of the samples of ZZ equal to 99.51, ZA equal to 99.04, ZI equal to 99.35, which are optimal in constructions and are compared with the percentage of IP cement equal to 99.72, grinding and granulometric graphs are also presented as an additional contribution to the investigation. On the other hand, the morphological and chemical characterization is indicated, by microscopy, the EDS showed a homogeneous distribution of elements of the zeolites with respect to the cement, but a heterogeneous quantity in percentages of each element. Defined cubic crystalline structures and other amorphous forms with dimensions from 1 to 20 microns were observed in the SEM of IP cement, differing from ZZ, ZI, ZA that presented crystals with irregular surfaces and undefined, elongated and polyhedral structures with dimensions ranging from 1 to 50 microns. The final results of the physical and chemical tests show the feasibility of using these aluminosilicates as a material with potential cementing characteristics to be a substitute for Selva Alegre IP Portland cement.