Preliminary Assessment of Utilization of Al-Jaif Scoria (NW Sana’a, Yemen) for Cement Production

Abstract

This paper presents the results of investigations on the potential industrial utilization of scoria, collected from Al-Jaif quarry, NW Sana'a, Yemen as a cement additive. Scoria was chosen as a cement additive material due to its availability and low cost from the Sana’a-Amran volcanic field in Yemen. The chemical composition of scoria was determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The studied scoria is mainly composed of volcanic glass with a few zeolites (e.g. clinoptilolite) as revealed from petrographic investigation and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The scoria was added to the clinker in the range of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12% by weight. The fineness, surface area, water demand, setting time and compressive strength were conducted on scoria blended cement. According to experimental results, the high volcanic glass allows the addition of up to 12% scoria to the clinker to maintain a good potential of manufacturing blended cement. The results satisfy the European Standard EN requirements and confirm the viability of using scoria as a cement additive.