Investigation of hard-burn and soft-burn lime kiln dust as alternative materials for alkali-activated binder cured at ambient temperature

As climate change becomes a severe concern, the development of green technology becomes a goal for many sectors, including the construction material sector. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the main constituent of concrete production, is a primary contributor to releasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. Some alternative cementitious materials have been studied to reduce the massive amount of OPC consumption. Lime kiln dust (LKD), a by-product of quicklime production, is produced in abundance worldwide and mostly disposed of in landfills. The two types of LKD, soft-burn and hard-burn, are high-potential wastes that can be developed as alternative cementitious binders using the alkali-activated binder (AAB) technology. This study investigates the mixture designation and properties of LKD-based AAB when cured at ambient temperature. The results show that an ambient-cured soft-burn LKD-AAB achieved practical workability with an 8 M NaOH solution, 1.50 of sodium silicate-to-sodium hydroxide ratio (SS/SH), and 0.60 of liquid alkaline-to-binder ratio (L/B). A rapid setting behavior and an excellent compressive strength of 10.89 MPa at 28 days were revealed at room temperature curing. The ambient-cured hard-burn LKD-AAB could not provide the appropriate properties. However, the mixture of 20% hard-burn LKD and 80% soft-burn LKD resulted in an LKD-AAB mixture that meets the minimum requirement for low-strength cement applications. The positive outcome of this study may be the solution for of LKD wastes utilization in Thailand that addresses the challenge of developing ambient-cured AAB for in-field applications.