title: Utilization of water-reducing admixtures in cemented paste backfill of sulphide-rich mill tailings.
abstract: This study presents the effect of three different water-reducing admixtures (WRAs) on the rheological and mechanical properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) samples. A 28-day strength of > or = 0.7 MPa and the maintenance of the stability (i.e. > or = 0.7 MPa) over 360 days of curing were desired as the design criteria. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Portland composite cement (PCC) were used as binders at 5 wt.% dose. WRAs were initially tested to determine the dosage of a WRA for a required consistency of 7'' for CPB mixtures. A total of 192 CPB samples were then prepared using WRAs. The utilization of WRAs enhanced the flow characteristics of the CPB mixture and allowed to achieve the same consistency at a lower water-to-cement ratio. For OPC, the addition of WRAs appeared to improve the both short- and long-term performance of CPB samples. However, only polycarboxylate-based superplasticiser produced the desired 28-day strength of > or = 0.7 MPa when PCC was used as the binder. These findings suggest that WRAs can be suitably exploited for CPB of sulphide-rich tailings to improve the strength and stability in short and long terms allowing to reduce binder costs in a CPB plant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mining Eng., Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey. bercikdi@ktu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Bayram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ercikdi
authors.forename: Ferdi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cihangir
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kesimal
authors.forename: Haci
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deveci
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alp
mesh_terms: D002133:Calcium Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry; D003252:Construction Materials; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010968:Plasticizers; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D012212:Rheology; D013440:Sulfides / Q000032:analysis*; D014867:Water; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D010968:Plasticizers; D013440:Sulfides; D014867:Water; D002133:Calcium Sulfate