ALBERT

Description: A new technology was tested to improve the cooking efficiency of the raw mixture for Portland clinker production by the use of nano-Ca(OH)2. A decrease in the free lime concentration after the firing of approximately 35% and 55% in the nano-added clinkers burned at 1350 °C and 1450 °C, respectively, with respect to the standard Portland clinkers was observed. Moreover, in the nano-added clinkers, a slight decrease in alite (C3S), of approximately 2–4 wt%, and increase in belite (C2S), of approximately 5–6 wt%, were observed. Despite these variations, the C2S and C3S abundance lies within the ranges for standard Portland clinkers. The results showed that the nano-addition leads to an increase of the raw mixtures’ cooking efficiency. The relatively low energy required for the clinker firing could be used to increase the plant productivity and decrease the CO2 emissions during clinker burning. The decrease of the work index of the clinkers produced by the use of the nano-Ca(OH)2 also contributes to the energy saving during clinker grinding. Differences were also found in the pore size distribution among nano-added clinkers and the standard Portland clinker. The smallest porosities with the modal volume lying in the class of 3 × 10−6 mm3 were found to increase by the use of nano-Ca(OH)2. However, the pore volumes higher than 2.0 × 10−5 mm3 decreased in the nano-added clinkers.

Description: The diffusive mass exchange of eight major elements (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, and K) between natural, nominally dry shoshonitic and rhyolitic melts was studied at atmospheric pressure and temperatures between 1230 and 1413 °C using the diffusion couple method. For six elements, effective binary diffusion coefficients were calculated by means of a concentration-dependent method to obtain an internally consistent data set. Among these components, the range in diffusivities is restricted, pointing to a coupling of their diffusive fluxes. We find that the calculated diffusivities fit well into the Arrhenius relation, with activation energies (Ea) ranging from 258 to 399 kJ/mol in rhyolitic (70 wt% SiO2) melt and from 294 to 426 kJ/mol in the latitic melt (58 wt% SiO2). Ti shows the lowest Ea, while Si, Fe, Mg, Ca, and K have a similar value. A strong linear correlation is observed between logD0 and Ea, confirming the validity of the compensation law for this system. Uphill diffusion is observed in Al in the form of a concentration minimum in the rhyolitic side of the couple, (at ca. 69 wt% SiO2), and in Na indicated by a maximum in the shoshonitic side (ca. 59 wt% SiO2). Fe shows weak signs of uphill diffusion, possibly due to the contribution of ferric iron. The data presented here extend the database of previously published diffusivities in the shoshonite-rhyolite system (González-García et al. 2017) toward the water-free end and allows us to better constrain the water-dependence of major element diffusion at very low water concentrations. Combining both data sets, we find that logD is proportional to the square root of water concentration for a range between 0 and 2 wt% H2O. These results are of particular interest in the study of mass transfer phenomena in alkaline volcanic systems.