Consolidation of Sand by Alkaline Silicate Solution

Abstract

Progress of fuse technology to reduce cost and to protect environment requires the understanding of physicochemical phenomena that govern the consolidation of the sand with alkaline silicate solution. In this context, this work concerns the agglomeration behaviours of sand with alkaline silicate solution. The effects of sand particles size and concentration of solutions are investigated at various temperatures. The main objective is to understand the interactions between sand and this alkaline solution during the impregnation of sand with sodium silicate solution and the drying leading to the consolidated materials. Various investigations were performed, thermogravimetrical and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), gravimetric analysis of wet sample, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compressive strength test on dry samples. The results show that agglomeration is affected by silica grains size distribution and temperature. Bonds strength between the grains increase with decreasing grain size and increasing temperature.