# Ceramic Foam Granulate from Crashed Clinker Pavers

## TL;DR

This paper explores turning ceramic clinker debris into high-quality foam granulate through a foaming process involving specific temperature and cooling conditions.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel method for reusing ceramic clinker waste to produce lightweight, fire-resistant aggregates with controlled properties.

## Key findings

- Foaming occurs due to oxygen release from Fe3+ to Fe2+ reduction during melting of hematite and pseudobrookite.
- Granules produced at 1280 °C for 30 min have densities between 0.4 and 0.7 g/cm3 and porosity between 70 and 85 vol%.
- The material meets requirements for high-quality fire-resistance lightweight aggregates.

## Abstract

The possibility of transforming debris from a ceramic clinker into high quality foam granulate is discussed. The foaming process, which was carried out at temperatures 150–200 °C higher than the production process, was studied by HSM and DTA-TG coupled with MS. Phase and structural transformations were investigated by XRD and SEM, respectively. The results highlight that the foaming mechanism is related to the release of oxygen due to a reduction in Fe3+ to Fe2+ after the melting of hematite and the dissolution of pseudobrookite present in clinker waste. Granules obtained after 30 min of holding at 1280 °C are impermeable to water and, depending on the cooling applied, have a density between 0.4 and 0.7 g/cm3, porosity between 70 and 85 vol %, and compressive strength between 0.7 and 1.1 MPa. These results meet the requirements for high-quality fire-resistance lightweight aggregates.