Original citation: Ling, T.-C., Poon, C.-S.

(2013) Effects of particle size of treated CRT funnel glass on properties of cement mortar. Materials and Structures; 46(1-2): 25-34. http://www.springerlink.com/content/v632231345m84444/

Effects of particle size of treated CRT funnel glass on properties of cement mortar
Tung-Chai Ling1, 2, Chi-Sun Poon1,* 1 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2University of Birmingham

Abstract Over the last decade, new types of display technologies have increasingly replaced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays leading to an increase in the disposal of discarded old CRT monitors and TV sets. The present study Macis a further development of our previous work to explore the effects of using different size fractions of crushed CRT glass as 100% substitution of sand in cement mortar. A range of cement mortar mixes were prepared and the tests conducted included table flow (fluidity), mechanical strength, drying shrinkage, alkali silica reaction (ASR) expansion and toxicity characteristic leaching procedures. Generally, the results obtained for the CRT glass-based cement mortars were comparable to those of the beverage glass mortars except the hardened density due to the presence of lead in the CRT glass. Decreasing the particle size of the CRT glass led to a decrease in fluidity, compressive strength and water absorption. However, the use of finer glass particles slightly improved the flexural strength and reduced the risk of expansion due to alkali-silica reaction due to its pozzolanic reaction. The experimental results indicated that treated CRT glass can be utilized as 100% replacement of sand in cement mortar regardless of its particle size. Keywords: Cathode ray tubes, recycled funnel glass, particle sizes, lead leaching, cement mortar 1. Introduction The major problem faced in the recycling of cathode ray tube (CRT) waste sourced from discarded old computer monitors and televisions is the high content of lead in the neck and funnel glass [1-3]. Proper treatment of the CRT funnel glass is essential to avoid lead (a hazardous chemical) from the broken funnel glass leaching into soil and groundwater causing environmental pollution and risk to public health [4]. In Hong Kong, a recycling facility for CRT waste has been set up by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) [5]. A treatment process has been developed with the aim to reduce the possible leaching of lead from recycled funnel glass for its reuse in the construction industry. The treatment process involves crushing the funnel glass, washing with acid (by immersion in 5% solution of nitric acid for 3 h to remove lead on the glass surface) and water rinsing (to remove the remaining acid). The treated funnel glass (TFG) was tested and passed the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedures.
*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com Page 1

There have been research studies on the potential use of recycled beverage glass (RG) as aggregates in cement mortars [6-8]. Generally, the fresh and hardened properties are affected by glass types, aggregate replacement ratios and particle size distributions. RG with different particle sizes has been used as decorative aggregates to produce architectural mortars due to its aesthetic and cost-effective advantages [9]. Past studies showed that using a larger (5-10 mm) particle size of RG could improve the aesthetic appearance of architectural mortar. It was concluded that it is feasible to use 100% RG with different particle sizes for the production of self-compacting-based architectural mortar and the overall performance was comparable to the control mortar prepared with natural aggregates (i.e. river sand). Although there are advantages to using recycled glass aggregate, the major limitation is the possible expansion due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR) [10]. A study has been conducted by Lee et al. [11] on the possible ASR expansion of mortars prepared with RG with different particle sizes. It is well-known that amorphous silica (the major constituent of glass) could actively react with alkalis in cement and lead to the formation of silica gel and cause expansion and cracking of the cement mortar or concrete. It was found that the amount of expansion was directly related to the particle size of the glass aggregate. Mortar prepared with 5 mm glass particles had the largest expansion, and the expansion decreased with reduced glass particle size. Similar observations were also reported by Jin et al. [12]. In our previous paper, we looked at the feasibility of using different percentages (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) of CRT glass as substitution of sand in cement mortar and found that it was feasible to use up to 100% CRT glass in the production of cement mortar [13]. This paper is a further development of our previous work to explore the effects of particle sizes of the CRT glass of the properties of cement mortars prepared with using 100% glass to replace sand. 2. Experimental programme 2.1. Materials ASTM Type I ordinary Portland cement and fly ash complying with ASTM class F fly ash were used as the cementitious materials. The chemical compositions and physical properties of the cement and fly ash are shown in Table 1. All the aggregates used in this study had particle sizes of less than 5 mm, and their gradation curves are shown in Fig. 1. Natural river sand and recycled beverage glass (RG) having a fineness modulus of 2.09 and 3.14 were used to prepare the sand-mortar and the RG-mortar, respectively, for comparison purposes. The treated CRT funnel glass was sourced from a CRT Recycling Centre located locally as shown in Fig. 2. The leachable lead content of the treated funnel glass (TFG) was tested using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedures (TCLP) and the result obtained was 2.2 mg/L and the TFG can be regarded as a non-hazardous material. In order to investigate the effects of TFG particle sizes used on the properties of cement mortar, four TFG different particle sizes were prepared through crushing and mechanical

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 2

sieving: a) TFG-A was sieved glass having a maximum size of 5 mm with a fineness modulus of 3.41. b) TFG-B was sieved glass having a maximum size of 2.36 mm with a fineness modulus of 2.91. c) TFG-C was sieved glass having a maximum size of 1.18 mm with a fineness modulus of 2.31. d) TFG-D was sieved glass having a maximum size of 600 m with a fineness modulus of 1.62. Table 1. Chemical compositions and physical properties of cement. Chemical compositions (%) Cement Fly ash Calcium oxide (CaO) 63.15 <3 Silicon dioxide (SiO2) 19.61 56.79 Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) 7.33 28.21 Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) 3.32 5.31 Magnesium oxide (MgO) 2.54 5.21 Sodium oxide (Na2O) 0.13 0.45 Potassium (K2O) 0.39 1.34 Sulfur trioxide (SO3) 2.13 0.68 Loss on ignition 2.97 3.90 Physical properties Specific gravity 3.16 2.31 2 Blaine fineness (cm /g) 3519 3960
100 90 80 C u m u lative p assing (% ) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 5.00 2.36 1.18 0.60 0.30 S ie ve s ize (mm) 0.15 0.00 R ive r s and RG BG TFG-A TFG-B TFG-C TFG-D

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of fine aggregates.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 3

Sand

Recycled beverage glass (RG)

TFG-A (< 5 mm)

TFG-B (< 2.36 mm)

TFG-C (< 1.18 mm)

TFG-D (< 600 m)

Fig. 2. Photographs of the river sand, recycled beverage glass and treated funnel glass with different particle sizes 2.2. Mix proportions When preparing the cement mortars, the amount of cementitious materials (OPC:PFA at 3:1) used was kept constant at 608 kg/m3, and the cementitious material to aggregate ratio was fixed at 1:2.5. A total of six mortar mixes were prepared with a fixed water to cementitious material ratio of 0.45. River sand and recycled beverage glass (RG) were used as the fine aggregate in the sand-mortar and the RG-mortar mix, respectively. The remaining four mixes were prepared using TFG with different particle sizes as the fine aggregates. The mix proportions of all the cement mortars are given in Table 2. 2.3. Mixing and curing All the constituent materials were first placed in a standard laboratory rotating drum-type mixer and mixed for about 2 min. To avoid dry materials becoming stuck at the bottom part of the mixer, the mixture was mixed manually by turning it over twice or thrice using a steel trowel. Finally, the mixture was mechanically mixed for an additional 2 min to
*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com Page 4

complete the whole mixing process. The fresh mortar samples were then put into the steel moulds in two layers of similar depth. After filling up each layer, compaction was achieved by placing the moulds on a mechanical vibrating table. Thereafter, the mortar specimens were covered with a plastic sheet and allowed to cure in the laboratory environment at 233C for 24 h. After 1 day, the prepared samples were demoulded and cured in water at a temperature of 233C until further testing. Table 2. Mix proportions of cement mortars (kg/m3). Cementitious Fine aggregate Mix materials notation Cement Fly ash Sand RG TFG-A TFG-B TFG-C TFG-D Sand-mortar 456 152 1519 0 0 0 0 0 RG-mortar 456 152 0 1446 0 0 0 0 FA-mortar 456 152 0 0 1734 0 0 0 FB-mortar 456 152 0 0 0 1734 0 0 FC-mortar 456 152 0 0 0 0 1734 0 FD-mortar 456 152 0 0 0 0 0 1734

Water 273 273 273 273 273 273

2.4. Specimens and testing The flow table test was used for determining the fluidity of the fresh mortar mix as described by ASTM C1437 [14]. Both the hardened density and water absorption values of the mortar were determined according to ASTM C642 [15]. A three-point flexural strength test in conformity with ASTM C348 [16] was performed at 1, 4, 7, 28 and 90 days on prism specimens with a size of 4040160 mm. The remaining portions of the broken prisms in the flexure strength test were used for determining the equivalent compressive strength according to ASTM C 349 [17]. Mortar bar specimens with dimensions of 2525285 mm were used for the drying shrinkage and alkali-silica reaction (ASR) tests in accordance with a modified British Standard method [18] and ASTM C1260 [19], respectively. In order to assess the leaching potential of lead, the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test following the US Environmental Protection Agency method [20] was conducted. The crushed mortar samples taken after the 28th day of mechanical testing were used for the TCLP test. All the tested results reported are the average values of the three specimens. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Fresh properties The flow table value results of the fresh mortar mixes are shown in Fig. 3. The results show that the total replacement of sand with glass (either RG or FG-A) aggregates increased the fluidity of the mortar due to the fact that the glass had a smoother surface and lower water absorption capacity than sand. The fluidity of the mortar mixtures decreased with decrease in fineness of TFG. It is well recognized that fluidity of given mix proportions is greatly affected by the fineness of the aggregate. Therefore, the lowest fluidity was obtained by FD-mortar which was prepared with < 600 m glass. This was due to the finer particle size of TFG-D increasing the total surface area per unit volume.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 5

200

F low table value (m m )

150

100

50

0 S andmortar R G -mortar FA-mortar FB -mortar FC-mortar FD -mortar

Fig. 3. Effect of TFG size on the fluidity of fresh cement mortars 3.2. Hardened density Fig. 4 shows the hardened density of the cement mortars. There is no significant difference found between the sand-mortar and the RG-mortar. However, a significant increase in hardened density was obtained when TFG was used. It can be expected that the high content of lead associated with TFG was the major factor contributing to the higher density. But the increase in density reduced when the particle size of TFG reduced as milling the coarser TFG cullets into finer size increased the total surface area and larger amounts of lead could be removed from the glass surface (during the acid-treatment process). This resulted in a lower specific gravity of the finer TFG particles. 3.3. Water absorption The effects of glass types and particle sizes on the water absorption of the cement mortars are illustrated in Fig. 5. All the mortars prepared with RG and TFG showed lower water absorption values when compared to the sand-mortar. This was due to the impermeable glass particles (nearly zero water absorption capacity). However, the water absorption values increased with decrease in fineness of TFG. The water absorption of the mortars increased by 6.6%, 11.3% and 16.2% as the maximum particle sizes of TFG particles were decreased from 5 mm to 2.36 mm, 1.18 mm and 600 m, respectively. These results are consistent with Ling and Poon [9] who stated that finer glass particles had larger relative surface areas that might trap more air in the mortar matrices.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 6

2500 2450 2400 H arden ed d en sity (k g/m 3) 2350 2300 2250 2200 2150 2100 2050 2000 S andmortar R G -mortar FA-mortar FB -mortar FC-mortar FD -mortar

Fig. 4. Effect of TFG size on the hardened density of cement mortars

10 9 8 W ater aborption (% ) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Sandmortar R G-mortar FA-mortar FB -mortar FC-mortar FD -mortar

Fig. 5. Effect of TFG size on water absorption of cement mortars

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 7

3.4. Flexural strength The effect of TFG size on flexural strength is illustrated in Fig. 6. At all tested ages, the sand-mortar showed the highest flexural strength. Similar results have also been reported in related literature [9] which proved that the decrease of flexural strength is mainly associated with the weak bonding between the smooth glass surfaces and the cement paste. It can be noticed that the RG-mortar gained a significant amount of strength between the 28th and 90th days as compared to the TFG-mortars. This might be due to RG containing about 5% very fine particles (< 150 m) which enhanced the latter days strength through pozzolanic reaction. The results are consistent with those of Shi et al. [21].
10 9 8 F lexural strength (M P a) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 4 7 Curing age (day) 28 90
S and-mortar RG-mortar FA-mortar FB -mortar FC-mortar FD-mortar

Fig. 6. Effect of TFG size on flexural strength of cement mortars. For the TFG-mortars, it should be noted that the finer glass size in the FG-mortar provided a slightly higher flexural strength than the other TFG mortars. This was expected because the coarser glass particles had smoother surfaces that could significantly weaken the bonding strength between the glass particles and the cement paste. 3.5. Compressive strength Fig. 7 shows the compressive strength results of the mortars. Similar trends to that of flexural strength can be observed. However, the rate of compressive strength reduction was less than that for flexural strength. For instance, at the 90th day, the average compressive strength reduction of the TFG-mortars (compared to the sand-mortar) was about 18.0%, whereas the corresponding reduction in flexural strength was about 34.6%. This is consistent with the fact that the effect of weak adhesion between the aggregate and the cement matrix has a greater impact on flexural strength.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 8

60
S and-mortar

50 C om p ressive strength (M P a) 40 30 20 10 0

RG-mortar FA-mortar FB -mortar FC-mortar FD-mortar

7 Curing age (day)

28

90

Fig. 7. Effect of TFG size on compressive strength of cement mortars When comparing the TFG-mortars, it can be seen that the negative effect of glass on compressive strength became less with an increase in maximum particle size. When the maximum glass size was increased from 600 m to 1.18 mm, 2.36 mm and 5 mm, the 28-day compressive strength was improved by 2.5%, 10.8% and 30.8%, respectively. This may be due to the fact that the larger particle size range in the TFG provided a continuous particle size distribution and consequently, enhanced the compressive strength. It can be concluded that better particle packing due to a wider continuous particle size distribution in the mortar was more important than the matrix adhesion in resisting compressive stress. 3.6. Drying shrinkage The drying shrinkage results are shown in Fig. 8. Considerable differences in drying shrinkage values between the sand-mortar and the mortars prepared with the different types of glass cullets were observed, particularly after 7 days. The lower drying shrinkage values of the RG-mortar and the TFG-mortars are associated with the impermeable properties of the glass cullet. Also, mortar prepared with larger glass particle sizes (RG or TFG-A) had lower drying shrinkage values. This is consistent with the water absorption results shown in Fig. 5. 3.7. Expansion due to alkali-silica reaction Fig. 9 shows the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion results. It can be observed that the lowest ASR expansion was observed in the case of the sand-mortar which contained no glass cullet. For the TFG mortars, the ASR expansion increased with increasing glass particle size used. Similar observations were also observed in previous studies [11, 12].

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 9

0.08 0.07 0.06 D rying shrinkage (% ) 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Curing age (day)
Sand-m o rtar R G-m o rtar F A -m o rtar F B -m o rtar F C -m o rtar F D -m o rtar

Fig. 8. Effect of TFG size on drying shrinkage of cement mortars.

0.35 0.30 A SR expansion (% ) 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10

Innocuous behaviour Innocuous and deleterious in field performance

Sand-m o rtar R G-m o rtar FA -m o rtar FB -m o rtar FC -m o rtar FD -m o rtar

Potentially deleterious expansion

0.05 0.00 0 5 10 15 Curing age (day) 20 25 30

Fig. 9. Effect of TFG size on ASR expansion of cement mortars.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 10

3.8. Lead leaching The TCLP results are shown in Table 3. It is clearly shown that the particle sizes of TFG affected the leaching of lead from the crushed mortar samples. It was expected that as the particle size of TFG increased, the total glass surface area decreased which would reduce the potential for lead leaching. This is consistent with the results of others [22, 23]. Table 3. TCLP results of crushed cement mortar samples. Crushed mortar sample Pb (mg/L) 0.41 Sand-mortar 0.57 RG-mortar 0.75 FA-mortar 0.77 FB-mortar 1.16 FC-mortar 3.51 FD-mortar All the obtained lead leaching results were below the permissible limit of 5 mg/L stipulated by the local Environmental Agency. This study has demonstrated that it is feasible to reuse 100% treated CRT funnel glass as a fine aggregate regardless of its particle size in cement mortar for construction applications. 4. Conclusion The following conclusions can be drawn based on the experimental results of this study: 1. Replacement of sand with recycled beverage glass (RG) and treated CRT funnel glass (TFG) increased the fluidity of the fresh mortar. The fluidity, however, gradually reduced as the particle size of TFG decreased. 2. TFG-mortars had higher density values than the sand-mortar and the RG-mortar due to the presence of lead in the CRT glass. A decrease in the finesses of TFG led to a decrease in mortar density. 3. The drying shrinkage and water absorption of the cement mortar were related to the impermeable property of the glass cullet. Incorporation of RG and TFG, particularly the larger particle size glass cullet, reduced the water absorption and drying shrinkage. 4. The flexural and compressive strengths of the RG-mortar and the TFG-mortars were found to be lower compared to that of the sand-mortar. This is attributed to the weak bonding between the smooth surfaces of the glass cullet and the cement paste. The effect of weak adhesion due to smooth surfaces of glass was less pronounced in the case of compression than in the case of flexure. This might be due to better particle packing in the cement mortar being more important than the matrix adhesion in resisting compression. 5. All the ASR expansion results of the tested samples were below 0.2% at the 14th day. Decreasing the maximum particle size of the TFG from 5 mm to 600 m effectively reduced the risk of ASR. 6. The lead leaching results obtained for all the crushed mortar samples were below the permissible limit of 5 mg/L.

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 11

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Environment and Conservation Fund, the Woo Wheelock Green Fund, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for funding support. References 1. Lee CH, Chang CT, Fan KS, Chang TC (2004) An overview of recycling and treatment of scrap computers. J Hazard Mater 114:93-100 2. Lee CH, His CS (2002) Recycling of scrap cathode ray tubes. Environ Sci Technol 36:69-75 3. Pascal YG, Franois MO (2009) Lead extraction from waste funnel cathode-ray tubes glasses by reaction with silicon carbide and titanium nitride. J Hazard Mater 172:117-123 4. Townsend TG, Musson SE, Jang YC, Chung IH (2000) Characterization of lead leachability from cathode ray tubes using the toxicity characteristics leaching procedure. Environ Sci Technol 34:4376-4381 5. Poon CS (2008) Management of CRT glass from discarded computer monitors and TV sets. Waste Manage 28:1499 6. Ling TC, Poon CS, Kou SC (2011) Feasibility of using recycled glass in architectural cement mortar. Cem Concr Compos 33:848-854 7. Shi C, Zheng K (2007) A review on the use of waste glasses in the production of cement and concrete. Resour Conserv Recycl 52:234-247 8. Xie Z, Xi Y (2002) Use of recycled glass as a raw material in the manufacture of Portland cement. Mater Struct 35:510-515 9. Ling TC, Poon CS (2011) Properties of architectural mortar prepared with recycled glass with different particle sizes. Mater Desg 32:2675-2684 10. Zhu H, Chen W, Zhou W, Byars EA (2009) Expansion behaviour of glass aggregates in different testing for alkali-silica reactivity. Mater Struct 42:485-494 11. Lee G, Ling TC, Wong YL, Poon CS (2011) Effects of crushed glass cullet sizes, casting methods and pozzolanic materials on ASR of concrete blocks. Constr Build Mater 25:2611-2618 12. Jin W, Meyer C, Baxter S (2009) Glasscrete Concrete with glass aggregate. ACI Mater J 97:208-213 13. Ling TC, Poon CS (2011) Utilization of recycled glass derived from cathode ray tube glass as fine aggregate in cement mortar. J Hazard Mater 192: 451-456. 13. ASTM C1437 (2007) Standard test method for flow of hydraulic cement mortar. US: American Society of Testing and Materials 14. ASTM C 642 (2006) Standard test method for density, absorption, and voids in hardened concrete. US: American Society of Testing and Materials 15. ASTM C348 (2008) Standard test method for flexural strength of hydraulic-cement mortars. US: American Society of Testing and Materials 16. ASTM C349 (2008) Standard test method for compressive strength of hydraulic-cement mortars (using portions of prisms broken in flexure). US: American Society of Testing and Materials 17. BS ISO 1920-8 (2009) Determination of drying shrinkage of concrete for samples prepared in the field or in the laboratory. UK: British Standard Institution 18. ASTM C 1260 (2007) Standard test method for potential alkali reactivity of aggregates (mortar-bar method). US: American Society of Testing and Materials

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 12

19. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), Test Method 1311 (1986). Specifications of the Committee on Analytical Reagents of the American Chemical. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 20. Shi C, Wu Y, Riefler C, Wang H (2005) Characteristics and pozzolanic reactivity of glass powders. Cem Concr Res 35:987-993 21. Musson SE, Jang YC, Townsend TG, Chung IH (2000) Characterization of lead leachability from cathode ray tubes using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. Environ Sci Technol 34:4376-4381 22. Andreola F, Barbieri L, Corradi A, Lancellotti I (2005) Cathode ray tube glass recycling: an example of clean technology. Waste Manag Res 23:314-321

*First author: t.ling.1@bham.ac.uk; tcling611@yahoo.com

Page 13