Utilization of ladle furnace slag for fabrication of geopolymer: Its application as catalyst for biodiesel production

This study focuses on recycling of ladle furnace slag for fabrication of geopolymer. Moreover, its application as a catalyst for biodiesel production is the main goal of this study. Several batches of geopolymer were prepared from ladle furnace slag and metakaolin in the existence of alkali activator. Phase identification of prepared geopolymers was inspected by x-ray diffraction and FT-IR while the physical properties (bulk density and apparent porosity) were examined giving the Archimedes' rule. Furthermore, the compressive strength was also tested. An attempt for application of prepared geopolymers as catalyst for biodiesel production was conducted using geopolymer fine powders (calcined at different temperatures) and soybean oil in presence of methanol. To evaluate the efficiency of prepared biodiesel, its density, Kinematic viscosity and flash point were determined. The results revealed that geopolymer bulk materials were successfully prepared from ladle furnace slag and kaolin. The prepared geopolymers have good physical and compressive strength. The best compressive strength (21 MPa) of prepared geopolymer was obtained for the batch composed of 60% ladle furnace slag and 40% metakaolin. Also, the results of density, viscosity and flash point of produced biodiesel were in the standard range, i.e. 0.848-0.885 g/cm3, 2.8-5.1 mm2/s and 90-135 degrees C, respectively.