The main environmental impact of many industrial activities is related to the production and disposal of great quantities of process residues that often are disposed of in landfills. Despite the current national regulation foresees the possibility of reusing specific types of residues through ordinary or simplified procedures and notwithstanding the recent European regulations which have defined the criteria for end of waste, the percentage of residues which are effectively recovered or reused is still a minority when compared with those disposed of in landfills. Within this scope, the research activities of our group are aimed at obtaining aggregate materials for Civil Engineering applications with mechanical characteristics similar to natural aggregates and environmental properties that render them suitable for reuse. With this goal in mind, a laboratory scale granulation unit has been developed, in which process conditions can be tested and optimized varying the main operating parameters. With respect to traditional granulation devices, this one allows operating in modified atmospheric conditions. This peculiarity consents therefore to carryout combined granulation and carbonation tests by operating in a CO₂ atmosphere. The performance of these processes is evaluated by analyzing the mechanical properties and environmental behaviour of the final product. The activities regarding the valorisation of industrial residues carried out by our research group are in many ways transversal to other research topics. In fact, besides the improvement of the properties of industrial residues, the granulation process can find wide application also for the treatment of soil and other excavated materials that can be retrieved in contaminated sites and Brownfields, as well as for the full scale application of wet route carbonation processes.

Collaborations

ENEA; University of Rome "La Sapienza".