An experimental and environmental impact assessment of slag-based mineral admixture for sustainable development

Cement manufacturing is a major responsible source for environmental degradation, contributing around 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. This research aims to promote consciousness of the importance of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in the construction industry for long-term sustainability. Multiple binary mixes were developed in this study by replacing slag-based mineral admixtures such as cinder and processed ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) with ordinary portland cement (OPC) as an additional cementitious material (SCM). The reactivity of cinder and processed GGBS with cement yielded encouraging findings, motivating the authors to investigate the behavior of these materials in concrete. The experiment aimed to determine the influence of cinder and processed GGBS on the fresh and hardened characteristics of binary blended concrete. Moreover, cinder and processed GGBS provided positive outcomes in concrete. However, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodologies are used for optimization in the current study. Compared to the control mix, AHP and TOPSIS demonstrate that effective cinder utilization is 30% and 20% of processed GGBS, respectively, increasing split tensile strength by 16-20%, flexural strength by 28-30%, and shear strength by 35-38%. The thermogravimetric analysis demonstrates a substantial weight loss while using cinder at a higher temperature than processed GGBS or control mix. In addition, this research also presents the impact assessment, which emphasizes the benefits of slag against OPC. Furthermore, from an economic point of view, the performed cost analysis indicates savings of 10-13% for optimal dosages of respective replacements.