Investigation on the Potential Use of EAF Dust and RSA for Sustainable Concrete Production

In the construction field, cement is one of the most commonly used materials for concrete production, wherein 5–7% of globally anthropogenic CO₂ emissions are contributed in this process. Agricultural and industrial fields produce various types of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) as wastes, which otherwise can be used as a replacement in cement for concrete production. In the present context, rice straw, which is a by-product of the rice plant, is subjected to open burning which causes numerous health and environmental problems. Moreover, Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) dust produced from steelmaking processes contains heavy metals, which is being dumped in landfill. Considering the severe impact of the above-highlighted issues, it has thus become the need of the time to identify the feasibility of waste integration in concrete production. The objective of the current study is to utilize the mixture of rice straw ash and electric arc furnace dust in cement at fixed 10% partial replacement criteria for feasibility analysis. The test results obtained shows that there is a marginal difference between the compressive strength of concrete casted with and without replacement. However, the concrete casted with 10% replacement of cement is still preferable for casting.