Lehigh Cement Co. is researching and testing cement kiln dust currently in landfills. The goal of the research is to determine how it may be reused or recycled into new products. The grant money is for $20,000.
To accomplish the project, the company has received financial assistance from the Indiana Department of Commerce and technical expertise from Purdue University’s Civil Engineering Department and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Research will be conducted on landfilled CKD at the Mitchell, Ind. monofill. “This is the type of environmentally responsible project that we hope to see many more Indiana business implement,” said Joe Kernan, director of the Department of Commerce. “This research is also a great example of what can result from partnerships between private companies, public organizations and government agencies.”
Approximately three million tons of CKD are landfilled in the United States each year. While some freshly generated CKD can be reused beneficially, this project will explore the possibilities of recycling and reusing CKD that is already lying in landfills. Such uses have not been thoroughly investigated to date.
The project will seek to discover under what conditions CKD can be used as a binder for soil modification. It will also explore the suitability of using CKD as fill material for road embankments for the development of highway infrastructure.
After the initial research is complete, Lehigh plans to conduct field test studies using CKD in actual applications and testing the results over time. Lehigh Cement Co. will partner with Purdue University’s Civil Engineering Department and INDOT to conduct the research, which will utilize Lehigh’s Mitchell, Ind. CKD landfill as the source of testing material.