Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60

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Radiation Physics and Chemistry

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/radphyschem

Application of granulated lead–zinc slag in concrete as an opportunity

to save natural resources
Mohamed Alwaeli n
Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management,
Konarskiego 18A St, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

H I G H L I G H T S

c Utilization of granulated lead–zinc slag as sand replacement in concrete was investigated.

c Compressive strength and gamma attenuation of concrete included granulated slag was examined.
c The tests results were compared with those in ordinary concrete.
c Concretemixed have better compressive strength than ordinary concrete.
c Examined concrete is characterized by higher attenuation of gamma radiation.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The last decades marked a period of growth and prosperity in construction industry which involves the
Received 31 July 2012 use of natural resources. This growth is jeopardized by the lack of natural resources that are available.
Accepted 21 September 2012 On the other hand there has been rapid increase in the industrial waste production. Most of the waste
Available online 29 September 2012
do not find any effective use and cause a waste disposal crisis, thereby contributing to health and
Keywords: environmental problems. Recycling of industrial waste as aggregate is thus a logical option to manage
Waste this problem. The paper reports on some experimental results obtained from the production of
Granulated lead–zinc slag concretes containing granulated slag of lead and zinc industry as sand replacement mixed in different
Concrete proportions. Granulated slag is substituted for raw sand, partly or totally. Ratios of 25%, 50%, 75% and
Compressive strength
100% by weight of sand are used.
Gamma radiation
The effects of granulated lead–zinc slag (GLZS) as sand replacement material on the compressive
Concrete thicknesses
strength and gamma radiation attenuation properties of concrete are investigated and analyzed. Then,
these properties are compared with those of ordinary concrete. The results showed that replacement
material have some effects on the compressive strength and gamma radiation properties of the
concrete.
The experimental results indicate that, the concrete mixed with GLZS as a sand replacement have
better strength. Concerning the absorption properties for gamma radiation the data show that the
addition of GLZS resulted in an increase of the attenuation of gamma radiation. Consequently, these
concretes could be used for construction of shields protecting personnel who work in laboratories
where radiation is used. Additionally, the thickness of the concrete with GLZS was calculated and
compared with ordinary concrete.
& 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction development of industry and technology and the growth of

Waste management is a major challenge throughout the world
for environmental protection and natural resources conservation.
In the last few decades there has been rapid increase in the waste
production due to the exponential growth rate of population,
n
Tel.: þ48 32 264 21 15; fax: þ 48 32 237 11 67.
E-mail address: mohamed.alwaeli@polsl.pl
consumerism (Mannan and Ganapathy, 2004). Most of the waste
do not find any effective use and cause a waste disposal crisis,
thereby contributing to health and environmental problems
(Ogawa, 2000). It has been observed that some of these wastes
have high potential and can be utilized as substitute of raw
materials in construction industry. One such waste is granulated
lead–zinc slag, which have not so far been given much attention
for its utilization. The annual production of granulated lead–zinc
slag is not well utilized and most of it is disposed of in landfills.

0969-806X/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2012.09.024
 M. Alwaeli / Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60
Granulated lead–zinc slag is a by-product obtained during smelt-
ing of lead and zinc ore to separate the metal fraction from the
unwanted fractions.
In the last years, the construction industry in many countries
witnessed a rapid growth. Concrete is the most widely used
building material in the construction industry. It is estimated
that in the near future, the concrete industry globally will
consume 8–12 billion tons annually of natural aggregates after
the year 2010 (Tu et al., 2006). This growth is jeopardized by the
lack of natural resources that are available and causes the
environmental destruction. Closed loop recycling of industrial
waste as aggregates is the best sustainable method in order to
compensate the lack of natural resources and to find alternative
ways for conserving the environment. With increasing environ-
mental pressure to reduce waste and pollution and to recycle as
much as possible, the concrete industry has begun adopting a
number of methods to achieve these goals (Al-Jabri et al., 2009;
Sear, 2005; Qasrawi et al., 2009; Al-Jabri et al., 2006; Bouikni
et al., 2009). The main applications include a partial replacement
for aggregate in concrete. Aggregates are considered one of the
main constituents of concrete since they generally occupy 60% to
75% of the concrete volume and play an important role in
concrete properties (Kosmatka et al., 2002). Nevertheless, the
great amount of industrial waste produced all over the world
implies that their recycling is presently necessary not only due to
the rising cost of their landfill disposal which, in turn, is reflected
on the cost of the products, but also as a consequence of the
‘‘zero-waste’’ objective which must be the final goal of all future
human activities (Faraone et al., 2009).
The potential for use of waste as a partial replacement of raw
materials in concrete construction are not only the possibilities of
obtaining products with superior properties, and elimination or
delay entry to the waste stream but also reduces the demand for
extraction of natural resources. Preserving natural aggregates is a
matter of sustainable development to ensure sufficient resources
for future generations (Rakshvir and Barai, 2006). Utilization of
industrial waste in applications such as aggregates substitution
has threefold advantages of eliminating the costs of dumping,
reducing the cost of concrete, and minimizing air pollution
problems. This would also lead additional benefits in terms of
energy savings, promoting ecological balance and conservation
of natural resources, etc. (Rajamane et al., 2003; Aı̈tcin, 2003;
Malhotra, 1993).
Wider usage of radiation techniques creates the necessity to
protect people against both electromagnetic and neutron radia-
tion (Kany et al., 1994). In the building industry it is used for:
- the construction of shields protecting personnel who work in
laboratories where radiation is used,
- the construction of hermetic radiation resistant coating of
atomic piles and
- the construction of burial grounds for nuclear waste
deposition.
The most convenient and expedient way in which the afore-
mentioned constructions can be realized is through the introduc-
tion of special kinds of concrete. This type of concrete which
protects against gamma radiation must be characterized by high
attenuation of this radiation. In order to increase the absorptive
properties of concrete such component as heavy aggregates
barite, heavy sand and many others need to be added.
There are some basic principles for radiation protection (e.g.
shielding). Shielding is generally preferred due to its efficiency in
intrinsically safe working conditions. The type and amount of
shielding required depend on the type of radiation, the activity of
radiation source and the dose rate that is acceptable for outside
55
the shielding material. However, there are other factors for choice
of shielding material such as their cost, weight and strength
(Erdem et al., 2010). The study of absorption of gamma radiations
in shielding materials has been an important subject in the field
of concrete construction. In order to design the protective shield-
ing, the knowledge of the radiation attenuation in shielding
materials is essential. The good shielding material should have
adequate mechanical properties and high radiation absorption
and at the same time irradiation effects on its mechanical and
optical properties should be small.
Modification of concrete properties by the addition of appro-
priate materials is a popular field of concrete research (Khaloo
et al., 2008). Although there are some studies that have been
reported on the effect of waste materials and by-product as
aggregates on the properties of concrete, there has been little
research concerning the incorporation of granulated lead–zinc
slag as fine aggregates in concrete technology. Thus this research
was performed to evaluate the potential use of granulated lead–
zinc slag as sand replacement in concrete production.
The main goal of this study was to investigate the impact of
granulated slag from lead and zinc industry on the compressive
strength and absorption properties for gamma radiation of con-
crete. Granulated lead–zinc slag is taken into consideration
specifically because of its suitable particle sizes for use as sand
replacement in concrete. Additionally, examined granulated lead–
zinc slag has high density (about 3.86 g/cm3) allows them to be
used as heavy aggregates.
2. Literature review
Several researchers have investigated the possible use of
industrial by-products and waste materials as fine and coarse
aggregates in concrete and its effects on the different properties
of mortar and concrete. Yellishetty et al. (2008) examined reuse of
iron ore mineral waste in civil engineering. It was physically
treated, fully inspected and incorporated into concrete coarse
aggregate. The results confirmed that the mean values of uniaxial
compressive strength of concrete cubes after 28 days of curing
was found to be of the order of 21.93 and 19.91 MPa with mine
aggregate and granite aggregate, respectively. Frondistou-Yannas
(1997) evaluated and compared the mechanical properties of
conventional concrete and concrete mixes made with the pieces
of concrete from demolition waste in the place of natural coarse
aggregate material. He found out that recycled concrete best
matches the mechanical behavior of conventional concrete when
the recycled concrete is enriched in gravel at the expense of
mortar. The recycled aggregate concrete has a compressive
strength of at least 76% and modulus of elasticity from 60% to
100% of the control mix. Li and Zhao (2003) presented a labora-
tory study on the influence of combination of fly ash and ground
granulated blast-furnace slag on the properties of high-strength
concrete. The results indicated that their application can improve
both short- and long-term properties of concrete.
Furthermore, Siddique (2003) examined the effect of fine
aggregate replacement with Class F fly ash on the mechanical
properties of concrete. Test results indicated significant improve-
ment in the strength properties of plain concrete by the inclusion
of fly ash as partial replacement of sand, and can be effectively
used in structural concrete. Bouikni et al. (2009) examined
durability properties of concrete containing 50% and 65% slag.
They found that initial water curing of about 7 days prior to
exposure to a drying environment is essential to minimize the
damage to microstructure that influence the durability of the slag
concretes. The data also show that even when exposed to an
aggressive environment, slag concretes have a refined pore
56 M. Alwaeli / Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60

structure compared to normal concrete, and a better resistance to
deterioration. Akinmusuru (1991) investigated the use of steel
slag as an aggregate for concrete mixes; based on the short-term
results and the crushing strengths, ‘‘slagcrete’’ appeared to have
potential in the construction industry. Rai et al. (2002) explored
the possibility of using metallurgic slags (granulated and air-
cooled) in making blended slag cement with ordinary Portland
cement. The results, which indicated that slag could be used with
slight modifications as non-structural concrete, provided a direc-
tion for profitable plans for making blended slag cements.
Recently, many studies have focused on the use of different
waste as sand replacement for concrete. The experimental work
by Qasrawi et al. (2009) on the use of low CaO unprocessed steel
slag in concrete as fine aggregate indicated that when optimum
values are used, the 28-day tensile strength of concrete is
improved by 1.4–2.4 times and the compressive strength is
improved by 1.1–1.3 times depending on the replacement ratio
and the grade of concrete. The best results are obtained for
replacement ratios of 30–50% for tensile strength and 15–30%
for compressive strength. Zong (2003) reported that concrete
containing copper slag as fine aggregate exhibited similar
mechanical properties as that containing conventional sand and
coarse aggregates. Özkan et al. (2007) carried out a study into the
strength properties of concrete incorporating coal bottom ash
(CBA) and granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), and concluded
that replacement of (GBFS) and (CBA) as fine aggregate in
concrete generally decreases the compressive strength.
Demirboga and Gül (2006) studied the use of blast furnace slag
aggregate (BFSA) to produce high-strength concretes. Their
results showed that the compressive strength of BFSA concretes
was approximately 60–80% higher than that of traditional con-
cretes. Ismail and Al-Hashmi (2008) presented an extensive data
on effects of replacements of sand with waste iron on the
properties of concrete. The compressive strengths and flexural
strengths were higher than the plain concrete mixes.
Ramachandran (1981) stated that, slag fines may be used as a
substitute for sand without any deleterious effect. Ghailan (2005)
utilized an industrial solid waste produced from the iron and steel
industry. The results confirmed that concrete mixes made with
the waste material gave a higher modulus of rigidity, higher
rebound number and higher chemical resistance towards the
exposure to acids/salts solutions as compared with conventional
concrete mixes. Batayneh et al. (2007) used demolished concrete,
glass, and plastic in concrete production, and concluded that the
main findings of this investigation revealed that the three types of
waste materials could be reused successfully as partial substitutes
for sand or coarse aggregates in concrete mixtures. Ismail (2009)
investigated the properties of concretes containing waste glass as
fine aggregate. The results indicated that the flexural strength and
compressive strength of specimens with 20% waste glass content
were 10.99% and 4.23%, respectively, higher than those of the
control specimen at 28 days.
In order to match shielding properties to the concrete based
composites, boron, lead or their compounds have been used (Demir
and Keles, 2006; El-Sayed et al., 2003). With increasing use of
gamma-ray active isotopes in industry, medicine and agriculture, it
has now become necessary to study shielding properties in various
materials of technological and biological importance. A number of
experimental and theoretical works have been performed on
radiation shielding, which has large different application areas with
different materials (e.g. concrete, semi-conductor, polymer, Lipo-
witz alloy, colemanite, etc.) (El-Sayed et al., 2003; Akkurt et al.,
2007;Stewart et al., 2007; Osborn et al., 2006; Baltas et al., 2005;
Zeitlin et al., 2006; Okuno, 2005; Tajiri et al., 2006).
Although there are some studies that have been reported on
the effect of industrial by-products and waste materials as
aggregates on the properties of concrete, a review of the biblio-
graphy has not produced a single reference on the recycling of
granulated lead–zinc slag to improve the compressive strength
and gamma radiation properties of concrete. Thus this research
was performed to evaluate the potential use of granulated lead–
zinc slag as sand replacement in the production of concrete with
good compressive strength and gamma radiation attenuation
properties.
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Materials

Table 1
The main aim of this study is to investigate the usability of
Chemical composition of the components used for the concrete preparation.
granulated lead–zinc slag in making of concrete with good
Element Portland cement Sand (%) Water (%) Granulated compressive strength and absorption properties for gamma radia-
(PC 35 type) % slag (%) tion. Properties of materials, which were used in experiments, are
indicated in Table 1.
H – – 0.11 –
O 52.25 49.48 0.89 59.09
Al 2.55 6.04 – 6.19 3.2. Specimens preparation
Si 11.75 34.23 – 8.19
Mg 2.43 0.81 – 3.48
In this research study, sand was replaced by granulated lead–
Fe 0.77 2.53 – 11.22
Na – 4.03 – – zinc slag in different proportions (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) by
C – 0.46 – – weight of sand, in order to produce GLZSC-25, GLZSC-50, GLZSC-75,
S 1.34 – – 1.58 and GLZSC-100. The compositions of the concrete mixtures are
Ca 23.66 2.42 – 8.90
shown in Table 2. For comparison purposes ordinary concrete
Pb – – – 0.56
Others 5.25 0.00 0.00 0.89
specimens OC-0 were also prepared. Composition of the ordinary
concrete is listed in Table 3.

Table 2
Mixture proportions of granulated lead-zinc slag concretes.

Mixture GSC (%) Cement (kg/m3) Sand (kg/m3) GSW (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3) Gravel (grain coarseness 2–4) Gravel (grain coarseness 4–8)
identification (kg/m3) (kg/m3)

GLZSC-25 25 434.6 884.1 294.7 212.3 334.7 169.8

GLZSC-50 50 508.2 689.3 689.3 233.6 391.4 198.6
GLZSC-75 75 467.2 316.7 689.3 222.9 359.8 182.6
GLZSC-100 100 480.7 0.0 1303.9 237.6 370.2 187.8
 M. Alwaeli / Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60
Table 3
Composition of the ordinary concrete [kg/m3].
Components
Sand Cement Water
1122.2 413.7 214.0
Table 4
Comparison of the compressive strength (MPa) of the ordinary concrete and
concrete mixed with granulated lead–zinc slag.
Mixture name
OC-0 GLZSC-25 GLZSC-50 GLZSC-75 GLZSC-100
Density [g/cm3] 2.16 2.21 2.38 2.40 2.56
Compressive strength 37.80 40.03 42.80 44.00 50.50
[MPa]
All concretes were produced in accordance with Polish Standards
(1986b; 1988a,b; 2002) (PN-86/B-06712, 1986; PN-88/B-06250,
1988; PN-88/B-30005, 1988; PN-EN 12390-3, 2002). Twelve cubes
of mixed concrete and three cubes of OC-0 were molded for
compressive strength, and 35 slabs (28 slabs of mixed concrete
and 7 slabs of ordinary concrete), were cast for gamma radiation
absorption measurements. Curing of all the concrete samples was
allowed in water for 28 days.
3.3. Measurements
Compressive strength was measured in accordance with Polish
Standards (1988c) (PN-88/B-04300; 1988) on cubes of 100  100 
100 mm3. Tests were conducted on all the specimens after 28 days of
curing. Average tests results obtained in Pascals are given in Table 4
and Fig. 1. To measure the gamma radiation absorption, seven slabs
measuring 250  250  26 mm3 were produced for each mixture
proportions. For measurement of absorption of radiation þ 60Cobalt
of E¼1.25 MeV energy was used as the source of gamma radiation.
The radioactivity of cobalt during the measurement was 1.210E-04
(Gbq). The distance from the radiation source to the probe detector
was 850 mm. The distance of the source from the first slab was
790 mm.
In order to measure the number of pulses, the concrete slab was
placed in the measuring point between the radiation source and
scintillator. In this manner 12 measured points were placed on the
surface of each slab and accordingly, the measurements were carried
on. Next, the mean value from 12 measurements was calculated.
After that, the second slab was added, thus increasing the thickness
of the concrete shield. In the same measured points, the intensity of
radiation was measured again. The number of slabs was subse-
quently increased up to 7. Eventually, for each kind of concrete, 84
measurements were performed. The measuring time was chosen in
such a way that the number of pulses exceeded 10,000. The back-
ground radiation was measured before and after each test.
4. Calculation of the attenuation coefficient of radiation
In order to calculate the linear attenuation coefficient (m, cm  1),
the average background of radiation was first calculated according to:
Nav,bg ¼ ððN1 þ N2 Þ=2tÞ
where: N1 – number of pulses before measurement without the
radiation source, N2 – number of pulses after measurement without
the radiation source and t – time of each measurement.
57
Gravel (grain coarseness 2–4) Gravel (grain coarseness 4–8)
318.6 161.7
Next, the arithmetical average of the number of pulses from 12
measurements of each thickness from the test sample series,
without background Nd was calculated.
For the calculation of the multiplication factor of attenuation
of gamma radiation K, the diagram of the dependence of the
number of pulses on the thickness of the concrete shield was
plotted. For example, Fig. 2 presents the dependence of the
number of pulses on the thickness of (GL-ZSC-25). The matching
equation of measurements data is as follows:
2
Nd ¼ 25:113d 2921:68d þ9499:3 ð2Þ
where: d – thickness of the concrete shield (cm).
On the basis of the results obtained the attenuation of radiation
(K) for each thickness of concrete was calculated according to:
K ¼ ðN 0 =Nd Þ ð3Þ
where: N01– the number of pulses for d¼0,
Nd ¼ Nav,m N av,bg , in which: Nav,m is the average of the mea-
sured number of pulses, Nav,bg is the average background radia-
tion. The data of multiplication factor attenuation is presented in
Table 5, and Fig. 3.
The data shows the dependence between multiplication factor
and the thickness of concrete and the amount of waste added. The
multiplication factor increases with the increase of concrete
thickness.
Compared the multiplication factor of ordinary concrete (OC-0)
with concretes mixes’ with (GLZSC), we see that the amount of
waste added to the concrete mixture increases the multiplication
factor for each measured thickness.
The linear attenuation coefficient of gamma radiation can be
calculated according to relation:
m ¼ ð1=dÞln K ð4Þ
The data of linear attenuation coefficient is presented in Fig. 4.
while, the average values of attenuation coefficient in relation to
the amount of waste added is shown in Table 6.
The data presented in Table 6 shows that, the calculated linear
attenuation coefficient of gamma radiation does not change much
for various shield thicknesses with is in agreement with theory of
attenuation.
5. Calculation of thickness of radiation shield
Using the obtained value of the attenuation factor of gamma
radiation, the thickness of the concrete shield was calculated on
the basis of the tables and diagrams of Polish Standards (1986a)
(PN-86/J-80001). The thickness of concrete was calculated for
following regulatory requirements:
- dose equivalent constant – 0.03 cGym2 h  1 Gbq,
- weekly dose – 0.1 cGy,
- medium absorption coefficient – 1,
ð1Þ
1
The value of N0 was not measured to avoid damage of the detector, this
value was calculated according to Eq. (2) for d ¼0.
58 M. Alwaeli / Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60

55

50

45

(MPa)
40

35

30
0 25 50 75 100
(%)

Fig. 1. Relationship between granulated lead–zing slag ratio and the compressive strength of concrete.

8000
7000
6000 Nd= 25,113d2 - 921,68d + 9499,3
5000
Pulse

4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 2.6 5.2 7.8 10.4 13 15.6 18.2 20.8
d (cm)

Fig. 2. Relationship between the number of pulses and the thickness of mixed concrete (GLZSC-25).

Table 5
strength of concrete made from 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% granulated
Comparison of multiplication factor attenuation of gamma radiation of the
ordinary concrete and concrete mixed with granulated lead–zinc slag. lead–zinc slag increased by 5.90%, 13.23%, 16.40%, and 33.60%,
respectively, compared with the ordinary concrete specimen.
d (cm) Ordinary concrete Concrete with granulated lead–zinc slag

OC-0 GLZSC-25 GLZSC-50 GLZSC-75 GLZSC-100 6.2. Effect of granulated lead–zinc slag substitute on the gamma
radiation attenuation
2.6 1.29 1.44 1.44 1.38 1.57
5.2 1.80 2.13 2.18 2.08 2.31
7.8 2.57 3.09 3.18 3.04 3.46
It is clear from Table 6 that the linear attenuation coefficient of
10.4 3.55 4.50 4.63 4.75 5.14 gamma radiation of concrete specimens increases significantly
13 5.09 6.55 6.67 7.02 8.20 with the increase of granulated lead–zinc slag content in concrete
15.6 7.17 9.37 10.02 11.39 12.24 mixes. The linear attenuation coefficient of concrete mixes made
18.2 10.09 13.80 14.70 17.97 19.39
with 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% granulated lead–zinc slag increased
by 8.70%, 10.22%, 10.75%, and 22.60%, respectively, compared
and following assumptions:
with the ordinary concrete specimen.
This considerable increase in the linear attenuation coefficient
- radiation source activity – 400 Gbq,
with the increase of granulated lead–zinc slag quantity is attrib-
- radiation source distance of concrete – 2 m,
uted to the high density of this waste.
- weekly exposure time – 20 h,

For these assumptions and requirements the multiplication
factor of attenuation of gamma radiation was calculated accord-
ing with PN-86–800. The value of multiplication factor K ¼600
was determined as needed for the safety conditions. For this
value, the thicknesses of concretes were calculated for measured
linear of attenuation coefficient. The obtained results for all mixed
concretes are given in Table 7.
6. Results and discussion
6.3. Effect of granulated lead–zinc slag substitute on the thickness
of concrete
As shown in Table 7, for regulatory requirements listed in
Section 5, the thickness of ordinary concrete is 49.21 cm. Thick-
ness of concrete mixed with granulated lead–zinc slag is equal to
42.24 cm. The data displayed that, addition of granulated lead–
zinc slag caused decrease the thickness of concrete by about 10%.

6.1. Effect of granulated lead–zinc slag substitute on the compressive 7. Conclusions

strength
This study used granulated lead–zinc slag as a partial replace-
As shown in Table 4, when the ratio of granulated lead–zinc slag ment for sand to improve the concrete properties concerning its
is increased, the compressive strength increases. The compressive compressive strength and gamma radiation attenuation.
 M. Alwaeli / Radiation Physics and Chemistry 83 (2013) 54–60 59

25
GLZSC-25 GLZSC-50 GLZSC-75 GLZSC-100

Multiplication factor
20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
d (cm)

Fig. 3. Relationship between the multiplication factor and the thickness of mixed concrete.

0.18
0.17
0.16
µ (cm -1)

0.15
0.14
0.13
0.12
0.11 OC-0 GLZSC-25 GLZSC-50 GLZSC-75 GLZSC-100
0.1
2.6 5.2 7.8 10.4 13 15.6 18.2
d (cm)

Fig. 4. Plot of linear attenuation coefficients versus the thickness of ordinary concrete and concrete with granulated slag.

Table 6 Table 7
Comparison of linear attenuation coefficient average of the ordinary and mixed Comparison of thickness of the ordinary and mixed concrete.
concrete [cm  1].
Type Linear of attenuation Thickness Obtained Rather
Ordinary concrete Concrete with granulated lead–zinc slag coefficient [cm  1] [cm] difference difference
[cm] [%]
OC-0 GLZSC-25 GLZSC-50 GLZSC-75 GLZSC-100
0.1324 0.1439 0.1459 0.1566 0.1623 Ordinary 0.13 49.21 – –
concrete
Concrete mixed 0.14 44.24 4.96 10.09
with granulated
The results of this research are summarized as follows: lead-zinc slag

- The compressive strength of concrete containing granulated

lead–zinc slag is better than ordinary concrete.
- As far as the protection against gamma radiation is concerned,
the thickness of the concrete shield has a very high impact on
the attenuation of radiation. The waste materials that were
used in the experiments have big influence on the density of
the concrete and attenuation coefficients.
- All such concretes are characterized by higher absorption of
gamma radiation. That makes them different from the ordin-
ary concrete. The linear attenuation coefficient of gamma
radiation of concrete with a mixture of granulated lead–zinc
slag with 75% and 100% was very good while the rest have
good and satisfying radiation properties.
- The data given in Table 7, shows that using this waste as a
replacement of sand in concrete shields allows reduction of its
thickness by about 10%.
- Waste added to the concrete shield is an efficient method of
environmental protection both for radiation and for waste
utilization points of view. Additionally, the reuse of granulated
lead–zinc slag in concrete production cut waste disposal costs,
and conserves the environment by saving large amount of
primary raw materials.
In conclusion, the results of this research reveal a potential
application of solid waste management practices; the reuse of
granulated lead–zinc slag in concrete mixes as a partial replacement
for sand. These concretes may be used for construction of shields
protecting personnel who work in laboratories where radiation is
used; further investigations may be considered regarding nonunifor-
mity effect on concrete radiation properties for lowest thickness.
Additionally, beside enhancing compressive strength and absorp-
tion properties for gamma radiation of concrete, such production
would result in benefits to environment, and building industry.
Among these benefits are the following: (i) Efficient recyclable
disposal of the granulated lead–zinc slag. (ii) Promoting ecological
balance and conservation of natural resources. (iii) Cutting or
elimination waste disposal costs, which are likely to rise due to
landfill tax. (iv) Minimizing air pollution problems. (v) Energy saving.
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