Dolores Eliche-Quesada

University of Jaén | UJAEN · Department of Chemical, Environmental and Material Engineering

In this study, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) are used to develop models to predict compressive strength, thermal conductivity, porosity and water absorption of eco-friendly fired clay bricks containing different amounts of water, percentages of spent bleaching earth (SBE) and, firing temperatures. Water con...

In this work, alkali-activated composites using electric arc furnace slag (50 wt%) and biomass bottom ash (50 wt%) were manufactured, adding olive-pruning fibres as reinforcement. The objective of adding fibres is to improve the flexural strength of composites, as well as to prevent the expansion of cracks as a result of shrinkage. For this reason,...

The aim of this research is to evaluate the synergistic effect of the incorporation of spent diatomaceous earth (SDE) from beer filtration on the technological properties of alkaline-activated cements (AACs) based on sewage sludge ash (SSA). Pastes have been manufactured by mixing different amounts of precursor, SSA (30–70% by weight) and SDE (30–7...

The aim of this work is to investigate the possibility of reusing ashes obtained by the calcination of industrial sludge from the oil refining industry (ORSA) as a secondary raw material in the manufacture of alkaline activated cements or geopolymers. The incorporation behavior of 5–20 wt.% of residue in binary mixtures with rice husk ash (RHA) or...

The incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Engineering subjects presents many difficulties, because the development of skills associated with sustainability needs activities that could be monitored and evaluated. Current study plans contain a very high teaching load that makes difficult to go beyond traditional activities such...

In last decades, more eco-friendly cements have been studied to replace the conventional Portland cement. The most prominent binders have been alkali-activated materials or geopolymers. These materials are obtaining good results in terms of mechanical resistance, durability and thermal conductivity. But its behaviour depends on the origin of the ra...

The present investigation aims to evaluate the impact of prepared magnesia nanoparticles (MNP) and titania nanoparticles (TNP) on engineering properties of Alkali Activated Cements (AAC) based on granulated blast-furnace slags (GFS). Either MNP or TNP was incorporated to Alkali Activated Slags Matrices AASMs (Paste or Mortar) with different ratios...

The cement manufacturing industry is one of the main greenhouse gas emission producers and also consumes a large quantity of raw materials. It is essential to reduce these emissions in order to comply with the Paris Agreement and the principles of the circular economy. The objective of this research was to develop different types of cement clinker...

In this work, an investigation on the use of two slags from different origins (electric arc furnace slag (EAFS) and copper slag (CS)) as raw materials in the manufacture of alkali-activated cements has been carried out. A comparison of the different mechanical properties developed by the alkaline activation of each raw material has been studied. Co...

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be a key component of the climate change mitigation efforts to achieve the carbon-neutrality goals. Hence, a comprehensive assessment of the CDR potential at national and local levels is crucial to identify regional opportunities and deploy practical actions timely. This study focuses on the potential function of o...

The present study investigates the production and characterization of alkali-activated bricks prepared with mixing metakaolin (MK) and biomass fly ash from the combustion of a mix of pine pruning, forest residues and energy crops (BFA). To use this low cost and high availability waste, different specimens were prepared by mixing MK with different p...

The olive oil supply chain generates large amounts of by‐products: about 80% of the total weight of each yearly harvest represents wastes. Biomass gasification is postulated as one of the most promising technologies for successful valorization of these wastes. This work presents an experimental investigation of a gasification plant based on a downd...

Projects to promote an entrepreneurial culture have enabled a group of teachers to bring entrepreneurship training to the classroom in the field of higher education. After several editions of these projects, the connection with some sustainable development goals is perceived. Sustainable entrepreneurship will be the framework that will make possibl...

Due to the large coal fly ash (FA) production and its obvious environmental impact, alternative uses of this by-product must be researched. A considerable effort is being made worldwide on research concerning the reuse of FA as a source of alternative raw materials to produce new binder materials. One of the most promising building materials are ge...

The aim of this study was to recycle dredged sediments as an alternative raw material in the production of ceramic tiles. The effect of the substitution of kaolin by raw sediment (HDS) and calcined sediment (HDSC) in the mixture of the ceramic tile samples sintered at 1100 and 1200 °C was studied. The samples were prepared with different proportion...

Over the last decade, e-learning and the use of digital tools have received a great boost in higher education. This paper presents a content curation methodology to assess the acquisition of specific content and soft skills during the attainment of a Degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering at the University of Jaén. In this teaching–learning ex...

The present work is a review concerning the previous investigations on the vitrification behaviour of clays containing kaolinite, feldspars, muscovite (illite/sericite) and pyrophyllite. These clays are silico-aluminous and have interesting properties as raw materials for structural ceramics. The mineralogical and chemical composition were determin...

A deposit of raw kaolin, located in West Andalusia (Spain), was studied in this work using a representative sample. The methods of characterization were X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), particle size analysis by sieving and sedimentation, and thermal analysis. The ceramic properties were determined. A sample of commercial kaolin f...

In the present study, the suitability of using water treatment sludge (WTS) as the main raw material and expanded vermiculite (EV) as aggregate in the production of fired bricks was investigated. Mixtures containing between 75%–100% WTS by weight (wt.) and 5%–25% EV by wt. were prepared at various proportions. The mixtures were compressed under 40...

This chapter deals with the study of the possibility of using yellow clay - which was only used in pottery so far- in the civil engineering field as building materials, especially in the field of fired bricks. With the aim to improve the technological properties of yellow clay based bricks, two wastes were used as secondary raw materials. The first...

Construction and Demolition Wastes (CDW) with low contents in Al2O3 (4–6%) and amorphous phase (16–27%) have been investigated for geopolymerization. The proportion of alkaline activators (NaOH and sodium silicate (SS)), the temperature and time of initial treatment, the curing conditions (dry, wet or sealed) and the addition of Portland cement wer...

In this research the effect of the incorporation of black steel slag (BSS) (25, 50 and 75 wt%) into biomass bottom ash (BBA) as precursor in the synthesis of alkali-activated materials was studied. The alkali-activated pastes were cured at two temperatures, 60 and 20 °C. Thermal curing at 60 °C produced an increase in mechanical properties at early...

The sintering behaviour of a pyrophyllite clay has been investigated. The mineralogical composition by X-ray diffraction (XRD) of this sample was ∼35 wt.% pyrophyllite, ∼25 wt.% sericite/illite, ∼15 wt.% kaolinite and ∼20 wt.% quartz. The chemical composition was consistent with these results, with a total flux content of 4.18 wt.%. Prismatic bars...

The extraction of gold ore generates rejects called gold mining reject (GMR). This reject is considered a major environmental problem for the mining industry. In Amesmessa mine (Hoggar, Algeria), where mining have been carried out for over 15 years, about 2 million tons of mill tailings has been accumulated each year. The aim of this work is to stu...

Ground Heat Exchangers (GHE) are part of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), employed as a renewable source in air conditioning systems. Models implemented are quite in tune to the real behaviour, enabling reliable designs and optimization, once several thermal properties of the surrounding soil and borehole are known. Since some values of those prope...

Ground Heat Exchangers (GHE) are part of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), employed as a renewable source in air conditioning systems. Models implemented are quite in tune to the real behaviour, enabling reliable designs and optimization, once several thermal properties of the surrounding soil and borehole are known. Since some values of those prope...

The Entrepreneurial Promotion Programs in Higher Education carry out training activities with the aim of promoting the entrepreneurial spirit among university students. These programs promote skills such as innovation and creativity which improve self-employment among young people, but do not usually modify the entrepreneurial attitude. This work p...

The valorization of spent oil bleaching earths (SOBE) is crucial for the protection of the environment and the reuse of resources. In this research, alkali-activated binders were manufactured at room temperature using SOBE as a precursor by varying the mass ratio between the activating solutions of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) and 6 M sodium hydroxide...

Due to the production of industrial slags in massive amounts, there is a high demand for recycling these slags and avoiding their dumping in landfills. This article aims to recycle industrial slags in brick manufacturing and investigates the performance of fired clay bricks incorporating different kinds of industrial slags such as granulated blast...

In this study, wikis and glossaries as complementary and optional tools to develop an active methodology based on online peer-learning with the objective of promoting active participation, the acquisition of competences and improving in the teaching-learning process, as well as, the academic performance in the subject Materials Science of the Chemi...

In this study, wikis and glossaries as complementary and optional tools to develop an active methodology based on online peer-learning with the objective of promoting active participation, the acquisition of competences and improving in the teaching-learning process, as well as, the academic performance in the subject Materials Science of the Chemi...

The main objective of this investigation is to study the effect of the substitution of metakaolin (MK) (from calcined industrial kaolin) by four different calcined natural Southern Spain clays traditionally used in the brick and tile sector, as well as by the biomass bottom ash residue (BBA) from the combustion of a mix of olive and pine pruning on...

The extraction of gold ore generates waste materials called gold mine tailings. These wastes are considered as a major environmental problem for the mining industry since they consist of several heavy metals such as chromium, iron, silver, etc…. At Amesmessa Mine (Tamanrasset, Algeria) where mining has been carried out for over 15 years, about 2 mi...

In this research, the use of olive pomace fly ash (OPFA) as an alkaline source for the activation of calcined clays (CC) from Bailén (Jaén, Spain) was studied. The optimal composition was obtained for 70 wt % CC and 30 wt % OPFA. The physical, mechanical and thermal properties of control geopolymers that use water as a liquid medium have been studi...

In this work, an examination of mining wastes of an albite deposit in south Spain was carried out using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis, thermo-dilatometry and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, followed by the determination of the main ceramic properties. The albite co...

This work investigates the recycling of pyrrhotite ash (PA) waste as a method to provide a secondary raw material for clay brick bodies. PA is an industrial waste mainly composed by iron oxide particles (64,9 wt%). It was produced during the production of sulfuric acid from the combustion of pyrrhotite ore. This waste was characterized by X-ray flu...

This work describes an educational experience in which personal learning environments (PLEs) were created as a tool for the acquisition of subject contents in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. For this, the same methodology was developed for different subjects in order to teach the use of some digital tools, learn...

This research aims to study the feasibility of using wastes: biomass bottom ash resulting from the combustion process of a mix of pine-olive pruning in power generation plants, and Geosilex, a by-product obtained in the acetylene industry, as raw materials in the manufacture of unfired bricks. These materials were characterized physically, chemical...

In this work, the use of waste dust filter of secondary aluminum industry (DFA) to obtain geopolymer foams has been studied. The waste was used as source of alumina and foaming agent. As precursor and principal reactive silica supplier rice husk ash was used. Precursors were chemically activated by means of a sodium hydroxide aqueous solution and a...

This paper presents the results of three academic courses in which Entrepreneurship Promotion Programs (EPP) have been developed for engineering students at the University of Jaén. This study describes the activities and how they have been promoted using the social networks Facebook and Twitter. Grytics for Analytics software was used for monitorin...

In this research, the feasibility of using bottom ashes generated by the combustion of biomass (olive pruning and pine pruning) as a source of aluminosilicates (OPBA) has been studied, replacing the metakaolin precursor (MK) in different proportions (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 wt.% substitution) for the synthesis of geopolymers. As alkaline activator a...

In the present study, residue from olive groves has been used for the manufacture of clay ceramic bricks as a new environmentally-friendly solution. For this purpose, waste products of olive cultivation, such as olive prunings, leaves and wood, were ground to obtain a particle size of 0–2 mm; 7.5%, 15% and 25% of olive waste was added to the clay,...

The main objective of this research was to obtain calcium silicate units from alternative raw materials, such as the bottom ashes from the combustion of wooden boards (WBA), as a source of silica, and GeoSilex (G), a by-product with low energy and environmental costs generated in the manufacture of acetylene, as a source of lime. Once the raw mater...

In this research, the feasibility of using bottom ashes generated by the combustion of biomass (olive pruning and pine pruning) as a source of aluminosilicates (OPBA) has been studied, replacing the metakaolin precursor (MK) in different proportions (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 wt. % substitution) for the synthesis of geopolymers. As alkaline activator a...

The port activities generate significant quantity of Harbor Dredged Sediment (HDS). In Algeria these quantities exceed 65 Mm³/year. Thus, significant dredging operations are required to avoid harbourds entry siltation. The main objective of this work is an alternative reuse of these HDS as raw material in the manufacture of clay bricks. Physical, m...

This paper describes the use of industrial wastes arising from different production processes of the ceramic and marble industries as raw materials for the design and formulation of new cement clinkers with a high content of dicalcium silicate (Belite). The aim was to reintroduce these wastes in the industrial sector and take advantage of them for...

Olive pits, a waste product derived from the olive oil production process, has a high carbohydrate content that has attracted the biorefinery industry. Nanotechnology, which has made the production of non-toxic carbon-based nanoparticles, namely carbon dots, provides a compelling opportunity for the treatment of such materials with enormous advanta...

From the point of view of saving and conservation of natural resources, the use of alternative components in construction materials is now an international concern. In this work, the valorization of two industrial wastes with no value in the market, biomass ash and exhaust dust filter from gases purification raw materials for the production of sust...

The aluminum recycling industry produces aluminum filter dust (AFD), a waste byproduct of the aluminum recycling process composed mainly of aluminum oxide in a percentage between 60–70%, 8% calcium oxide, almost 15% sodium chloride, and between 5–10% potassium chloride. Due to its aluminum content, this waste can be used as a raw material in the ma...

Red mud is a waste material derived as residual from the Bayer process by the caustic digestion of crushed bauxite at elevated temperature. It is chemically characterized by the presence of Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Ti as well as an array of minor constituents such as Na, K, Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Zn and Pb. Red Mud: Production, Composition and Impact begins by giv...

En esta comunicación presentamos el trabajo que se lleva a cabo sobre el tema de “Integración de Entornos y Redes Personales de Aprendizaje como mejora de la docencia universitaria en ingeniería”, dentro del programa de implantación de buenas prácticas en estudios universitarios, que se está realizando en la universidad de Jaén, y en concreto con l...

El ladrillo cerámico como material de construcción industrial contribuye negativamente al deterioro del medioambiente, tanto por el agotamiento de los recursos naturales como por la elevada cantidad de energía necesaria para su fabricación, que se traduce en emisiones de CO2. La incorporación de productos residuales o subproductos procedentes de di...