MORTAR CONTAINING IRON OXIDE RECOVERED FROM ACID MINE DRAINAGE FOR USE IN RADIATION SHIELDS

Abstract

The reuse of waste in the form of products for civil construction, besides giving a destination to them, also helps to reduce the consumption of natural resources, reduce costs and can bring technical benefits, which was observed in the present work.. We highlight the use of Acid Drainage of Mines - DAM, an effluent from the coal mining sector that causes serious environmental problems, for the extraction of magnetic pigment from iron oxide. And that this product has proved to be an applicable material in the composition of mortars. The material was used in substitution of the natural sand, minimizing impacts of the extraction sector. Due to its presence, the composite was evaluated for participation in radiological shielding, being produced reference samples and others containing 20% of the pigment recovered from DAM. The analyzes were carried out by the X-ray incidence on the samples and reading of the shield and, through this, it was noticed that the mortar containing the recovered magnetic oxide of the effluent obtained gains of attenuation in relation to the conventional one of about 13%. Therefore, the use of this material in addition to bringing environmental benefits, also contributes to maintain the safety of the places that involve processes with radiations.