INTEGRATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL WASTES WITH NORMAL COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH CONCRETE

Abstract

Nowadays, there are growing preoccupations for determining suitable routes for the disposal of pharmaceutical wastes (PW). This study reports the results of an experimental investigation on the influence of Diclofenac (Df) as a partial replacement of Portland cement on the mechanical properties (MP) of the concrete. In addition, the study investigates the potential of hardened concrete at immobilizing the leaching of Df. To that extend leaching in water was assessed at various temperatures; room temperature, 40°C and 60 °C. The analysis of the experimental results showed that it contributes negatively on the compressive strength of the concrete. DF concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and revealed that the leached amount of Df produced at early age of 32d, and subsequently decreased sharply to be undetected. On the basis of the experiments performed, it can be concluded that Df decreases the compressive strength of the concrete, and the leached amount of Df increases as the temperature increases.