Wastes from the petroleum industries as sustainable resource materials in construction sectors
- •Petroleum industry produces waste with different physical and chemical compositions.
- •The review highlights the potential of petroleum wastes as construction materials.
- •Opportunities and challenges are discussed as the outcome of the study.
Fuente: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620355050?dgcid=raven_sd_recommender_email
Abstract
Increasing growth of the petroleum industry has resulted in huge amounts of various waste materials, which need proper disposal and valorization. The complexity, slow rate, and high cost of various remediation methods for wastes from the petroleum industry and the potential of utilizing these wastes in construction sectors have attracted huge attention. To select the best utilization option for petroleum industry wastes, the composition, microstructure of waste materials, and their influence and mechanism on the targeted construction materials must be clarified.
Such data may help researchers predict the physical and chemical properties of newly developed formulations and tailor them based on their required composition by using optimum admixture components and additional treatments. Despite research on the utilization of petroleum waste materials in the construction industry, they are relatively incremental and limited in scope and need more scientific attention considering the composition, structure, influence of various components on one another in admixture formulation, preparation mechanism, effect of treatments, eco-friendliness, and cost efficiency. This paper provides an overview on the utilization of various petroleum waste materials in construction sectors and provide some directions for future research.
1. Introduction
Daily and industrial activities seem unimaginable without oil and gas, but these precious products are associated with an enormous amount of various waste materials. The exploration, extraction, development, and production of petroleum generate massive amounts of waste materials in different forms (Ossai et al., 2020). They include various gases and low boiling constituents, high boiling constituents, waste water, spent caustic, filter clay, and solid waste (Jafarinejad, 2017).
Most of these wastes are considered hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency because of their characteristics, such as ignitability, flammability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity (Speight and El-Gendy, 2018) and improper storage, transport, disposal, and treatment of these waste materials can seriously affect the environment and living creatures’ health. Depending to disposal and treatment methods, these wastes contain oil and varieties of hydrocarbons as main source of CO2 emission. Possible treatment methods such as stabilization/solidification technique not only provide potential products for economic benefits but also save resources and the environment. However, optimal approach is achieved based on performance data of environmental and economic assessments or life cycle assessment (Hu et al., 2020).
The traditional role of chemistry to convert resources into products that, in many cases, created wastes and caused environmental damage is changing into a new role to develop new methods for recovery and recycling processes for the efficient use of resources and utilization of waste materials as green resource (Slootweg, 2020). The role of materials science and chemistry for developing safe and circular designs and procedures to use molecules and materials for sustainable future is vital (Keijer et al., 2019; Kümmerer et al., 2020), opening huge opportunities in the valorization of various waste materials. Fig. 1 clearly represents the different characteristics of present and future chemical sectors.
On the basis of materials science, materials are not fixed but highly variable because of their composition, processing, and microstructure. Thus, properties of materials with the same composition depend on their processing and microstructure, allowing us to tailor and develop them for various applications (Cheeseman, 2019).
The construction sector is a billion-dollar business with major opportunities in the technology and material fields. Developing sustainable concepts by using greener materials, technology, and circular economy may boost this industry and increase the global gross domestic product while reduce its negative environmental and ecological impact. Various materials used in buildings, roads, and so on can be considered for modification and replacement.
Concrete, as one of the most important materials in the construction industry and most consumed substance on Earth after water, can also have various properties based on its microstructure, composition, and processing. Meanwhile, the utilization of various chemicals and additives is a highly effective way for modifying and enhancing concrete’s properties (Akchurin et al., 2016). This strategy provides enormous opportunities for tailoring concrete by utilizing various materials (Mikulčić et al., 2016). Modified concrete with tailored properties by using various complexes of admixtures provides huge opportunities in the construction industry and still has room for exploration. Modifiers can improve concrete by using different solutions such as water reducing, plasticization, coherence, air entrainment, acceleration and retardation of setting, and hardening (Ristavletov et al., 2019). Waste materials in construction applications provide sustainable development while tackling waste management issues. They can be utilized as a binder, aggregate (fine and coarse), and admixtures in concretes or other materials used in the construction industry.
Cement is a critical binding agent in concrete. In cement production, the most commonly used resource materials are limestone or chalk (CaCO3), sand (SiO2), clay (SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3), iron ore (Fe2O3), and gypsum (CaSO4) (Mikulčić et al., 2016). Table 1 presents the approximate composition of cement clinker. The construction industry uses over 10 types of cement, namely, rapid hardening cement (RHC), quick setting cement (QSC), low heat cement (SRC), blast furnace slag cement (BFSC), high-alumina cement (HAC), white cement (WC), colored cement (CC), pozzolanic cement (PzC), air entraining cement (AEC), and hydrophobic cement (HpC), in different applications. These cements have different compositions and physical properties (Dunuweera and Rajapakse, 2018).
Table 1. Approximate composition of the cement clinker. Reprinted with permission from (Dunuweera and Rajapakse, 2018).
| Compound | Formula | Notation | wt.% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celite (tricalcium aluminate) | Ca3Al2O6 [3CaO·Al2O3] | C3A | 10 |
| Brownmillerite (tetracalcium aluminoferrite) | Ca4Al2Fe2O10 [4CaO·Al2O3·Fe2O3] | C4AF | 8 |
| Belite (dicalcium silicate) | Ca2SiO4 [2CaO·SiO2] | C2S | 20 |
| Alite (tricalcium silicate) | Ca3SiO5 [3CaO·SiO2] | C3S | 55 |
| Gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) | CaSO4·2H2O [CaO·SO3·2H2O] | CSH2 | 5 |
| Sodium oxide Potassium oxide | Na2O K2O | N K | ≤2 |
Replacing these raw resources with waste materials provides a good opportunity for sustainable development. The cement industry is responsible for almost 5% of CO2 emissions to the environment, which is one of the main contributors to global warming (Agency, 2009). The industrial byproducts were consumed in cement industry caused significant decline in CO2 emissions while lowering the clinker-to-cement ratio and replacing fossil fuels with other energy sources can led to a more sustainable construction industry (Benhelal et al., 2013). For example, employing 25% of recycled aggregates in concrete composition seriously improved its environmental impacts according to life cycle assessment (Colangelo et al., 2020). Moreover, Visintin et al. (2020) utilized recycled aggregates in concrete production and investigated the CO2 emission of the process. Based on life cycle assessment, production of concretes with compressive strength of 45 MPa or less could effectively decrease the CO2 emissions.
In the valorization of waste materials, the prepared product must be thoroughly checked for its safety, such as through the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. Moreover, both positive and negative effects must be assessed.
Although petroleum wastes could be used as alternative and eco-friendly construction materials, the research trend in this field is not significant (Fig. 2). Consequently, this study aims to review various wastes from the petroleum and gas industries in construction applications and reveal the opportunities and future prospects for researchers in this field.
1.1. Oil-contaminated sand (oil sand waste)
Oil spills in tens of thousands of liters around the world have a very negative impact on the environment and living beings. Oil leakage releases petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment; changes the physical and chemical properties of soil, groundwater, and surroundings; and causes toxicity (Abousnina et al., 2018).
Despite various remediation methods for soil and water contaminated with oil (Fig. 3), their complexity, slow rate, and high cost are major obstacles to their application (Gidudu and Chirwa, 2020a, b; Lei et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Rippen, 1999) and use in other attractive functions (Li, Y. et al., 2020).
Solidification and stabilization are common techniques used to protect the environment from contaminants (Tuncan et al., 2000).
An attractive and established research topic in this area is the utilization of oil-contaminated sand with cement to prepare mortar and concrete (Abousnina et al., 2020). Oil-contaminated sand in cement is stabilized by mechanical enclosing, physical adsorption, and chemical reaction using hydration, setting, and hardening mechanisms (Cartledge et al., 1990; Chen et al., 2009)ei. However, the successful use of oil-contaminated sand depends on the required mechanical properties such as compressive strength and stabilization of waste inside mortar/concrete (Abousnina et al., 2016) that is affect by composition and degree of finesse of waste material. Abousnina et al. (2018) developed and tested a simple empirical equation to predict the compressive strength of mortar and concrete containing oil-contaminated sand waste. Meanwhile, some pretreatment techniques such as thermo-mechanical cutting cleaner (TMCC) (Ormeloh, 2014) can be employed to convert oil-contaminated sand to a reusable product (Kassem et al., 2018). Table 2 presents the research achievements on the utilization of oil-contaminated sand in construction sectors.
Table 2. Utilization of oil-contaminated sand and soil in construction sectors.
| Waste material | Application (Production) | Achievements and properties | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treated Oil Sand Wastes | Controlled Low-Strength Materials | Increase of flowability; decrease of dry density; significant decreases of bleed water; low heavy metal leaching; compressive strength 423–1233 kPa | Mneina et al. (2018) |
| Recycled aggregates from oil-contaminated concrete | sub-base layer for road unbound pavement materials | No significant effect on maximum dry density, optimum moisture, and aggregate strength variations; increase of water absorption; decrease of compressive strength by increasing oil contamination content | Morafa et al. (2017) |
| Oil-contaminated sand | cement mortar | Proper mixing and curing methods are needed; Increment of waste content higher than the optimal value decreases the compressive strength; sample with optimum waste content has higher compressive strength (19%) than the original sample; interfacial tension zone is not affected by up to 2% of waste, but higher percentages increase the porosity | Abousnina et al. (2020) |
| Fine sand contaminated with light crude oil | cement mortar | Samples with 1% oil-contaminated sand showed the highest compressive strength than uncontaminated sample (18%, 30%, and 17% higher at 7, 14, and 28 days, respectively); more increase (2%–10%) of waste in samples could decrease compressive strength by 50% | Abousnina et al. (2016) |
| Fine sand contaminated with light crude oil | Concrete | Almost the same compressive and splitting tensile strength for samples with up to 6% waste; decrease of concrete density with increase of waste content due to an increase in surface porosity | Abousnina et al. (2018) |
| Treated oil sand waste | grout manufacture | No negative affect on grout properties by utilizing up to 20% of waste in cement; less leakage of heavy metal compared to raw waste | Aboutabikh et al. (2016) |
| Treated oil sand waste | grout mixtures for micropile construction | Up to 30% of waste as replacement of fine aggregate in grout mixes resulted in maintaining the micropile surface properties and enhancement in the grout body diameter for micropiles | Aboutabikh et al. (2020) |
| Treated oil sand waste | Concrete for continuous flight auger (CFA) piles | No negative effect on the performance of CFA concrete using up to 30% of waste; very low leaching of heavy metals | Kassem et al. (2018) |
| Oil-contaminated soil | cement-based materials | Increase of heat release of hydration of unit mass cement; Decrease of rheological and flow properties of cement paste and mortars; utilization of 4% oil-contaminated soil gives optimum values of flexural and compressive strength; safe leaching limits | (Li, Y. et al., 2020) |
| Oil-contaminated sand | construction of rural roads | Sand contaminated with 6 wt% oil stabilized with 10 wt% cement kiln dust provided optimum compressive strength and California bearing ratio | Nasr (2014) |
| Oil-contaminated sand | concrete | Oily sand as substitute for fine aggregate in hardened concrete was used in 1:1.5:3 ratio (cement: fine aggregate: coarse aggregate) at 0.48 w/c, leading to increased water absorption of concrete | Almutairi (2020) |
| Crude oil contaminated sandy soil | highway pavement construction | About 10 wt% of oily sand mixed with saw dust ash-cement (2:1) increased the California bearing ratio from 58% to 79% and decreased leaching of heavy metals | Ojuri and Epe (2016) |
| Oil-contaminated aggregates | cement mortar | Mineral oil up to 10% of the aggregate mass showed best results on cement solidification and fresh and hardened properties of the resultant mortar | Almabrok et al. (2013) |
| Oil-contaminated soils | highway construction | Mixture of 10 wt% waste suitable for base material, about 30–40 wt% exhibited higher air voids and mixture of up to 40 wt% suitable for medium or light traffic surface | Hassan et al. (2005) |
1.2. Drilling wastes
Drilling produces large amounts of recalcitrant waste. According to a previous report (Mostavi et al., 2015), drilling wastes from the oil and gas industry are the second largest volume of waste after wastes from the exploration and production industry.
During oil well drilling, drilling fluid is circulated to lubricate and plaster the side of the well to cool the drilling bit, maintain the fluid pressure inside, and carry drill rock cuttings to the surface (Ghazi et al., 2011). Drilling waste is like a dark grey high-viscosity paste that mainly consists of drilling cuttings and drilling mud. Drilling cuttings consist of various types of rock particles in different sizes from sand to gravel (Ghassemi et al., 2004; Reddoch, 2005).
Types of compositions present in drilling cuttings directly relates to the composition of the rock formation as well as chemistry of drilling mud. Drilling fluid (also called drilling mud), which facilitates drilling performance, is a synthetic chemical compound that consists of a base fluid with various chemicals (mainly clay and organic stabilizers). In industrial drilling fluids, different types of fluid phases (mainly water, synthetic or natural oils, and gas or air) are used (Siddique et al., 2017). Their formulation and properties are specifically designed based on physicochemical conditions of underground geological formations.
Accordingly, drilling waste is heavily loaded with inorganic and organic chemicals including heavy metals (such as Cd2+, Pb2+, Cr3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+) and petroleum hydrocarbons, in which the number of carbons present in the polymer chain length is 6–44, making them hazardous for the environment (Okparanma et al., 2018; Okparanma and Ayotamuno, 2008). The characteristics of a typical drill cuttings sample including mineral compositions as well as metal concentrations analysis are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3. Characteristics of drilling cuttings. Reprinted with permission from (Leonard and Stegemann, 2010).
| Mineral composition analysis (%) | metal composition (mg/kg dry mass) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| CaO | 2.5 | As | 5 |
| SiO2 | 60.4 | Ba | 51500 |
| Al2O3 | 10.4 | Cd | 21 |
| Fe2O3 | 4.9 | Co | 14 |
| MgO | 2.0 | Cr | 106 |
| MnO | 0.06 | Cu | 44 |
| TiO2 | 0.6 | Mn | 345 |
| K2O | 1.7 | Ni | 38 |
| NaO2 | 2.4 | Pb | 150 |
| P2O5 | 0.1 | Sr | 930 |
| SO4−2 | 1.46 | Zn | 82 |
| Fe | 26400 | ||
| Cl | 6360 | ||
Waste drilling fluid is currently disposed by direct landfill or undergoes complex treatments such as chemical treatment (Perry and Griffin, 2001), thermal treatment (Chibuogwu and Godwin, 2015), phytoremediation (Kogbara, 2013), stabilization/solidification (Ghasemi et al., 2017), and bioremediation (Guerra et al., 2018).
Petroleum drilling wastes have been introduced as new categories of waste that can be treated and constructively reused. Potential applications for these wastes in construction and building materials, such as road construction (Tuncan et al., 2000), asphalt pavement (Dhir et al., 2010), as an aggregate in cold-mix asphalt (Allen et al., 2007a) and hot-mixed asphalt (Wasiuddin et al., 2002), cement manufacturing (Aboutabikh et al., 2020), concrete (Mostavi et al., 2015), sandcrete blocks (Mohammed and Cheeseman, 2011), bricks (Sengupta et al., 2002), and building ceramics (Monteiro et al., 2007) have been suggested in recent years.
Drilling cuttings as solid wastes contain reactive calcium, silicon, aluminum, and iron oxides that can be utilized as natural fine aggregate in the cement industry to replace limestone and clay. They are either used in small quantities as filler and constituents of the final product or as active component to improve the technical behavior of cement (Bernardo et al., 2007). Moreover, pre-treated drill cuttings (i.e., thermally treated cuttings without hydrocarbon fraction) and screened or filtered cuttings with less liquid mud are potential aggregates or fillers in concrete, brick, or block manufacturing as construction materials (Chen et al., 2007a). Untreated cuttings are relatively hard to reuse for construction purposes (Okoh, 2015). Table 4 presents the various waste drilling applications in construction sectors.
Table 4. Application of petroleum drilling wastes in construction sectors.
| Waste | Construction material | Achievement | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drilling fluid | Building materials | Waste drilling fluid from the oil extraction industry as partial replacement of clay in construction materials was used. | Anghelescu et al. (2019) |
| Drilling cuttings | Building materials | Shale gas oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residues successfully utilized as replacement material for producing building materials such as cement, sintered brick, and non-fired brick. | Wang et al. (2017) |
| Drill cuttings | Lightweight aggregates for building and road industry | Shale drill cuttings as replacement of bentonite and as additive were mixed with fly ash for the production of lightweight aggregates. In comparison with bentonite, shales provide an additional source of kaolinite. Thermal transformation to mullite is crucial for the formation of the mechanically durable structure of aggregates. | (Piszcz-Karaś et al., 2019) |
| Oil-based drilling mud | cement clinker | At low calcination temperature, 0%–6% of drilling mud is used to prepare cement with paste strength above 80.0 MPa. | Lai et al. (2020) |
| Oil-based drilling Mud | Cement clinker | Drilling mud was used as a constituent of raw meal for cement clinker production. Drilling mud is rich in calcium oxide, silica, and aluminum oxide and a suitable replacement for limestone | Al Dhamri et al. (2020) |
| Oil -based drilling cuttings | Cement clinker | Drilling waste and arc furnace slag were used as suitable replacement for limestone and clay in kiln feed for clinker production. Up to 38% of limestone and 72% of clay could be replaced. The resulting cement showed required technical properties. | Bernardo et al. (2007) |
| Oil-based drilling muds | Cement | Non-aqueous drilling fluids were mixed with alkali-activated fly ash slurries as an alternative cementitious material in cement production. This is the mud–cement conversion process while necessary cement characteristics are maintained. | Liu et al., 2019a, Liu et al., 2019b |
| Oil-based drilling mud | Cement | Oil-based mud was used as replacement of limestone in the kiln feed. This additive positively impacted CO2 emissions during calcination. | Abdul-Wahab et al. (2016) |
| Water-based drilling cuttings | non-autoclaved aerated concrete | Up to 40% of water-based drilling cuttings was mixed with fly ash and phosphogypsum. The mixture was cured by steam at 80 °C for 24 h to prepare a dense and interlock microstructure. | Wang et al. (2020) |
| Oil-based drill cuttings | Lightweight aggregate for concrete | Drilling cuttings were pelletized and fired to produce lightweight aggregates with satisfactory physical properties. | Ayati et al. (2019) |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | non-autoclaved aerated concrete | The cost-effective and environmentally friendly concrete material was prepared with optimal mix proportion of 25%–30% fly ash, 15%–20% oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residue, 20%–30% cement, 15%–20% quicklime, and 4% gypsum. The best cursing steam temperature was 80 °C. | Wang et al. (2018) |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | Concrete | Drill cuttings are used as natural fine aggregate in the production of concrete. Well-graded drill cuttings performed better than poorly graded samples. Up to 20% of fine aggregates can be replaced in high-strength targets without reduction in compressive strength. | Foroutan et al. (2018) |
| Drilling cuttings | asphalt concrete | Different samples of drilling cuttings from different fields were successfully employed as mineral powder in asphalt concrete mixtures. | Vaisman et al. (2020) |
| Water-based drilling cuttings | road cushion layer | Water-based drilling cuttings are rich in calcium and silicon compounds. Drilling cuttings were mixed with fly ash and phosphogypsum to be used as replacement for construction materials. | (Li, B. et al., 2020) |
| Oil–well drilling muds | road construction | A material with low strength and suitable for building additional layers of pavement bases was fabricated. | Galeev (2019) |
| Modified drilling waste materials | roadway construction | Modified drilling waste material mainly consists of barite and quartz. It was treated with 3% cement in the laboratory and showed good performance as base course material in roadway construction. | Shon et al. (2016) |
| Oil based drilling cuttings | Road-Construction | After thermal treatment, a maximum of 7% of modified drilling cuttings was added as a mineral additive in asphalt concrete mixture. | Mendaliyeva et al. (2015) |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | road construction | The drilling waste was stabilized by mixing with pozzolanic fly ash, lime, and cement. The optimal mix proportion was obtained with 20% lime, 10% fly ash, and 5% cement | Tuncan et al. (2000) |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | hot mix asphalt | Drill cuttings were used as an additive in combination with bitumen with penetration grade 60/70 (PG 64–16) and granite aggregates. Five different percentage mixtures were examined to determine optimum percentage. | Khodadadi et al. (2020) |
| Water-based drilling cuttings | non-fired bricks | Drilling cuttings (50 wt%) were employed as partial replacement for fine aggregates and cementitious materials for the manufacture of non-fired bricks. | Liu et al., 2019a, Liu et al., 2019b |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | non-fired bricks | The oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residues had pozzolanic characteristics and are a replacement for fine aggregates in cementitious materials in non-fired bricks. | Wang et al. (2019) |
| Oil well drilling waste | Sintered shale brick | Sintered shale brick containing drilling waste as a partial substitution for shale was prepared, and the influence of sintering temperature (950 °C–1050 °C) on physico-mechanical characteristics of brick was investigated | Li et al. (2011) |
| Oil-well drilling cuttings | Sandcrete blocks | Sandcrete samples were prepared by replacing up to 50% of sand by thermally treated drilling cuttings. The sandcrete showed reduced water absorption, reduced sorptivity, increased density, and reduced thermal conductivity. | Mohammed and Cheeseman (2011) |
| Oil-well drilling cuttings | building ceramics | Drill cuttings were used as the main raw material and mineral additive in ceramic structure. One of the cuttings in its composition exhibited pre-burning and burning properties similar to clay rocks. The second cutting was unsintered psammite-aleuropelite material with a high content of calcium and magnesium carbonates, quartz, and feldspar. | Rykusova et al. (2020a) |
| Oil well drill cuttings | road construction | acceptable leaching limits; up to 40% economic saving; stable and strong sub-grade for roads | Misra et al. (2011) |
| Offshore drilling waste | hot mix asphalt concrete | Up to 20% of drilling waste as aggregate replacement was used while maintaining Marshall stability and flow, permeability of HMA concrete, leachability, and resilient modulus | Wasiuddin et al. (2002) |
| Drilling cuttings | Cold-Mix Asphalt | Up to 20% of the virgin aggregate replaced with incinerator bottom ash resulted in increased aggregate pore structure within the mixture with relatively high moisture contents. | Allen et al. (2007b) |
| Drilling cuttings | filler in bituminous mixtures | Waste used as replacement of limestone aggregates appeared to fit criteria about viscosity at normal application temperatures; physically and chemically stable during storage, mixing, placing, and in service | Dhir et al. (2010) |
| Oil-based drilling cuttings | road construction | The drilling waste was stabilized by mixing with pozzolanic fly ash, lime, and cement. The optimal mix proportion was obtained with 20% lime, 10% fly ash, and 5% cement | Tuncan et al. (2000) |
| Drill cuttings | road construction | Drill cuttings were mixed with uncontaminated soil (6:1 ratio), compost, and stabilized with max 10% Portland cement of the total weight of the mixtures. | Okoh (2015) |
| Waste drilling fluids and cuttings | permeable bricks and concrete partial substitute | strength of permeable bricks was between 350 and 1200 kgf/cm2 with permeability coefficient between 3.9 × 10−3 to 8.1 × 10−3 cm/s (at 15 °C). Strength of concrete samples was 310–350 kgf/cm2. Characteristics of both materials conformed to CNS requirement. | Chen et al. (2007b) |
| Oil-well drilling cuttings | Sandcrete Blocks | Sandcrete samples were prepared by replacing up to 50% of sand by thermally treated drilling cuttings. The sandcrete showed reduced water absorption, reduced sorptivity, increased density, and reduced thermal conductivity. | Mohammed and Cheeseman (2011) |
1.3. Oily sludge
The petroleum industry generates various sludge wastes such as effluent treatment plant sludge and bottom tank sludge (Johnson and Affam, 2019). Refinery sludge (wastes from oil refineries) includes separation process sediments, storage tank bottoms, cleaning of process equipment waste and biological sludge from wastewater treatment, and soil oil spills (Speight and El-Gendy, 2018; Tsiligiannis and Tsiliyannis, 2020). For example, a refinery with a production of 105,000 drums/day produces about 50 tons of oily sludge/year (Chua Choon Ling and Isa, 2006). The main reason for petroleum sludge formation is the cooling below the cloud point; light ends evaporation, mixing with incompatible materials, and water addition for making emulsions (Johnson and Affam, 2019). Oily sludge is classified as hazardous waste because it contains high values of different hydrocarbons; solid waste includes heavy metals, metals, and metal salts (American Petroleum, 1989; Asia, 2006; Tsiligiannis and Tsiliyannis, 2020). Meanwhile, many disposal and treatment approaches of oily sludge are the biggest contributors to CO2 and CH4 emissions. According to a study by Hu and his coworkers (Hu et al., 2020) traditional methods including landfilling or incineration are more hazardous to environment compared to pyrolysis technique and solvent extraction method.
Based on their origin, processing, and hydrocarbon recovery, sludge has various compositions with generic range of 10%–20% hydrocarbon and 5%–20% solids and water (Mokhtar et al., 2011).
Petroleum sludge resulting from refineries shows various appearances and compositions. Vdovenko et al. (2015) identified five different sludge, namely, upper layer sludge (PS1), fresh sludge (PS2), emulsive sludge (PS3), suspension sludge (PS4), and bitumen sludge (PS5), with various chemical compositions and physical properties (Table 5).
Table 5. Petroleum sludge composition based on the depth of the storage pond (sample PS1 was taken at the surface and sample PS5 – at the bottom). Reproduced with permission from (Vdovenko et al., 2015).
| Content in petroleum sludge | PS1 | PS2 | PS3 | PS4 | PS5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water, wt.% | 2.5 | 38.7 | 26.9 | 12.6 | 6.1 |
| Mechanical impurities, wt.% | 0.3 | 5.3 | 12.2 | 24.9 | 28.7 |
| Organic matter, wt.% | 97.2 | 56.0 | 60.9 | 62.5 | 65.2 |
| Content of paraffin-naphthene hydrocarbons in organic matter | 18.2 | 17.4 | 17.8 | 19.2 | 22.3 |
| Content of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons | 22.8 | 20.5 | 21.7 | 18.4 | 15.2 |
| Content of bicyclic aromatic hydrocarbons | 27.8 | 27.8 | 21.5 | 19.2 | 14.4 |
| Content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons | 26.3 | 28.2 | 30.2 | 31.7 | 34.9 |
| Content of asphaltene-tar substances | 4.9 | 6.1 | 8.8 | 11.5 | 13.2 |
Improper disposal of this hazardous waste can create major danger for the environment. Various methods such as thermal, mechanical, biological, and chemical techniques can be used in the processing and disposal of petroleum sludge; these methods are generally costly. Many methods such as solvent extraction, freezing and thawing treatment, electrokinetic method, microwave, and ultrasonic irradiation have been employed for oil recovery form petroleum sludge (Jafarinejad, 2017; Johnson and Affam, 2019). After oil recovery, disposal methods include incineration, oxidation, solidification/stabilization, and biodegradation. The reuse of oily sludge without treatment in the construction industry as fuel or material resource is an economical and sustainable approach (Johnson and Affam, 2019; Tsiligiannis and Tsiliyannis, 2020).
Similarity in composition of various wastes to natural raw materials provides the opportunities to utilize them in different fabrication methods instead of raw resource materials and obtain both environmental and economic advantages. Segadães (Segadães, 2006) demonstrated the use of phase diagrams in choosing composition and processing parameters for the utilization of waste materials in ceramic production. Such diagrams may help the researcher recognize potential waste materials and required processing parameters. Table 6 summarizes the effects of the utilization of oily sludge as construction material.
Table 6. Oily sludge as construction materials.
| Waste material | Application (Production) | Achievements and properties | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encapsulated petroleum waste (oily sludge) | red ceramic product | up to 30 wt% can be utilized for red ceramic preparation; enhancement of linear shrinkage, water absorption, and apparent density for all firing temperatures; decrease of mechanical; proper for clay bricks and roofing tiles | Pinheiro and Holanda (2009) |
| Oily sludge | porcelain stoneware tile | replacement of kaolin material up to 5 wt%; safe leaching limits; increase of waste leads to decrease of linear shrinkage, apparent density, flexural strength, and increase of water absorption | Pinheiro and Holanda (2013) |
| Oily sludge | Clay-based Ceramics (hollow bricks and roofing tiles) | up to 30 wt% of waste, as a replacement for natural clay; safe leaching limits | Souza et al. (2011) |
| Oily sludge | masonry bricks | Decrease of required water and fuel in manufacturing process; acceptable leaching limits | Sengupta et al. (2002) |
| Oil refinery sludge | energy sources for the cement industry | tailored blends prevent clinker losses, maintain operability and tolerable inclusions, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and improve atmospheric pollutant emission | Tsiligiannis and Tsiliyannis (2020) |
| Oily sludge | asphalt paving | Samples contain up to 22% oily sludge meet the required criteria for a specific asphalt concrete wearing course or bituminous base course; acceptable leaching limits | Taha et al. (2001) |
| Oily sludge | Red ceramic (brick and tile fabrication) | Samples contain up to 5 wt% of waste and their bentonite-treated forms present required properties; Improvement in processing conditions | Monteiro et al. (2007) |
| Oil- well drilling sludge | Wall ceramic | About 20–80 (wt%) of drilling sludge with a high content of clay-like substances was used as mineral additive in the formulation of ceramics with acceptable operational characteristics | Rykusova et al. (2020b) |
| Oily sludge | roadbed material | In solidification/stabilization (S/S) treatment of oily sludge, phosphogypsum-based cementitious materials including ordinary Portland cement, fly ash, and silica fume were used as binders and phosphogypsum was employed as a stabilizer to prepare solidified sludge that was suitable as roadbed material | Xiao et al. (2019) |
1.4. Spent catalysts
Growth of oil refining industries has increased the utilization of catalysts in various processes, leading to hazardous waste materials known as spent catalysts (Akcil et al., 2015). Around 800,000 tons of fluidized bed cracking catalyst (FBCC) waste are generated from the petrochemical industry globally each year (Antonovič et al., 2020; Letzsch, 2010). Various expensive and complex chemical and biological recovery methods such as hydrometallurgical, solid–liquid extraction, and liquid–liquid extraction are employed for the recovery of spent catalysts (Majed Al-Salem et al., 2019).
FBCCs contain almost 50% SiO2 and 40% Al2O3 (zeolitic structure), similar to many pozzolanic materials such as fly ash and metakaolin; they can be used in cement and concrete (Pacewska et al., 2002). The positive effects of catalysts on the hydration of Portland and calcium aluminate cement (CACs) and their microstructures have attracted research attention on the utilization of spent catalyst in various cements (Pacewska et al., 2011, 2013). Moreover, smart consumption of spent catalyst as substitute of raw materials has high impact on energy usage leading to lower CO2 emission (Antiohos et al., 2006). Castellanos et al. (Castellanos and Agredo, 2010) reviewed the characterization and mechanical and durability properties of mortar and concrete mixed with spent catalysts.
Researchers showed that the addition of 10%–20% of FBCCs increases the strength and resistance to various forms of corrosion in Portland cement mortar and concrete due to their pozzolanic properties (Bukowska et al., 2003; Costa et al., 2014; Izquierdo et al., 2016). Pacewska et al. (2012) showed a major hydration acceleration in CAC at 20 °C–30 °C, but lower temperatures slowed down the process. They also claimed that hydration kinetics caused by FBCC on CAC depends on various parameters such as nucleation action and FBCC’s water adsorption capacity and adsorption of Ca2+ on the FBCC surface (Pacewska et al., 2009). Antonovič et al. (Antonovic et al., 2010; Antonovič et al., 2020; Stonys et al., 2008) showed that smaller FBCC particles or high treatment temperatures can enhance the properties of cement. Grinding of FBCC to nano scale increases both their surface area and activity (Antonovič et al., 2020; Anyszka et al., 2015).
Vaičiukyniene et al. (Vaičiukynienė-Palubinskaitė et al., 2015) claimed that organic impurities in spent catalysts are the main reason for retarding the cement hydration process. They used hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to purify spent catalyst and obtain developed cement with higher strength compared with samples that were not subjected to purification. Nunes et al. (Nunes and Costa, 2017) employed a statistical factorial design approach to determine the optimum amount for spent equilibrium catalyst in self-compacting concrete. Researchers (Allahverdi and Mahdavan, 2013; Allahverdi et al., 2019; Bukowska et al., 2003, 2004; Morozov et al., 2013; Torres Castellanos et al., 2013) have investigated the resistance of prepared cement mortars containing spent catalysts cracking in a fluidized bed at sulfate solution and saturated brine. They showed that damage depends on the concentration of corrosive medium and spent catalyst content in mortar. Table 7 presents various spent catalysts from the petroleum industry and used in construction sectors.
Table 7. Utilization of spent catalysts from the petroleum industry as resource materials in construction.
| Waste material | Application (Production) | Achievements and properties | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluidized bed cracking catalyst | Concrete | Spent catalyst’s pozzolanic activity depends on its grain size (smaller size better activity); replacement of optimum amount of spent catalyst with sand can improve concrete microstructure, increase density, reduce water absorption, and improve frost resistance | Pacewska et al. (2002) |
| Electrostatic precipitator catalyst (EPcat) from the cracking unit | Superplasticized mortars | Higher compressive strength for samples containing EPcat; increase of required superplasticizer or water for maintaining the workability of mortars incorporating EPcat; acceleration of cement hydration | Hsu et al. (2001) |
| Spent equilibrium catalyst | fired brick | Fired bricks containing 10–30 wt% spent catalyst have compressive strength greater than 3000 psi and meet the specification for a severe weathering grade; the bricks containing spent catalyst have better heat insulation properties than conventional fired bricks | Chen and Chou (2013) |
| Spent catalyst (FCC) of the cracking process | non-structural blocks and floor pavers | Replacement of cement up to 45% provides samples with accepted mechanical properties | Caicedo-Caicedo et al. (2015) |
| Catalytic cracking catalyst residue (FCC) | concreate | 10% replacement of cement with spent catalyst gives the best performance | Castellanos et al. (2016) |
| Spent catalytic cracking catalyst (FCC) | hydraulic binders | Spent catalyst/fly ash (FA) mixture was used to partially replace Portland cement; sample with FA or with low percentages of FCC has prominent acceleration of hydration of Portland cement, which can lead to negative values of fixed lime at early curing ages | Velázquez et al. (2016) |
| Spent catalyst from cracking reactor | building ceramics | 10% of milled catalyst can be applied; a large (20%) amount has a negative effect on the physical-mechanical properties of ceramic body; higher percentages of waste are required higher burning temperatures | Kizinievic et al. (2005) |
| Milled and unmilled fluidized bed cracking catalyst (FBCC) | calcium aluminate cement | Replacement of calcium aluminate cement up to 10% with unmilled FBCC increase cement hydration, while milled FBCC requires up to 5% decrease hydration; Both reduce the total heat released during early (72 h) cement hydration | Antonovič et al. (2020) |
| Spent fluidized cracking catalyst | middle cement castable | 20%–35% higher compressive strength with addition of 5% spent catalyst | Stonys et al. (2008) |
| Spent catalysts from thermal cracking process | Clay-based materials (bricks) | Addition of up to 20 wt% of spent catalyst to clay mixture does not affect the final properties of the bricks | Acchar et al. (2009) |
| Spent catalyst of desulfurization operations | Portland cement clinker | Utilizing 4% spent catalyst prepares eco-cement with the same compressive strength to those of ordinary Portland cement pastes | Lin et al. (2017) |
| Spent alumina catalyst, reduced fluidized cracking catalyst | clinker preparation | Replacement of Bauxite with spent catalysts; samples with spent catalyst have almost the same chemical composition, physical, and mechanical properties of the Portland clinker; do not affect the quality of the prepared cement | Al-Dhamri and Melghit (2010) |
| Calcined spent fluid catalytic cracking | cordierite and cordierite-mullite ceramics | Calcination of spent catalyst converted it to non-hazardous AlVO4 ceramic phase; prepared samples had lower porosity values and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) than similar industrial products | Ramezani et al. (2017) |
| Spent equilibrium catalyst (ECat) from the oil-refinery industry | ready-mixed concrete | Improved mechanical strength and durability for samples containing Ecat (∼16%); sample with high content of ECat (33%) show low performance | Costa and Marques (2018) |
| Spent residue catalysts (SRC) of fluid cat-cracking | mullite-based wear-resistant ceramics | Sintering at 1450 °C gave the best alternatives for the preparation of wear-resistant ceramics; pre-calcination did not show significant effects on the prepared ceramic’s final properties | Mohammadi et al. (2020) |
| Spent petroleum refining catalysts | blended cement | Addition of spent catalyst increases the water requirements, but the addition of polycarboxylic acid water reducer improves effectively the reduced workability of the blended cement; addition of 0.5% spent catalyst accelerates the setting time and early strength; addition up to 5.0% has positive effects on the long-term mechanical strength; safe leaching limits | Da et al. (2020) |
| Purified waste FCC catalyst (pFCC), waste FCC catalyst | Higher strength (28 days) for pFCC blended cements compared with samples with FCC and original sample; substitution up to 30% of mass of Portland cement | Vaičiukynienė-Palubinskaitė et al. (2015) | |
| Spent fluid catalytic-cracking catalyst (FCC) | blended cements | Acceptable leaching limits; slight strength loss by using 10%–20% raw catalyst, which reduced with curing time; samples with up to 30% ground FCC showed increased strength development due to the combination of packing and pozzolanic effects | Antiohos et al. (2006) |
| Spent equilibrium catalyst (ECat) | Self-compacting concrete | Employing statistical factorial design approach; replacing with cement up to VECat/Vp = 19.7%); need to combine the cement/ECat blends with other finer additions to increase the viscosity and stability of fresh paste phase | Nunes and Costa (2017) |
| Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst | cement mortars | Replacement of spent catalyst with sand (10%) showed higher compressive strength than the original sample; replacement of sand with spent catalyst with w/b ratios of 0.55 and 0.60 where the substitution reached up to 20% did not show any effect on the compressive strength; safe leaching limits | Al-Jabri et al. (2013) |
| Spent fluidized catalytic cracking (zeolite catalyst) | cement mortars | Replacement of spent catalyst with fine aggregate (sand) up to 10% show higher compressive strength than the original samples; decrease of flowability of the fresh mortars with increasing spent catalyst content; less bleeding; safe leaching limits | Su et al. (2001) |
| Ecat (equilibrium catalyst), Epcat (electrostatic precipitator catalyst) | high-performance mortars | Epcat increased the compressive strength due to its smaller particle size; almost same or slightly better performance compared with mortar with silica fume; enhancement of compressive strength (10%–36%) for samples with 5%–15% cement replacement by Epcat compared with the control mortar (W/B = 0.42) cured between 3 and 28 days | Chen et al. (2004) |
| Fluid catalytic cracking catalyst residue (FC3R) | blended cements | Replacement of cement by spent catalyst in the range of 6%–20% meet European standards (EN) regarding chemical, physical, and mechanical properties; increase of required water by increasing the spent catalyst content | Payá et al. (2001) |
| Spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst | high strength mortars | Utilizing ternary systems (ordinary Portland cement/Fly ash/spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst led to improved properties in both fresh and hardened states; synergic effect of both pozzolan led to high-strength mortars with a saving of 30% of the cement content | Soriano et al. (2016) |
| Equilibrium catalyst (ECat), zeolite catalyst (ZCat) | hot mix asphalt | Samples containing ECat bear lower damage in moisture environment compared with samples containing ZCat; samples containing ZCat are not moisture resistant and not recommended to be used as a filler material; safe leaching limits | Al-Shamsi et al. (2015) |
1.5. Sulfur, surface active materials (surfactant), fatty acid, and other hydrocarbon wastes
Significant amounts of sulfur are produced during desulphurization in petroleum and gas refineries (Gwon et al., 2018). The thermoplastic characteristics of sulfur allow it to mix with various minerals and fillers.
Utilizing sulfur in cement polymer concrete and the construction field has attracted research attention (Mohamed et al., 2014). Sulfur concreate can be recycled repeatedly, which adds to their value as a sustainable and inexpensive building material (Gwon et al., 2019). Various chemical modifiers such as dicyclopentadiene have been added to polymer concrete to modify their brittle failure, freezing, and thawing issues. The thermoplastic characteristics of modified sulfur polymers make them an alternative binder for concrete construction with water excluding property, such as precast concrete members exposed to water environment for various applications. Table 8 summarizes the sulfur waste from petroleum industry utilization in construction sectors.
Table 8. Application of sulfur in construction.
| Waste material | Application (Production) | Achievements and properties | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sulfur | sulfur–polymer composite | The sulfur composite sample in 10% hydrochloric acid solution showed limited mechanical strength and mass loss | Vlahović et al. (2013) |
| Sulfur | sulfur concrete | Partial replacing of sulfur by fly ash increases the compressive and tensile strengths (39% and 83% respectively) and stiffness because fly ash increases the density of sulfur concrete by filling the pores and better packing the particles; has higher resistance to acid and saline environments and coefficients of thermal expansion | Shin et al. (2014) |
| Sulfur | sulfur composite as Crack healing agent | Utilizing binary cement (up to 40%) improves the compressive strength of sulfur composites; utilizing 50% fly ash enhances the strength | Gwon et al. (2018) |
| Sulfur | Sulfur polymer concrete | Prepared thermoplastic binder can compete with conventional hydraulic cement concretes | Moon et al. (2016) |
| Sulfur | Self-healing modified sulfur composites | Utilizing calcium sulfoaluminate-based cement and superabsorbent polymer in modified sulfur composites improved its self-healing property | Gwon et al. (2019) |
| Sulfur | modified sulfur polymer composites | Increasing the Portland cement to fly ash ratio, which was used as the micro-filler in the sulfur composites, increases the rheological properties; increase in the mixing temperature causes a significant increase in both yield stress and plastic viscosity | Gwon and Shin (2019) |
| Sulfur | rapid self-sealing modified sulfur polymer composites | Utilization of superabsorbent polymer and binary cement leads to composite with self-sealing property in 30 min; rapid swelling by absorbing water of superabsorbent polymer seal and bridge between the two crack faces and assist the nucleation and growth of hydrated products around them | Gwon et al. (2020) |
| Sulfur | carbon-negative polymer cements | Keeping the mechanical strength after exposure to strong oxidizing acid solutions; healing of surface damage by thermal annealing | Smith et al. (2020) |
Utilizing a small amount of various polyfunctional additives such as surfactants may help save the cement and plasticize freshly mixed concrete while hydrophobizate concrete composition or mortar products and improve their properties (Ristavletov et al., 2019; Tukhareli et al., 2017). Researchers studied oil refinery wastes as modifying additive for concrete (Bazhenov et al., 2006; Tukhareli et al., 2018). By-products of solvent oil refineries contain low-index polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and resinous compound, which could be utilized for the production of bitumen, carbon black, and rubber plasticizers (Akchurin et al., 2016).
Surfactant wastes from the petroleum industry result from petrochemical synthesis and the oil refining process (Akchurin et al., 2016). Distillate extract contains a high percentage of aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthenic (∼40%) and resin–asphaltene compounds (∼4%). The addition of these compounds to cement can reduce the internal friction in concrete by allowing the formation of adsorption monomolecular shells on the surface of cement particles. Meanwhile, they affect the peptization of binder-splitting of units encountered in coagulation, increase the specific surface of cement particles, and positively affect the hydration and structure formation of cement stone (Tukhareli et al., 2017).
Tukhareli et al. (2017) compared the properties of concrete using surfactant waste from organic fraction of oil refineries (OFN) and well-known silicone fluid GasLiquid-10. The distillate extract contained wax (6–8%), naphthanoic (40%–45%), flavor (45%–50%), and resins and asphaltenes (3%–5%). The utilization of 0.5% of waste surfactant revealed better performance (less surface tension) compared with GasLiquid-10. In another attempt, they prepared concrete with higher strength, higher density (10%), and lower water absorption (2–2.5 times) with the addition of waste surfactant from refineries with huge potential for various applications in waterworks facilities and installations (Akchurin et al., 2016; Tuhareli et al., 2011). Kastornov (2007) utilized stillage residues of synthetic fatty acids, which contain more than 80% fatty acids, polyols, and bifunctional compounds from the oxidation of paraffin in petrochemical synthesis for the preparation of waterproof concrete.
The organic fraction of oil waste (OFOW) contains a mixture of hydrocarbons of various
homologous series, resin asphaltene compound, and soluble paraffinic hydrocarbons at low temperature. OFOW can be used as a chemical additive for plasticizing and waterproofing. The addition of OFOW to concrete leads to modified concrete with improved compressive strength (flexural), density, porosity, water absorption, frost resistance, and resistance to aggressive environments, thereby increasing the longevity of concrete. The modified concrete can be used in both construction and repair work at different sites (Akchurin et al., 2016).
2. Discussion and future work
In most cases, the nomenclature of waste materials is incorrect because they can be used as resources or changed to a new form of materials, but their utilization has yet to be studied (Cheeseman, 2019). Utilization of waste materials in various applications not only protect the environment but also provides sustainable development.
The construction industry needs materials with higher durability, specific properties for special application, lower environmental impact, and lower cost. Composition modification is vital to reach the required objectives. One important option is the utilization of additives (organic or inorganic) for composition modification of construction materials to obtain materials with required properties (Afshar et al., 2020; Bołtryk et al., 2018; Qiu et al., 2020). However, the effect of additives and fillers on the strength and durability of developed construction materials and their leakage must be closely checked.
Waste materials from the petroleum industry contain a wide range of materials that can be used in industrial application. In addition to traditional statistical methods, employing various machine learning algorithms (MLAs) or modeling software for predicting properties of construction materials developed boltusing various resource materials may provide valuable information for researchers (Cai et al., 2020; Ford et al., 2020; Garland et al., 2020; Oey et al., 2020; Simsek et al., 2020; Xie et al., 2020).
Various MLA models (Ben Chaabene et al., 2020) and their hybrid with other models (Cook et al., 2019) have been studied to predict the mechanical properties of concrete such as compressive strength based on a mixture of chemicals and proportions (Childs et al., 2020; Nguyen-Sy et al., 2020; Sadrossadat and Basarir, 2019; Young et al., 2019), recycled aggregates (Deng et al., 2018), and drying temperature and aggregate shape (Reza Kashyzadeh et al., 2020). The models have also been employed to predict the effect of the utilization of various waste materials on the properties of cement and concretes (Han et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020).
Artificial Neural Networks from MLAs may be used to develop accurate models from empirical data without knowledge of physical mechanisms (Bui et al., 2018; Onyari and Ikotun, 2018; Tran et al., 2020; Verm and Verma, 2019).
Newly developed nanocement is an interesting research subject because it utilizes petroleum waste as well (Dunuweera and Rajapakse, 2018). Below are some recommendations for a better optimization of these waste materials in industrial applications:
- 1.More fundamental study is required for understanding the influence and mechanism of various additives and their complex actions in multicomponent admixtures on the properties of prepared construction materials. Such work will help us develop new formulations based on required properties while reduce the negative effects of various components.
- 2.Focus on composition and structure of waste materials could determine its possible required treatments and application in the construction industry.
- 3.For the preparation of concrete with lower water absorption and water permeability (water replant) instead of using waterproof membrane and paste, which cause damage in the construction of different waterworks facilities and installation, utilizing chemical additives with waste-based composition such as surfactant waste from organic fraction of oil refining and stillage residues could provide a more sustainable solution for this issue. Surfactant residue from the petroleum industry could be utilized in AEC and concrete.
- 4.Distillate extract contains a high percentage of aromatic hydrocarbon such as naphthenic and sludge (PS5), with a high percentage of paraffin-naphthene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that can be tested for the preparation of HpC. Sludge with various contents of paraffin-naphthene hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbon (monocyclic, bicyclic, and polycyclic), and asphaltene-tar substances have the potential to be used as construction materials for different applications.
- 5.Given that oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residue and various spent catalysts such as FBCC waste have pozzolanic properties, their utilization in sulfate-resisting cement (SRC) and PzC needs further investigation.
- 6.The potential of spent catalysts in composition of HAC should be studied.
- 7.The application of drilling and cutting spent catalysts that contain various metal and metal oxides in ceramic application and colored cements need more attention.
- 8.Application of simple chemical modification or physical treatments on waste materials, which resulted in materials with better value, must not be ignored.
- 9.Various MLAs, their hybrids, or modeling software must be considered for the prediction of properties of construction materials developed using different petroleum waste materials to accelerate the planning procedure for optimum results.
3. Conclusion
Exploration, extraction, development, and production activities in petroleum industries produce huge amounts of waste materials, which need proper disposal and valorization. Reuse of these waste in various applications such as the construction industry should be considered for sustainable development. Understanding their complete physical and chemical properties can provide crucial information to proper composition planning, required chemical admixture, and potential required treatments in potential application. Changes in the composition and processing result in materials with various properties, which open huge opportunities and scope for tailoring construction materials with directional composition, structure, and properties for specific applications. Employing modeling software can facilitate and provide valuable information for utilizing petroleum waste materials with optimum properties in the construction sectors.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.