Mineral carbonation using waste cement is a promising method to solve the problems caused by CO_2 emission and waste cement. Compaction pressure is an important parameter for mineral carbonation of calcium hydroxide, one of the most dominant composite of waste cement that can be carbonated. The carbonation degree, morphology of products and compressive strength of carbonated compacts are influenced by compaction pressure significantly. Results show that the carbonation degree of calcium hydroxide increases at first(0-8 MPa) and then decreases in the higher compaction pressure range(10-14 MPa). At the meantime, results also indicate that lower compaction pressure accelerates the early carbonation but hinder carbonation in the later stages. For the morphologies of carbonation products, calcium carbonate tends to form typical crystal morphology of calcite(rhombohedral) under lower compaction pressure, while it will become ellipsoidlike when compaction pressure reaches 8 MPa. TGA and water content results show that there is an optimal water content for the carbonation. In addition, lower water content is adverse to the carbonation at later stage and the CO_2 is difficult to penetrate into the inside of compacts when water content is high, which will hinder the carbonation. XRD and TGA results show that the carbonation products are calcite and small amount of amorphous calcium carbonate.
