The concrete industry is constantly searching for innovations, better performance as well as methods to lower its carbon footprint. Amazingly, cement production accounts for regarding 5% of the total CO2 emitted in the atmosphere around the world. CO2 Emissions Another way to look at it is the fact that each ton of cement produced outputs a ton of CO2. Much of it comes from the high melting temperature (2500°F) as well as from the process of decarbonation of limestone. So to lower the carbon footprint, the industry would definitely have to either change the cement production process or perhaps to use less cement in concrete mixtures. A lot research has been done around the world in finding how to dispose of commercial byproducts like fly ash or perhaps silica fume as well as use them in making concrete. Thus a lot that these are now commonly found in most concrete mixtures. Just what other material can be recycled into cement? Recycled glass Meet recycled glassIn the US, just 33% of the glass products has been recycled and only 40% of the glass that is collected is recycled. Part of the reason may be that glass recycling continues to be costly due to transportation and color sorting. Broken glass in large particles (larger than 75µm) produces an expansive solution that results in concrete cracking, so the particle size must be finer than 75µm to certainly not create an alkali silicate reaction. Whenever this happens, mortar durability is increased. The only exception to this is the utilization of large glass particles in creating concrete kitchen counter tops. These are becoming very popular as they combine cost saving, green practices, beautiful as well as unique results. A better solution is glass powder as it was found to improve concrete’s compressive strength as well as durability. Another great discovery was the water reducing effect of glass powder, leaving more water to improve the cement’s workability. Michigan State University has been conducting extensive research in their labs on the use of glass in concrete on their campus. They have managed to replace regarding 20 % of the cement utilized to produce concrete by milled, or perhaps finely ground glass. The resulting concrete becomes lighter however has the same appearance with normal concrete, perhaps a small lighter in color. More research is underway to test all factors required to make this brand new element a standard in the industry. To read more on this, two papers were published on the durability of the mixture, one in the Journal of Solid Waste Technology as well as Management, as well as the other in the Diary of Construction and Building Materials of Michigan State University. The American Log of Engineering Research (AJER) conducted workability test, density test and compressive strength test on waste glass powder in concrete. They additionally found that glass powder does increase the workability, density and compressive strength of concrete. Read the full report here. Europe and India have also effectively spearheaded research in this emerging field. The study conducted by Dr. G.Vijayakumar, Ms H. Vishaliny as well as Dr. D. Govindarajulu at Pondicherry Engineering College, in Pondicherry India, had the following very positive conclusions: “Replacement of glass powder in cement by 20%, 30% and 40% increases: the flexural strength by 83.07%, 99.07% and 100% respectively. the compressive strength by 19.6%, 25.3% and 33.7% respectively. Glass powder concrete increases the compressive, tensile and flexural strength effectively, when compared with conventional concrete. Very finely ground glass has been shown to be good filler.” The full report can be read here* The Centre of Sustainable Development in Quebec, Canada was a great early adopter of powder glass in concrete, which allowed them to reach a LEED Platinum certification. They at the same time managed to reduce the amount of concrete utilized and the amount of glass dumped in landfills. It continues to be too early to know whether or not glass can be utilized for shotcrete applications. Not enough testing as well as research has been done on wet or perhaps dry blend shotcrete. However, promising results were discovered in early findings for dry mix on rebound and reinforcement of bar encapsulation in the location phase. Stay abreast on new technologies and the newest research with United Equipment Sales. With over 40 years in the industry and all things concrete, you can help you on your own next concrete job, resolve challenges and find you a great deal on concrete pumps.
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