US: Solidia Technologies has reported the chemical properties, manufacture and performance qualities of a sustainable cement that can reduce the carbon footprint of cement and concrete products by up to 70%.
Solidia Cement™is made from the same raw materials and equipment as OPC, but is adaptable to a wide variety of cement formulations and production methods, offering a sustainable and performance-enhancing alternative.
Solidia Cement clinker is produced at 1200°C, approximately 250°C lower than OPC clinker. The cement is a non-hydraulic material that is composed primarily of low-lime-containing calcium silicate phases such as wollastonite / pseudowollastonite (CaO.SiO2) and rankinite (3CaO.2SiO2). The setting and hardening characteristics are derived from the reaction between CO2 and the calcium silicates. During the carbonation process, calcite (CaCO3) and silica (SiO2) form and are responsible for the concrete strength development.
Concrete products produced with Solidia Cement are manufactured using the same mixing and forming processes as OPC-based concrete and sequester up to 300kg of CO2/t of cement. The reduced CO2 emissions, combined with the ability of the cement to sequester CO2 during concrete curing, renders a CO2 footprint (associated with both the manufacturing and use) that is reduced by up to 70%.
"For over 50 years, scientists have tried to cure concrete with CO2 knowing the resulting product would be stronger and more stable. Solidia Technologies is the first to make this commercially viable. Our current focus is testing additional applications with an even wider variety of concrete formulations and manufacture methods to facilitate adoption across the globe," said Solidia Chief Technology Officer Nicholas DeCristofaro, who co-authored the paper with principal scientist Sada Sahu.
Solidia Concrete™will be explored in a companion paper that is due to be released in January 2014.
