Displaying items by tag: testing
New developments in alternative cement
16 October 2024One unusual thing about coverage of cement in the media is the way that discussions often centre precisely on its absence – that is, on alternatives to cement. These alternatives boast unique chemistries and performance characteristics, but are all produced without Portland cement clinker. They are generally called ‘alternative cements,’ perhaps because ‘cement-free cement’ does not have such a commercially viable ring to it. This contradictory tendency reached a new high in the past week, with developments in alternative cement across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Together, they hint at a more diverse future for the ‘cement’ industry than the one we know today.
Asia
In Indonesia, Suvo Strategic Minerals has concluded tests with Makassar State University of a novel nickel-slag-based cement. Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia supplied raw materials, and tests showed a seven-day compressive strength of 37.5MPa. Suvo Strategic Minerals says that a partnership with Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia for commercial production is a likely next step.
Europe
Cement producer Mannok and minerals company Boliden partnered with the South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) research centre in Ireland to launch a project to develop supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from shale on 7 October 2024. The project will additionally investigate CO2-curing of cement paste backfill for use in mines. Irish state-owned global commerce agency Enterprise Ireland has contributed €700,000 in funding.
UK-based SCM developer Karbonite expects to launch trial production of its olivine-based SCM with a concrete company in 2025. The start-up launched Karbonite Group Holding BV, with offices in the Netherlands, to facilitate this new phase. Karbonite’s SCM is activated at 750 – 850°C and sequesters CO2 in the activation process, resulting in over 56% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Managing director Rajeev Sood told Global Cement that talks are already underway for subsequent expansions into the UAE and India.
Back in the UK, contractor John Sisk & Son has received €597,000 from national innovation agency Innovate UK. John Sisk & Son is testing fellow Ireland-based company Ecocem’s <25% clinker cement technology in concrete for use in its on-going construction of the Wembley Park mixed development in London.
At the same time, Innovate UK granted a further €3.23m to other companies for concrete decarbonisation. Recipients included a calcined clay being developed by Cemcor, an SCM being developed from electric arc furnace byproducts by Cocoon, a geopolymer cement technology being developed by EFC Green Concrete Technology UK and an initiative to develop alternative cement from recycled concrete fines at the Materials Processing Institute in Middlesbrough. Also included was the Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture, which is working on the London stretch of the upcoming HS2 railway. The joint venture, along with partners including cement producer Tarmac and construction chemicals company Sika UK, will test low-kaolinite London clay as a raw material with which to produce calcined clay as a cement substitute in concrete structures in HS2’s rail tunnels.
Middle East
Talks are underway between UK-based calcined clay producer Next Generation SCM and City Cement subsidiary Nizak Mining Company over the possible launch of a joint venture in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The joint venture would build a 350,000t/yr reduced-CO2 concrete plant, which would use alternative cement based on Next Generation SCM’s calcined clay.
North America
Texas-based SCM developer Solidia Technologies recently patented its carbonatable calcium silicate-based alternative cement, which sequesters CO2 as it cures.
Meanwhile, C-Crete Technologies made its first commercial pour of its granite-based cement-free concrete in New York, US. C-Crete Technologies says that the product offers cost and performance parity with conventional cement, with net zero CO2 emissions. Its raw material is globally more abundant than the limestone used as a raw material for clinker. Other abundantly available feedstocks successfully deployed within C-Crete Technologies’ repertoire include basalt and zeolite.
Across New York State, in Binghamton, KLAW Industries has succeeded in replacing 20% of concrete’s cement content with its powdered glass-based SCM, Pantheon. KLAW Industries has delivered samples to local municipalities and the New York State Department of Transportation. Its success expands the discussion of possible circular cement ingredients from the industrial sphere into post-consumer resources.
In Calgary, Canada, a novel SCM has drawn attention from one of the major cement incumbents: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials. It invested in local construction and demolition materials (CDM)-based SCM developer EnviCore on 9 October 2024. The companies plan to build a pilot plant at an existing Heidelberg Materials CDM recycling centre.
Conclusion
Alternative cement developers are still finding the words to talk about their products. They may be more than ‘supplementary’ up to the point of entirely supplanting 100% of clinker. Product webpages offer ‘hydraulic binder,’ ‘pozzolan’ and even ‘cement.’ As alternative ‘cements’ are developed, they build on the work of pioneers like Joseph Aspdin and Louis Vicat. Start-ups and their backers are now reaching commercial offerings, on a similar-but-different footing to cement itself. None of these novel materials positions itself as the sole, last-minute ‘super sub’ in the construction sector’s confrontation with climate change. Rather, they are a package of solutions which can combine into a net zero-emissions heavy building materials offering, hopefully before 2050.
Related to this is the need for ‘technology neutral’ standards, as championed this week by the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete (ALCCC), along with 23 other European industry associations, civil society organisations and think tanks. The term may sound new, but the concept is critical to the eventual uptake of alternative cements: standards, the ALCCC says, should be purely performance-based. They ought not attempt to define what technology, for example cement clinker, makes a suitable building material. According to the ALCCC, Europe’s building materials standards are not technology neutral, but instead ‘gatekeep’ market access, to the benefit of conventional cement and the exclusion of ‘proven and scalable low-carbon products.’
At the same time, cement itself is changing. Market research from USD Analytics showed an anticipated 5% composite annual growth rate in blended cement sales between 2024 and 2032, more than doubling throughout the period from US$253bn to US$369bn. If you can’t beat it, blend with it!
Suvo Strategic Minerals develops cement from nickel slag
10 October 2024Indonesia: Suvo Strategic Minerals has reported successful laboratory tests in collaboration with Makassar State University (UNM) in Indonesia, transforming nickel slag into a ‘high-strength, low-cost and low-carbon’ cement, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The trials used slag from PT Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia's operations in South Sulawesi, achieving a compressive strength of 37.5MPa after seven days. The company is now looking to conduct further testing and will provide the results to PT Huadi, with the aim of forming a partnership for the commercialisation of low-carbon cement using nickel slag.
Aaron Bank, executive chair of Suvo Strategic Minerals, said “We are excited to have commenced this workstream in Indonesia testing the byproduct of one of the country’s largest mining companies, with our ultimate goal being to manufacture an environmentally-friendly and low-carbon alternative to Portland cement. Achieving up to 37.5MPa after only seven days is an outstanding first round trial result for the company and could provide an entry into a large industry.”
Denmark: Aalborg Portland, a Danish cement firm, has completed testing for its second carbon capture pilot plant and will now undergo further trials in Romania and Greece, according to M-Brain News. This plant is a key component of the EU-subsidised ConsenCUS project.
A spokesperson for Aalborg Portland said "This experience offers preliminary knowledge ahead of establishing a full-scale CO₂ capture facility, and we are also contributing to the progression of this area where we, within the ConsenCUS collaboration, have verified the existence of multiple potential technologies for CO₂ capture."
OceanaGold Philippines partners with Holcim Philippines to test mine tailings in cement production
17 June 2024Philippines: OceanaGold Philippines (OGPI) is collaborating with Holcim Philippines to assess the feasibility of using mine tailings in cement production. Holcim will begin by acquiring tailing samples from OGPI for initial testing, aligning with its ‘circular economy’ program that integrates waste materials into cement. Both companies are committed to advancing the study, pending formal partnership arrangements and necessary permits.
OGPI President Joan Adaci-Cattiling said “We’re just waiting for the permit. Right now, we’ve found a way to put plan tailings to good use.”
Australia: Western Australia’s environment minister Reece Whitby has questioned the efficacy of tests submitted by Cockburn Cement in relation to its Munster lime plant in May 2023. The tests showed successes in odour reduction during sand feeding at the plant’s Kiln 6. Business News Western Australia has reported that the government and an independent expert have raised ‘areas of concern’ as to whether the trial represents normal operating conditions for the kiln.
David Scaife, who represents Cockburn District in the Western Australia Legislative Assembly, said "My gripe is not with the workers, it is with the senior management and the directors of Cockburn Cement and its owner, Adbri, who have refused to do the right thing either by moving the lime manufacturing operations to its Kwinana facility or at least making the investments necessary to eliminate the odour."
Tarmac and Cambridge Electric Cement participate in trial melt of Cement 2 Zero carbon neutral cement project
03 October 2023UK: The Cement 2 Zero project has successfully concluded its first trial melt of recovered cement paste in an electric arc furnace at the Materials Processing Institute’s Teesside campus. The project uses the paste as flux for electric steel recycling. Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC) has demonstrated that the ‘slag’ from this process can be ground into fine clinker that, when mixed with gypsum and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), produces net zero CO2 cement. The Cement 2 Zero project to produce CEC’s cement at an industrial scale launched in March 2023, with US$7.85m in funding from UK Research and Innovation. Tarmac will grind the clinker from the project’s trial melts for testing in order to obtain certification and specification as a usable cement product.
Coolbrook completes RotoDynamic Heater pilot test
20 September 2023Netherlands: Finland-based Coolbrook has completed the first test phase of the large-scale pilot of its RotoDynamic Heater (RDH) at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, Netherlands. The engineering company says that this has validated the RDH’s technical pathway up to industrial heat generation at temperatures suitable for cement plants. By developing and launching the technology, Coolbrook says that it will rely on a ‘comprehensive partnership ecosystem,’ including market leaders in technology and industry. It says that the RDH has the potential to eliminate 2.4Bnt/yr of CO2 emissions – 30% of global industrial CO2 emissions and 7% of all global CO2 emissions.
CEO Joonas Rauramo said “Sharing our partners’ and customers’ sense of urgency to achieve net zero, we take determined actions to execute our strategy and progress towards the commercial launch of our electric technology. We are proceeding with first commercial agreements, while continuing to build our organisation and supply chain for industrial scale operations.”
US: Prometheus Materials' microalgae-based biocement has demonstrated 12 times greater sound absorption than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Prometheus Materials produces its biocement at ambient temperature, with no process CO2 emissions.
Holcim Deutschland secures government funding for Höver cement plant carbon capture project
25 July 2023Germany: The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has approved funding for Holcim Deutschland's Höver cement plant carbon capture project. The test phase of the project is scheduled to commence in early 2024. Holcim Deutschland, together with project partners Cool Planet Technologies and Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, carried out preliminary testing in 2022. They reported 'positive' results in May 2022.
Plant manager Stephan Hinrichs said "The funding commitment from the federal government is great news for Holcim and our partners. We are doing real pioneering work for the entire cement industry, and look forward to the next step on our way to becoming a climate-neutral company."
Qizilqumsement to upgrade Qizilqum cement plant
12 May 2023Uzbekistan: United Cement Group subsidiary Qizilqumsement says that it has awarded contracts for the upgrade of Lines 1 and 2 at its Qizilqum cement plant in Navoiy Region. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the producer has completed testing to ascertain the lines' parameters of operation, fuel and energy consumption and output. This will inform its decisions, with a view to reducing the cost of clinker production.
Qizilqumsement is currently in the process of building the Qizilqum plant's new 767,000t/yr Line 4, which will also increase its clinker capacity by 657,000t/yr. The producer expects this to lower the cost of its clinker production by 30%.