Tailoring Cementitious Materials Towards Value-Added Use of Large CO2 Volumes
- Metna Co., Lansing, MI (United States)
A novel method was developed for the use of carbon dioxide as a raw material in production of hydraulic cements. The solid raw materials were selected to produce a chemistry that is amenable to the formation of alkali aluminosilicate hydrates and carbonates. These raw materials were first pelletized using a relatively low moisture content in the presence of carbon dioxide gas. The resulting pellets were then subjected to milling action in the presence of carbon dioxide in order to mechanochemically transform them into a hydraulic cement comprising largely of alkali aluminosilicates and metastable carbonates. Hydration of this hydraulic cement produces an integrated binder comprising largely of alkali aluminosilicate hydrates and finely dispersed crystalline carbonates. Analytical chemistry and physical test methods were employed in order to evaluate the composition and properties of pellets and the resultant hydraulic cement. The CO2 uptake of the cement was measured at about 10 wt.%, which was raised with increasing milling duration in a carbon dioxide environment. The composition of the hydraulic cement was refined to further increase the use of abundant and market-limited industrial byproducts as raw materials, and to produce a balance of performance characteristics that meet standard requirements. Concrete materials were prepared with the hybrid hydraulic cement developed in the project, and were thoroughly characterized. The hydraulic cement formulation was further refined in order to produce concrete materials with desired deicer salt scaling resistance. The fresh mix attributes of the hybrid cement concrete were thoroughly characterize in order to evaluate its rheological characteristics, bleeding and plastic shrinkage cracking resistance. The resultant concrete was found to produce mechanical, physical and durability characteristics that were superior to those of conventional Portland cement concrete. The fresh mix rheology, bleeding and plastic shrinkage cracking resistance of the hybrid cement concrete were found to be compatible with the mainstream construction practices. Scalability and compatibility with industrial-scale practices are key to the commercial success of the new class of hydraulic cements developed in this project. These attributes cannot be easily assessed in laboratory-scale investigations. Energy-based models were developed to enable scale-up of the process. Pilot-scale implementation of the process in a power plant was successful. Theoretical analyses complemented with pilot-scale experimental investigations indicated that the transformation from laboratory- to pilot-scale mechanochemical processing can reduce the milling duration by up to 85%. The data produced in pilot-scale processing of the hydraulic cement was used to assess the net carbon footprint of the resultant binder, which was found to be negative due to uptake of carbon dioxide in the process. The energy content of the new hydraulic cement was significantly below that of Portland cement, and it also offered favorable economics. Significant support has been raised for industrial-scale demonstration and commercialization of the technology. A theoretical framework was established based on thermodynamic and diffusion principles to explain the mechanochemical capture and value-added use of carbon dioxide in hydraulic cement production.
- Research Organization:
- Metna Co., Lansing, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- Contributing Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0011960
- OSTI ID:
- 1393386
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase II)
- Report Number(s):
- 17-011
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Final Report, Phase II SBIR Award DE-SC0011960: Tailoring Cementitious Materials Towards Value-Added Use of Large CO2 Volumes, September 2017
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Tailoring Cementitious Materials Towards Value-Added Use of Large CO2 Volumes
Carbon dioxide integration into alkali aluminosilicate cement particles for achievement of improved properties