Opportunities for energy conservation in finished concrete products. Final report
Abstract
Based on an industrial audit and process analysis, two energy conservation opportunities were identified as applicable to the finished concrete products industry. One of these involved substituting a naturally cementitious material, pozzolan, for a portion of the cement, and the other involved the application of an appropriate insulation to achieve thermal isolation of material needlessly cycled with the product. Analyses of curing processes and small-scale laboratory tests were conducted to find appropriate blends of pozzolan, cement, and curing temperatures to achieve energy savings while maintaining satisfactory early strength in concrete test cylinders. A parametric study of curing energy versus these mixtures and temperatures was made to arrive at an optimum energy saving ''batch design'' to try in the field. This proved to be a combination in which 30% of the cement was replaced by pozzolan. Applied to the 10% cement content concrete products manufactured each year, this measure could save 1.0 million tons of cement used annually (1980) at an energy cost of .86 million barrels of oil equivalent to produce. On-site surveys of several commercial block plants provided input for calculational assessments that indicated 40% to 70% of curing energy might be saved by insulation. This study showed thatmore »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Scientific Service, Inc., Redwood City, CA (USA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6558155
- Report Number(s):
- HCP/CS-1549
- DOE Contract Number:
- EC-77-S-03-1549
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; CEMENT INDUSTRY; ENERGY CONSERVATION; KILNS; RETROFITTING; THERMAL INSULATION; BUILDING MATERIALS; CEMENTS; CONCRETES; COST; PERFORMANCE TESTING; PRODUCTION; INDUSTRY; MATERIALS; TESTING; 320303* - Energy Conservation, Consumption, & Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Equipment & Processes; 320302 - Energy Conservation, Consumption, & Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Materials
Citation Formats
Zaccor, J V, and Jewett, J. Opportunities for energy conservation in finished concrete products. Final report. United States: N. p., 1978.
Web.
Zaccor, J V, & Jewett, J. Opportunities for energy conservation in finished concrete products. Final report. United States.
Zaccor, J V, and Jewett, J. Fri .
"Opportunities for energy conservation in finished concrete products. Final report". United States.
@article{osti_6558155,
title = {Opportunities for energy conservation in finished concrete products. Final report},
author = {Zaccor, J V and Jewett, J},
abstractNote = {Based on an industrial audit and process analysis, two energy conservation opportunities were identified as applicable to the finished concrete products industry. One of these involved substituting a naturally cementitious material, pozzolan, for a portion of the cement, and the other involved the application of an appropriate insulation to achieve thermal isolation of material needlessly cycled with the product. Analyses of curing processes and small-scale laboratory tests were conducted to find appropriate blends of pozzolan, cement, and curing temperatures to achieve energy savings while maintaining satisfactory early strength in concrete test cylinders. A parametric study of curing energy versus these mixtures and temperatures was made to arrive at an optimum energy saving ''batch design'' to try in the field. This proved to be a combination in which 30% of the cement was replaced by pozzolan. Applied to the 10% cement content concrete products manufactured each year, this measure could save 1.0 million tons of cement used annually (1980) at an energy cost of .86 million barrels of oil equivalent to produce. On-site surveys of several commercial block plants provided input for calculational assessments that indicated 40% to 70% of curing energy might be saved by insulation. This study showed that there are simple measures which can save money and energy in the concrete block industry; the demonstrated applications are directly pertinent to over 5,000 nearly identical processing units (kilns) in the concrete block industry; both measures are economically viable--for the insulation measure, returns on investment were 22% and 40%, calculated from the measured saving at two plants and the expected service life; and if applied nationwide, the energy saving would be about 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent in the concrete block industry alone. (LCL)},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6558155},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {1978},
month = {9}
}