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Biofuel Byproducts Make Stronger Concrete

Posted March 19, 2013 12:44 PM

From EcoSeed:

Mixing biofuel byproducts with concrete can create a stronger and greener building material.

This is the finding of a group of civil engineers at Kansas State University who have been studying ways to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of concrete production.

"Even though making concrete is less energy intensive than making steel or other building materials, we use so much of it that concrete production accounts for between 3 to 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions," said Kyle Riding, assistant professor of civil engineering.

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Guru

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Ottawa Canada
Posts: 1975
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#1

Re: Biofuel Byproducts Make Stronger Concrete

03/20/2013 9:19 AM

Stronger? They claim it will make concrete 32% stronger. Wow. That is an important amount! More research should be funded now to make use of this formulation. Seems too important to let slide! Perhaps they figure that if they use this chemical, they will be able to use 32% less concrete in road and bridge building worldwide. This a VERY BIG thing! (Stronger however, by what measure? As I look at the concrete bridges under which I drive in Montreal, I would have suggested a frost and salt proof concrete would have been more useful than just "stronger")

And I am not being sarcastic, though upon re-reading, I sound like it. Civil Engineers have known about this for VERY long time, so it really isn't news. And its not as green as the strident reporter seems to think it is!

Mind you, high strength concretes have been around for a long time. They have traditionally used chemical additives found in lignin, generally recovered from the paper making process.

A lot of work has already been done on this subject. Sometimes the aggregates, whether they are fly ash or man made sand don't play well together. This engineering report covers this issue.

Is it green? Well, for certain values of green, I suppose. Doesn't come close to Bacillus Pasturii for making "green" concrete, but plus marks for finding a use for the ash coming out of your steam plant.

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