Podcast: Carbon Soaking Concrete

04 May, 2023

Introducing additives to concrete manufacturing processes could reduce the sizeable carbon footprint of the material without altering its bulk mechanical properties, an MIT study shows. Courtesy of the researchers

In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.

construction

- materials

In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change. By using these additives, concrete could become a "carbon sink," which means it could potentially store more carbon than it emits, making it a more sustainable building material. This could have a positive impact on the environment and help combat climate change.

EPISODE NOTES

(0:40) - New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink

As always, you can find these and other interesting & impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.

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The Next Byte Podcast: We're two engineers on a mission to simplify complex science & technology, making it easy to understand. In each episode of our show, we dive into world-changing tech (such as AI, robotics, 3D printing, IoT, & much more), all while keeping it entertaining & engaging along the way.

Engineers invent world's first zero emissions cement

Three Cambridge engineers, Dr Cyrille Dunant, Dr Pippa Horton and Professor Julian Allwood, have filed a patent and been awarded new research funding for their invention of the world’s first ever zero-emissions cement.

26 May, 2022

Replacing today’s cement is one of the hardest challenges on the journey to a safe climate with zero emissions. There are many options to make cement with reduced emissions, mainly based on mixing new reactive cement (clinker) with other supplementary materials. However, until now, it has not been possible to make the reactive component of cement without emissions. The new invention achieves this for the first time within the parameters of established industrial processes.

The inspiration for Cambridge Electric Cement struck inventor Cyrille Dunant, when he noticed that the chemistry of used cement is virtually identical to that of the lime-flux used in conventional steel recycling processes. The new cement is therefore made in a virtuous recycling loop, that not only eliminates the emissions of cement production, but also saves raw materials, and even reduces the emissions required in making lime-flux.

The new process begins with concrete waste from demolition of old buildings. This is crushed, to separate the stones and sand that form concrete from the mixture of cement powder and water that bind them together. The old cement powder is then used instead of lime-flux in steel recycling. As the steel melts, the flux forms a slag that floats on the liquid steel, to protect it from oxygen in the air. After the recycled steel is tapped off, the liquid slag is cooled rapidly in air, and ground up into a powder which is virtually identical to the clinker which is the basis of new Portland cement. In pilot-scale trials of the new process, the Cambridge team have demonstrated this combined recycling process, and the results show that it has the chemical composition of a clinker made with today's process.

The new cement was invented as part of the large multi-university UK FIRES programme led by Professor Allwood, which aims to enable a rapid transition to zero emissions based on using today’s technologies differently, rather than waiting for the

Case study

Sodex constructs solution

to building industry’s excavation problem with help of IMU and GNSS

Remco Sikkema

fromMovella

11 Oct, 2022

construction

How do you measure the volume of a hole in the ground?

If the hole is small and rectangular, it is simple. But what about the giant hole dug for the foundations of a city center skyscraper, or for a new underground train station? It will generally be irregular in all three dimensions, and very large.

Accurately measuring the volume of excavation works is a little known but surprisingly contentious, time-consuming and expensive process for building companies to perform. The work calls for the services of highly paid and scarce surveyors.

Now Sodex Innovations, a technology start-up company based in Austria, has developed a product which automates cavity measurement, eliminating the need for site visits by surveyors. This technology is quicker, more convenient, and provides more useful data than conventional surveys – and it depends for its operation on Movella’s Xsens MTi technology.

Excavation: a money pit

Holes are big business in the construction industry. Building companies pay contractors for excavation work: the bigger the hole, the higher the fee for excavation. The material dug out of the ground – the ‘spoil’ – also has a monetary value. This might be the cost to dispose of it. Or, if the spoil is a material such as gravel which can be repurposed, it has value to a customer who can buy and use it. Again, the bigger the volume of spoil, the higher the value.

So measuring holes and spoil is a crucial function of any large building project. Classifying the type of material in the spoil is also essential, to determine whether it has any resale value, or requires special disposal measures.

Today, surveying is the preserve of highly qualified professionals. Because of their scarcity and high levels of training and education, these professionals command high fees for their work. And since they are required to travel from site to site to perform surveys, building companies fr

Podcast: Carbon Soaking Concrete

In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.

Sodex constructs solution

5 Smart Buildings You Have Not Heard About

Online Manufacturing of Aluminum Component for Prototype in the "Kinetic Umbrella" Research Project

In this episode, we talk about how new additives could be added to concrete to help it absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.

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