Green\u2019 fly ash could be a viable alternative in development<\/p>\n
research from the University of Alberta has put a B.C.-based company one step closer to \u200edeveloping a green alternative to fly ash used in cement.\u200e<\/p>\n
Progressive Planet, a mineral exploration company with its flagship Z1 zeolite Quarry in B.C., \u200eannounced its project with the university to modify the rheology of its zeolite mixture has been \u200esuccessful. Rheology, or slump, refers to the flow of something, a key aspect of properly pouring \u200ecement.\u200e<\/p>\n
Researchers found the mixture, which includes zeolite, recycled glass that has been pulverized and \u200eother proprietary ingredients, has been able to achieve a slump better than targeted. Now the team is \u200eworking to get CSA testing conducted so the product can be ready for commercial use as a \u200esupplementary cementing material.\u200e<\/p>\n
Steve Harpur, CEO of Progressive Planet, said he not only sees an opportunity to fill in a gap as the \u200ecoal plants that supply fly ash are phased out, but also put a dent in one of the globe\u2019s worst \u200esources of pollution.\u200e<\/p>\n
Large amounts of glass end up in landfills that could easily be used in a cement mix. And the \u200ecement making process is less polluting as well.\u200e<\/p>\n
Harpur explained that traditional fly ash must be heated to over 1,000 degrees several times, \u200erequiring a large amount of energy and releasing almost half of the fly ash material as carbon \u200edioxide.\u200e<\/p>\n
\u200e\u201cThis is the main reason that the production of Portland cement is the second biggest man-made \u200ecause of CO2 pollution,\u201d said Harpur. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely monstrous. It\u2019s a tremendously destructive \u200eforce in global warming.\u201d \u200e<\/p>\n
Harpur explained natural pozzolans like zeolite are volcanic in origin and have already been rapidly \u200eheated and cooled. This makes them amorphous in structure rather than crystalline. They only need \u200eto be ground into a fine powder to be used in a cement mixture rather than heated.\u200e<\/p>\n
The material\u2019s use in construction is ancient. Harpur explained pozzolanic ash was famously used \u200ein the roman concrete that makes up the Parthenon\u2019s dome. The structure remains the world\u2019s \u200elargest and oldest unreinforced concrete dome.\u200e<\/p>\n
Harpur said he anticipates being able to soon sell a product that could be used to reduce the amount \u200eof Portland cement in a mix by 20 per cent.\u200e<\/p>\n
But first the product must go through several CSA tests that measure compressive strength, alkali-\u200esilica reaction, sulphate resistance and freeze-thaw resistance. In addition, one American Society \u200efor Testing and Materials test will be completed to analyze air voids.\u200e<\/p>\n
The company will be targeting the 2021 construction season to have a commercial product that it \u200ecan offer as a competitive alternative to fly ash to the ready mix and pre-cast concrete industries in \u200eB.C. and Alberta.\u200e<\/p>\n
Harpur explained traditional fly ash is already becoming scarce. Coal plants that produce electricity \u200eand fly ash are already starting to get phased out and by 2029 they won\u2019t be allowed in some \u200eprovinces.\u200e<\/p>\n
Harpur hopes the technology can go even further than just a supplementary material. Progressive \u200ePlanet is already in the early stages of researching a geopolymer mix without any Portland cement \u200eand even developing a way to reverse the cement making process to sequester carbon.\u200e<\/p>\n
\u200e\u201cConcrete is the most consumed building material in the world,\u201d said Harpur. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a \u200eperfect solution but it\u2019s a better solution. Our corporate values are to continue to find better \u200esolutions. That\u2019s why we were so excited to be taking a product, glass, that is basically single use \u200eand it can be involved in structures for decades.\u201d\u200e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Green\u2019 fly ash could be a viable alternative in development research from the University of Alberta has put a B.C.-based company one step closer to \u200edeveloping a green alternative to fly ash used in cement.\u200e Progressive Planet, a mineral exploration company with its flagship Z1 zeolite Quarry in B.C., \u200eannounced its project with the university […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burnhancer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}