Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Lewis J. McDonald; Waheed Afzal; Fredrik P. Glasser

doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103906

Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Lewis J. McDonald, Waheed Afzal^*, Fredrik P. Glasser

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Activated calcium carbonate (a-CaCO₃) is used partially to replace Portland cement. a-CaCO₃ is comprised of nanoscale calcium carbonate, in amorphous and calcite forms, and its enhanced carbonate activity converts calcium carbonate from being an inert filler to a reactive component. Its reaction with the C–S–H phase alters the conventional hydrate mineralogy with spontaneous formation at ∼20 °C of scawtite, Ca₇(Si₆O₁₈)CO₃·2H₂O and tilleyite, Ca₅Si₂O₇(CO₃)₂. Compressive strength measurements show that up to 20 mass% cement replacement by calcium carbonate does not decrease 7- and 28-day compressive strengths compared to a Portland cement benchmark. a-CaCO₃ also accelerates the hydration of silicate clinker minerals. Using activated calcium carbonate as a supplementary cementing material enables substantial reduction of CO₂ emissions, firstly by capturing part of the CO₂ from cement kilns to make nanoscale calcium carbonate and secondly, by using the a-CaCO₃ capture product to replace part of the cement.

Original language	English
Article number	103906
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Building Engineering
Volume	48
Early online date	17 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103906
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 17 Dec 2021

Keywords

Calcium carbonate
Carbon capture and use (CCU)
Cement mineralogy
Circular economy
Portland cement

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. / McDonald, Lewis J.; Afzal, Waheed; Glasser, Fredrik P.

In: Journal of Building Engineering, Vol. 48, 103906, 01.05.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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title = "Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions",

abstract = "Activated calcium carbonate (a-CaCO3) is used partially to replace Portland cement. a-CaCO3 is comprised of nanoscale calcium carbonate, in amorphous and calcite forms, and its enhanced carbonate activity converts calcium carbonate from being an inert filler to a reactive component. Its reaction with the C–S–H phase alters the conventional hydrate mineralogy with spontaneous formation at ∼20 °C of scawtite, Ca7(Si6O18)CO3·2H2O and tilleyite, Ca5Si2O7(CO3)2. Compressive strength measurements show that up to 20 mass% cement replacement by calcium carbonate does not decrease 7- and 28-day compressive strengths compared to a Portland cement benchmark. a-CaCO3 also accelerates the hydration of silicate clinker minerals. Using activated calcium carbonate as a supplementary cementing material enables substantial reduction of CO2 emissions, firstly by capturing part of the CO2 from cement kilns to make nanoscale calcium carbonate and secondly, by using the a-CaCO3 capture product to replace part of the cement.",

keywords = "Calcium carbonate, Carbon capture and use (CCU), Cement mineralogy, Circular economy, Portland cement",

author = "McDonald, {Lewis J.} and Waheed Afzal and Glasser, {Fredrik P.}",

note = "Acknowledgements We thank CCM for its financial support of a PhD student ship tenable by LJM. Electron Microscopy was performed in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen by Mr. J. Still. Several of our group have contributed to discussion and provided samples, so thanks go to Wanawan Pragot and M. Ara Carballo-Meilan",

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N1 - Acknowledgements We thank CCM for its financial support of a PhD student ship tenable by LJM. Electron Microscopy was performed in the ACEMAC Facility at the University of Aberdeen by Mr. J. Still. Several of our group have contributed to discussion and provided samples, so thanks go to Wanawan Pragot and M. Ara Carballo-Meilan

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N2 - Activated calcium carbonate (a-CaCO3) is used partially to replace Portland cement. a-CaCO3 is comprised of nanoscale calcium carbonate, in amorphous and calcite forms, and its enhanced carbonate activity converts calcium carbonate from being an inert filler to a reactive component. Its reaction with the C–S–H phase alters the conventional hydrate mineralogy with spontaneous formation at ∼20 °C of scawtite, Ca7(Si6O18)CO3·2H2O and tilleyite, Ca5Si2O7(CO3)2. Compressive strength measurements show that up to 20 mass% cement replacement by calcium carbonate does not decrease 7- and 28-day compressive strengths compared to a Portland cement benchmark. a-CaCO3 also accelerates the hydration of silicate clinker minerals. Using activated calcium carbonate as a supplementary cementing material enables substantial reduction of CO2 emissions, firstly by capturing part of the CO2 from cement kilns to make nanoscale calcium carbonate and secondly, by using the a-CaCO3 capture product to replace part of the cement.

AB - Activated calcium carbonate (a-CaCO3) is used partially to replace Portland cement. a-CaCO3 is comprised of nanoscale calcium carbonate, in amorphous and calcite forms, and its enhanced carbonate activity converts calcium carbonate from being an inert filler to a reactive component. Its reaction with the C–S–H phase alters the conventional hydrate mineralogy with spontaneous formation at ∼20 °C of scawtite, Ca7(Si6O18)CO3·2H2O and tilleyite, Ca5Si2O7(CO3)2. Compressive strength measurements show that up to 20 mass% cement replacement by calcium carbonate does not decrease 7- and 28-day compressive strengths compared to a Portland cement benchmark. a-CaCO3 also accelerates the hydration of silicate clinker minerals. Using activated calcium carbonate as a supplementary cementing material enables substantial reduction of CO2 emissions, firstly by capturing part of the CO2 from cement kilns to make nanoscale calcium carbonate and secondly, by using the a-CaCO3 capture product to replace part of the cement.

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Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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