Abstract
The cement industry is facing numerous challenges in the 21st century due to depleting natural fuel resources, shortage of raw materials, exponentially increasing cement demand and climate linked environmental concerns. Every tonne of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced releases an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In this regard, cement manufactured from locally available minerals and industrial wastes that can be blended with OPC as substitute, or full replacement with novel clinkers to reduce the energy requirements is strongly desirable. Reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions during cement manufacturing can be achieved by introducing alternative cements. The potential of alternative cements as a replacement of conventional OPC can only be fully realized through detailed investigation of binder properties with modern technologies. Seven prominent alternative cement types are considered in this study and their current position compared to OPC has been discussed. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of options for future cements, and an up-to-date summary of the different alternative fuels and binders that can be used in cement production to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, the practicalities and benefits of producing the low-cost materials to meet the increasing cement demand are discussed.
Highlights
Concrete and its dominated precursor, cement, have ruled the construction industry for the past 150 years with manufacturing rate rising from 1500 million tonnes in 2000 to over 3 billion tonnes in 2012 [1]
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has established itself a vital and strategic commodity material [2] and such is our dependence on OPC that the annual global cement production has reached up to 4 billion tonnes due to the rapid infrastructural growth of developing economies [3]
SUB-RAW index represents a simplified quantitative approach to evaluate the environmental sustainability of materials substitution [23,24]. This method is applied to a real case of coal fly ash (CFA), which partially substitute for Portland cement [24]
Summary
Concrete and its dominated precursor, cement, have ruled the construction industry for the past 150 years with manufacturing rate rising from 1500 million tonnes in 2000 to over 3 billion tonnes in 2012 [1]. CO2 releases from cement plants, and SO2 (sulfur dioxide), NOx (nitrous oxides) contribute to greenhouse effect and acid rain [9] Apart from these gas emissions, cement production contributes to the consumption of significant quantities of natural resources. SUB-RAW index represents a simplified quantitative approach to evaluate the environmental sustainability of materials substitution [23,24] This method is applied to a real case of coal fly ash (CFA), which partially substitute for Portland cement [24]. The present study covers a wide range of alternative approaches to mitigate CO2 emissions linked to the production of binder phase These ranges from replacing the conventional raw materials and fuels used for Portland cements production to complete replacement of cement clinker with novel clinker such as sulfoaluminate cements and magnesia cements. The basic chemical properties, but the microstructure and manufacturing of alternative binders, engineering performances, and environmental aspects compared to OPC are discussed in detail
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