Greener Concrete, LLC Zeolite Composites: Smarter Solutions for Sustainable Change™
REDUCED CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) CONCRETE
A Collaboration with Zeolite Composites, LLC
and
The University of Washington
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Greener Concrete, LLC Zeolite Composites: Smarter Solutions for Sustainable Change™
A Collaboration with Zeolite Composites, LLC
and
The University of Washington
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
As Governor, Bob Ferguson will support carbon reduction projects and environmental initiatives like ours. We look forward to collaborating with Bob's climate team after he is elected Washington's next Governor.
Posted with Permission from Bob Ferguson
HUSKIES FOR FERGUSON!
Bob graduated from UW in 1989
( B.A., Political Science)
Concrete accounts for more than 10% of all planet-overheating pollution. To reduce this statistic, our company has developed an innovative new method of significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions during the concrete manufacturing process. Our solution is effective, affordable, scalable and easy to implement.
We believe that preventing CO2 emissions upfront is a better and smarter approach than figuring out how to capture and store CO2 on the back end after it is already in the atmosphere.
Zeolite is simply the best SCM alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in concrete and concrete products. It is eco-friendly and natural.
1 ton of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) replaced with zeolite in concrete results in 0.922 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) prevented.
Zeolite Composites, LLC is proud to be the first SCM material supplier to have a methodology for OPC replacement in concrete accepted and listed by Climate Action Reserve (CAR) under their Low Carbon Cement protocol.
We seek to achieve the lowest net carbon footprint and the highest standards of environmental sustainability compared to our peers pursuing alternative SCM and ACM materials for the replacement of OPC in concrete and concrete products.
Zeolite is the most eco-friendly alternative to OPC and has the smallest overall NET carbon footprint and the smallest total impact on the environment.
We are conducting all of our testing and development in accordance with ASTM C595 and ASTM C1157.
Showing compliance with ASTM C595 and ASTM C1157 is important for our low carbon concrete implementation strategy and acceptance by the commercial construction industry.
Zeolite is the most scalable and affordable SCM alternative.
To tackle the world’s climate crisis and achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, we must significantly reduce CO2 emissions going into the atmosphere.
Concrete is responsible for up to 10% of total CO2 emissions. We are doing our part to decarbonize the world. Our Zeolite-Concrete Composite alternative (to ordinary concrete made with Portland Cement) reduces CO2 emissions and then absorbs and traps atmospheric CO2 by a process called carbon mineralization (CaO + CO2 = CaCO3).
Zeolite is a naturally occurring Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) with pozzolanic properties. Unlike other SCM material alternatives, zeolite does not require any heat processing, and is therefore better for the environment. Zeolite is also cheaper than other SCM material alternatives and it improves the strength and reliability of concrete compared to ordinary concrete made with Portland Cement.
Our Zeolite-Concrete Composite alternative (partial replacement of Portland Cement with Zeolite) can benefit emerging economies and the planet. Zeolite is a transformative SCM material that is affordable and can scale globally rather than hypothetical replacements for cement that are not yet affordable or ready to commercialize around the globe.
30 to 40 lbs. of CO2 prevented for every 30 standard CMU blocks produced. This is more than 30 times better than a leading carbon capture/sequestration technology!
First ever 20-ton 100% zeolite concrete (zeolite + activator from C-Crete) pour with 100% OPC replacement:
"What is exciting about this pour are the additional implications of using zeolite," says Donald Davies, owner of the Seattle building and chair of Building Transparency, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling the building industry to address embodied carbon's role in climate change. "This is a potentially new feedstock material that is not in the market today as a supplementary or in this case a fully alternative cementitious material [SCM or fully ACM]. This was a field trial of a new material to show what is possible. It was batched from a ready-mix truck, pumped and finished using normal construction procedures on the site."
The zeolite from Zeolite Composites is uniquely suited as an alternative SCM material for the replacement of OPC in traditional concrete materials and products because of its naturally occurring silica, alumina, and other key elements in the right amounts and ratios important for OPC replacement.
By Mike Lindblom - Seattle Times staff reporter
From SEATTLE TIMES Newspaper Article Dated January 17, 2024:
Another blend, Seattle-based Greener Concrete, substitutes zeolite from volcanic sediments, displacing half the Portland cement. Zeolite is mined from soils in the Mojave Desert, where ancient oceans deposited shells and crustaceans, a source of calcium. The crystalline, pozzolanic compound requires no heat treatment, which saves energy, said co-founder Dan Uhm.
“Basically, you’re talking about Roman concrete,” Uhm said.
University of Washington scientist Brandon Lou has been mixing and crushing small cubes of zeolite concrete in the UW Materials Science & Engineering lab. Magnified 7,000 times, the cross-sections reveal a molecular garden, where crystals of calcium hydroxide grow into what looks like six-sided armor plates.
Zeolite crystals 2024-01-05 141251 - DocumentCloud
A zeolite mix with C-Crete was poured last fall to build a storage yard at Hubbard’s Corner, and Western Interlock manufactured 3,800 zeolite paving stones in Oregon, for uses such as patios.
Northwest experts say the main hurdles are supply chains and startup costs to make new cements in industrial-size quantities. And the risk-aversion of civil engineers, especially in transportation, to be first adopters.
“What we are finding is, that nobody truly cares about lower-CO2 concrete or concrete products, unless it is cheaper,” Uhm added.
UW’s Carbon Leadership Forum has devised a calculator, co-sponsored by major employers, to help builders choose cleaner materials and methods.
Please reach us at dan@zeolitecomposites.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
We are beginning to understand why our zeolite performs better for applications such as cement replacement in concrete, heavy metal absorption for clean-up applications, and even methane reduction in cattle. Not all zeolites (clinoptilolite zeolite included) are alike. Our zeolite contains some very important trace elements including calcium, sodium, silica, alumina, etc. We are studying and beginning to understand the molecular mechanisms as to why our zeolite is better than others. One of the key differences compared to other zeolites from all over the world and the U.S. is that the important elements in our zeolite are present outside of the zeolite channels without divalent cations.
Silica fume and ALL OTHER SCM alternatives require very high temperature (1400 C to 2000 C) processing for creation and/or use. Zeolite is the only SCM material that does not require any additional heat processing. In addition, other lower CO2 concrete alternatives have taken on average, 10 years or longer to reach scale and many are simply too expensive or not feasible to scale due to processing and/or capacity issues.
Our research has shown that Zeolite-Concrete Composites can be stronger and more reliable than traditional concrete and other alternative SCM concrete formulations.
Zeolite-Concrete Composites are the cheapest and easiest to scale vs. other SCM alternatives. Our strategy and goal is to reach the stage of scalability within 1 to 2 years.
Other than water, concrete is the most used material on the planet.
By one estimate, the world will add 2 trillion square feet of buildings by 2060 - the equivalent of putting up another New York City every month for the next 40 years.
Even small changes to the formulation of concrete with lower carbon footprint ingredients, such as zeolite, can help lower CO2 emissions resulting from cement and concrete production.
A major component (ingredient) of concrete is cement. The cement industry is one of the main producers of carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
Cement manufacturing releases CO2 in the atmosphere when calcium carbonate is heated, producing lime and CO2. The cement industry produces about 10% of global human-made CO2 emissions, of which 60% is from the chemical process, and 40% from burning fuel.
A 2018 study estimates that 4 billion tons of cement produced annually accounts for 8% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Most of the CO2 emissions (approximately 60%) in the manufacturing of cement is produced from the chemical decomposition of limestone to lime, an ingredient in cement.
CO2 emissions may be reduced by lowering the CO2 emitting ingredients in cement production with pozzolan type minerals including zeolite.
Pozzolans are a broad class of siliceous and aluminous materials. In the presence of water, they react chemically with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) to form compounds possessing cementitious properties.
During the life cycle, concrete can reabsorb some CO2 from the atmosphere through a process known as carbon mineralization.
Carbon mineralization is a chemical process where atmospheric CO2 reacts with the Calcium Oxides (CaO) in the concrete to form calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
Research has shown that the CO2 absorption capacity of concrete can be increased by substituting zeolite powder/granules for the sand and aggregate in traditional concrete formulations.
“PPM” stands for “parts per million,” which is a way of measuring the ratio of carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules to all the other molecules in the atmosphere. Scientists agree that 350 ppm is the “safe” level of CO2.
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