Grants and Contracts Details
Description
The overarching goal of the project is to develop next generation, novel, low-energy low-CO2
hybrid cement formulations that are scalable to industrial manufacturing. The proposed
approach will focus on developing the following unique cements: 1) alite/calcium sulfoaluminate
(A/CSA) cement; 2) belite-rich calcium sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cement; and 3) ferrite-rich/calcium
sulfoaluminate/alite (F/A/CSA) cements all below 1280oC, while assessing energy and carbon
intensity through lab pilot-scale production in a rotary kiln. The greatly reduced firing
temperature of the novel clinker formulations will allow a unique opportunity to explore
nontraditional pyroprocessing techniques that require substantially less intensive energy needs
and controlled emissions, through electrification of cement manufacturing.
This proposal has a unique team comprised of those experienced in alternative clinker
formulations and manufacturing systems (University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy
Research), energy and CO2 emissions assessments (Oak Ridge National Laboratories), and
technology to market consultant (Nathan Ball); with manufacturing advisors/contributors: Titan
America, Buzzi Unicem USA, Imerys – Americas, Eco Material Technologies, Green Cement
Company, Orcem Americas, Inc., and Design by Natural Processes, Inc. Each of the industry team
members have sustainability and carbon reduction as an integral part of their business model.
Along with industry partner Ozinga for end-user testing and validation of developed cements and
concretes. Additionally, to understand, educate, and engage underserved communities and
underrepresented groups the project intends to support an intern selected through UK’s
Sustainability Internship Program to develop and communicate, through social media the
challenges, achievements, and progress towards decarbonizing the cement and concrete
industry and what that means for society.
The proposed technology will enable cement manufacturing reductions in CO2 emissions of at
least 60%, with concrete strength and durability outperforming Ordinary Portland Cement. The
CO2 emissions reduction is based on decarbonizing OPC with the proposed “Next-Gen Hybrid
Cements”, clinker and binder approach. The reduction was calculated from the U.S. DOE Cost and
Performance Metrics, using OPC as a baseline comparison. This translates to a CO2 savings of
434,000 tons per year from 1 million tons of Next-Gen Hybrid Cement production, which
represents approximately a 57% decrease of CO2 emitted from Next-Gen Hybrid Cement
production as compared to OPC production. This would also result in the consumption and
beneficial use of 170,000 – 400,000 tons of industrial waste, depending on the cement
composition.
Status | Active |
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Effective start/end date | 10/1/23 → 8/31/27 |
Funding
- Department of Energy: $617,990.00
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