As the world becomes more urbanized, concerns over the urban heat island (UHI) are more pronounced. Increased urban temperatures have a negative affect on the natural and human environment by producing increased energy usage and smog formation. Pervious concrete pavement is one technology that may help mitigate increased urban temperatures. Temperature data from an instrumented site in Iowa and heat storage phenomena for various weather patterns are presented. The site contains both pervious concrete pavement with a solar reflectance index (SRI) of 14 and traditional concrete pavement with an SRI of 37. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accepted a high SRI (>29) as one method to characterize a cool surface. Heat capacities of both systems were studied along with a sensitivity analysis of the inputs. The research supports the conclusion that even though pervious concrete may have a much lower SRI than traditional concrete made with similar materials, it can be considered a cool pavement option. In addition, daytime rainfalls combined with the internal high surface area result in significantly more removal of stored heat from the system, with a more rapid mitigation of UHI impacts and reduction in the potential for thermal shock from impervious surface runoff.
The concrete industry is a contributor to the global carbon cycle particularly with respect to the contribution of carbon dioxide in the manufacturing of cement (calcination). The reverse reaction of carbonation is known to occur in concrete, but is usually limited to exterior surfaces exposed to carbon dioxide and humidity in the air. As alternate concrete uses expand which have more surface area, such as crushed concrete for recycling, it is important to understand surface adsorption of carbon dioxide and the positive impacts it might have on the carbon cycle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used in this study to evaluate carbon species on hydrated cement mortar surfaces. Initial estimates for carbon absorption in concrete using othertechniques predictthe potential for carbonate species to be a fraction of the calcination stoichiometric equivalent The XPS results indicate that there is a rapid and substantial uptake of carbon dioxide on the surfaces of these mortars, sometimes exceeding the calcination stoichiometric equivalents, indicative of carbon dioxide surface complexation species. On pure calcite, the excess is on the order of 30%. This accelerated carbon dioxide surface adsorption phenomenon may be importantfor determining novel and effective carbon sequestration processes using recycled concrete.
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