Impacts of booming concrete production on water resources worldwide

Miller, Sabbie A.; Horvath, Arpad; Monteiro, Paulo J.M.

doi:10.1038/s41893-017-0009-5

Cited by 305 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…For instance, to produce accessible and rock-like materials, mankind started making calcium silicate cement from limestone and pozzolan, and extracting aluminosilicate clays. Recently, the continuous growth of the concrete's demand has been driven by the demographic change [6,7]. This has motivated recent studies to assess the structure of cement at the nano-scale [8,9] to maximize the durability of concrete [10,11] and, thus, reduce its environmental impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time resolved alkali silicate decondensation by sodium hydroxide solution

et al. 2020

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Silica is by far the chemical compound the most widespread and used around the world: as a raw product in the buildings and roads industry, as concrete, or as a processed product in the manufacture of glass, ceramics or zeolites. In alkali silicate solutions-often used to synthesize those materials-a complex interplay of decondensation and condensation processes leads to the restructuring of silicate clusters at the atomic scale on a short time-scale. We were able to deconvolute these effects by combining time resolved small angle x-ray scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and parallel tempering simulations. We investigated the impact of a dilution by pure water or by a sodium hydroxide solution on the speciation and size of the dissolved silicates in solution. Herein, we show that the silicate clusters are not affected by dilution, suggesting that sodium cations protect the silicate clusters from hydrolysis. Decondensation is triggered by hydroxide ions that weaken and break Si-O bonds. Alongside the decondensation, the evolution of the computed protonation state of the silica species indicates a change in the interaction potential. Our results pave the way towards the investigation at the atomic scale of more complex systems implying alkali silicate solutions in condensation process by the addition of calcium or aluminum to synthesize aluminosilicate binders, hydrogels or zeolites.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time resolved alkali silicate decondensation by sodium hydroxide solution

et al. 2020

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“…[3] Moreover, the environmental impacts of concrete production cannot be ignored. [5] Furthermore, since the production of 1 ton of cement corresponds to emission of ≈1 ton of carbon dioxide, cement industry is responsible for 8%-9% of the release of anthropogenic CO 2 into the atmosphere annually. [1,4] Even more alarming is the amount of water irreversibly lost in cement matrix.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐Performance Graphene‐Based Cementitious Composites

et al. 2019

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This study reports on the development of a cementitious composite incorporating electrochemically exfoliated graphene (EEG). This hybrid functional material features significantly enhanced microstructure and mechanical properties, as well as unaffected workability; thus, it outperforms previously reported cementitious composites containing graphene derivatives. The manufacturing of the composite relies on a simple and efficient method that enables the uniform dispersion of EEG within cement matrix in the absence of surfactants. Different from graphene oxide, EEG is found to not agglomerate in cement alkaline environment, thereby not affecting the fluidity of cementitious composites. The addition of 0.05 wt% graphene content to ordinary Portland cement results in an increase up to 79%, 8%, and 9% for the tensile strength, compressive strength, and Young's modulus, respectively. Remarkably, it is found that the addition of EEG promotes the hydration reaction of both alite and belite, thus leading to the formation of a large fraction of 3CaO·2SiO 2 ·3H 2 O (C‐S‐H) phase. These findings represent a major step forward toward the practical application of nanomaterials in civil engineering.

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“…The production of cement and concrete is among the most substantial and difficult to decarbonize processes [2]. Annually, concrete production is responsible for over 8% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [3],~9% of industrial water withdrawals [4], and 2%-3% of anthropogenic energy demand [3]. Further, many construction materials, like concrete, are used once and then disposed of, leading to significant accumulation of construction and demolition wastes in landfills: in the United States alone, this waste is an estimated 325 million tons annually [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

Miller

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The high demand for cement-based materials to support building and infrastructure systems is of growing concern as the production of cement leads to significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and notable resource demand. While improved efficiency of cement use has been proposed as a means to mitigate these burdens, the effects of increasing longevity of cement in-use remains a poorly studied area. This work quantitatively explores the implications of using cement for a longer in-use residence times. Specifically, this work uses dynamic material flow analysis models to quantify the in-use stock of cement in the United States from 1900 to 2015. With these models, the implications of increasing or decreasing mean longevity of in-use cement on required cement production, demand for batching water, aggregates, and energy for cement-based materials, and GHG emissions are quantified. This work shows that a 50% increase in cement longevity could have led to a 14% reduction in material resource demand and GHG emissions from concrete production in the United States, equivalent to 0.28 to 0.83 Gt of batching water, 2.9 to 7.6 Gt of aggregates, 1E+06 to 2.3E+06 TJ of energy, and 0.4 to 0.7 Gt of CO 2 -eq emissions. This percent reduction exceeds goals for reducing GHG emissions through alternative energy resources, suggesting improving durability and longevity of in-use cement stock could be a critical means to mitigating environmental impacts.

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Impacts of booming concrete production on water resources worldwide

Cited by 305 publications

References 32 publications

Time resolved alkali silicate decondensation by sodium hydroxide solution

Time resolved alkali silicate decondensation by sodium hydroxide solution

High‐Performance Graphene‐Based Cementitious Composites

The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

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