Professional Documents
Culture Documents
On
Green Concrete
KANPUR – 208002
February 2011
CERTIFICATE
H. B. T. I., Kanpur has worked on the seminar titled ‗Green Concrete‘ under my
guidance and supervision. He has shown sincere efforts and keen interest during the
2. GENESIS ...................................................................................................................... 3
5.1. Green Concrete containing Marble sludge powder and Quarry rock dust .............. 12
8. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 24
REFERENCES: .................................................................................................................. 26
1. INTRODUCTION
Green concrete is a revolutionary topic in the history of concrete industry. This was
first invented in Denmark in the year 1998. Green concrete has nothing to do with
colour. It is a concept of thinking environment into concrete considering every aspect
from raw materials manufacture over mixture design to structural design,
construction, and service life. Green concrete is very often also cheap to produce,
because, for example, waste products are used as a partial substitute for cement,
charges for the disposal of waste are avoided, energy consumption in production is
lower, and durability is greater. Green concrete is a type of concrete
which resembles the conventional concrete but the production or usage of such
concrete requires minimum amount of energy and causes least harm to the
environment.
The potential environmental benefit to society of being able to build with green
concrete is huge. It is realistic to assume that technology can be developed, which can
halve the CO2 emission related to concrete production. With the large consumption of
concrete this will potentially reduce the world‘s total CO2 emission by 1.5-2%.
Concrete can also be the solution to environmental problems other than those related
to CO2 emission. It may be possible to use residual products from other industries in
the concrete production while still maintaining a high concrete quality. During the last
few decades society has become aware of the deposit problems connected with
residual products, and demands, restrictions and taxes have been imposed. And as it is
known that several residual products have properties suited for concrete production,
there is a large potential in investigating the possible use of these for concrete
production. Well-known residual products such as silica fume and fly ash may be
mentioned.
The concrete industry realised at an early stage that it is a good idea to be in front with
regard to documenting the actual environmental aspects and working on improving
the environment, rather than being forced to deal with environmental aspects due to
demands from authorities, customers and economic effects such as imposed taxes.
Furthermore, some companies in concrete industry have recognised that reductions in
production costs often go hand in hand with reductions in environmental impacts.
Thus, environmental aspects are not only interesting from an ideological point of
view, but also from an economic aspect.
Considering the time elapsed since the commencement of the use of concrete, green
concrete is very young a material. It was invented in 1998 in Denmark.
The increasing awareness and activity to conserve the environment and the realisation
that concrete production too releases a considerable amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere
were strong initiatives to catalyse the genesis of Green Concrete.
In 1997, the Kyoto Conference took place, in which several countries, after
deliberating over the then environmental conditions laid down several guidelines
which would be the directive principles to the participating countries on their
environment related practices. The guidelines – Kyoto Protocol, as they are called,
needed the countries to cut down their CO2 emissions to a certain degree as assigned.
The given goal has to be achieved by the year 2012. Since then several countries
started to focus on several available options but Denmark focused on cement and
concrete production because approximately 2% of Denmark‘s total CO2 emission
stems from cement and concrete production.
Realising the necessity of such a technology and the prospects associated the Danish
government soon released a proposal. The proposal is in accordance with the
International and European Conventions and Protocol, with the nationally agreed
goals that comply with these. An important aspect is Denmark‘s obligation to reduce
the CO2-emission as previously mentioned. The proposal covers the following
environmental aspects: Greenhouse effect, depletion of the ozone layer,
photochemical oxidation, eutrophication, acidification, materials harmful to the
environment and health, water and resources. The above mentioned priorities were
included in a large Danish projects about cleaner technologies in the life cycle of
concrete products. Furthermore, priorities have been made for the other participating
countries, i.e. Greece, Italy, and The Netherlands, and for Europe and the
International World. Although there are differences in the political environmental
priorities, all agree that five environmental impacts given highest priority are:
CO2
Energy
Water
Waste
Pollutants
These, coupled with the cost reduction benefits allured the concrete producers to
incorporate green concrete into their paradigm.
Cement and concrete may have an important role to play in enabling the developed
countries to fulfil their obligation to reduce the total CO2 emission by 21 %
compared to the 1990-level before 2012, as agreed at the Kyoto conference. This is
because the volume of concrete consumption is large. Approx. 1 m3 of concrete per
capita are produced annually globally. The CO2 emission related to concrete
production, inclusive of cement production, is between 0.1-0.2 tons per ton produced
concrete. This corresponds to a total quantity of CO 2 emission of 0.6 - 1.2 m tons per
year. Approximately 5% of world‘s total CO2 emission stems from cement and
concrete production.
The potential environmental benefit to society of being able to build with green
concrete is huge. It is realistic to assume that technology can be developed which can
halve the CO2 emission related to concrete production. With the large consumption of
concrete this will potentially reduce Denmark’s total CO2 emission by 0.5 %
(Glavind, 2000). The somewhat soft demands in the form of environmental
obligations result in rather specific technical requirements for the industry - including
the concrete industry. These technical requirements include among others new
concrete mix designs, new raw materials, and new knowledge (practical experience
and technical models) about the properties of the new raw materials and concrete mix
designs.
Every 1 ton of cement produced leads to about 0.9 tons of CO2 emissions and a
typical cubic yard (0.7643 m3) of concrete contains about 10% by weight of cement.
There have been a number of articles written about reducing the CO 2 emissions from
concrete primarily through the use of lower amounts of cement and higher amounts of
supplementary cementitious material (SCM) such as fly ash and slag. Table 1 has
been developed based on data presented by Marceau et al, 2002.
Table 1 Total CO2 emissions for 1 cubic yard (yd3 )+ of concrete for different strength
classes and mixture proportions5
Green concrete has manifold advantages over the conventional concrete. Since it uses
the recycled aggregates and materials, it reduces the extra load in landfills and
mitigates the wastage of aggregates. Thus, the net CO2 emissions are reduced. The
reuse of materials also contributes intensively to economy. Since the waste materials
like aggregates from a nearby area and fly ash from a nearby power plant are not
much expensive and also transport costs are minimal.
There are several other advantages related to green concrete and can be summarized
as below:
a) Reduced CO2 emissions.
b) Low production costs as wastes directly substitute the cement.
c) Saves energy, emissions and waste water.
d) Helps in recycling industry wastes.
e) Reduces the consumption of cement overall.
f) Better workability.
g) Sustainable development.
h) Greater strength and durability than normal concrete.
i) Compressive strength and Flexural behaviour is fairly equal to that of the
conventional concrete.
j) Green concrete might solve some of the societies‘ problems with the use of
inorganic, residual products which should otherwise be deposited.
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5 Energy Consumption in cement
1 production
0.5 Other energy Consumption
0
Figure 2 Edge beam: total energy consumption through all the life cycle phases
Source: Obla, K. H., 2009
Concrete slurry. Concrete slurry is a residual product from concrete production, i.e.
washing mixers and other equipment. The concrete slurry is can be either a dry or wet
substance, and can be recycled either as a dry powder or with water. In the case of
recycling of the dry material, it is necessary to process it to powder. The concrete
slurry can have some pozzolanic effect, and might therefore be used as a substitute for
part of the cement or for other types of pozzolanic materials such as fly ash.
Combustion ash from water-purifying plants. This type of combustion ash has the
same particle size and shape as fly ash particles. The content of heavy metals in the
slurry is expected to be approximately at the same level as for fly ash. The slurry can
also have some pozzolanic effect.
Smoke waste from waste combustion. This smoke waste can have some pozzolanic
effect. The content of heavy metals is significantly higher than that of ordinary fly
ash. Furthermore, the content of chlorides, fluorides and sulphates can result in
negative effects in connection with reinforcement corrosion, retardation and possible
thaumasite reactions. Further processing will be necessary before its use in concrete.
•sewage sludge.
incineration ash
residual •stone dust, concrete
products frm
other
slurry
industries •combustion ash from
water purifying plants
cement with
reduced •mineralised cement
environmental •limestone addition
impact
Marble Sludge Powder: Marble sludge powder was obtained in wet form directly
taken from deposits of marble factories. It was observed that the marble sludge
powder had a high specific surface area; this could mean that is addition should confer
more cohesiveness to mortars and concrete. Specific gravity of the marble sludge
powder is 2.212.
100
90
80
70
% of finer
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
8.616 6.112 4.351 3.106 2.218 1.597 1.184 0.845 0.604 0.176
Particle Size X10-3 mm
Quarry rock dust: The specific gravity of the quarry rock dust is 2.677. Moisture
content and bulk density of waste are less than the sand properties.
Fine aggregate: Medium size sand with a modulus of fineness = 2.20; Specific
gravity 2.677, normal grading with the silt content 0.8%.
Coarse aggregate: Crushed stone with a size of 5-20 mm and normal continuous
grading was used. The content of flaky and elongated particles is <3%, the crushing
index ≤6% and the specific gravity 2.738.
V-funnel time in
Mix Slump in mm Slump flow in mm
sec
Mix A 210 420 23
Mix B 255 657 14
Source: Hameed and Sekar, 2009
Compressive and Split tensile strength:
The 150 mm size concrete cubes, concrete cylinder of size 150 mm diameter and 300
mm height were used as test specimens to determine the compressive strength and
split tensile strength respectively. The results of standard cubes and cylinders are
compiled:
Table 6 Avg. Compressive and Split tensile strength of concrete
5.1.5. Conclusions
All the experimental data shows that the addition of the industrial wastes improves the
physical and mechanical properties. These results are of great importance because this
kind of innovative concrete requires large amounts of fine particles. Due to its high
fineness of the marble sludge powder it provided to be very effective in assuring very
good cohesiveness of concrete. From the above study, it is concluded that the quarry
rock dust and marble sludge powder may be used as a replacement material for fine
aggregate.
The chemical compositions of quarry rock dust and marble sludge powder are
comparable with that of cement.
The replacement of fine aggregate with 50% marble sludge powder and 50%
Quarry rock dust (Green concrete) gives an excellent result in strength aspect
and quality aspect. The results showed that the M4 mix induced higher
compressive strength, higher splitting tensile strength. Increase the marble
sludge powder content by more than 50% improves the workability but affects
the compressive and split tensile strength of concrete.
Green concrete induced higher workability and it satisfy the self compacting
concrete performance which is the slump flow is 657mm without affecting the
strength of concrete. Slump flow increases with the increase of marble sludge
powder content. V-funnel time decreases with the increase of marble sludge
powder content
Test results show that these industrial wastes are capable of improving
hardened concrete performance.
Green concrete enhancing fresh concrete behaviour and can be used in
architectural concrete mixtures containing white cement.
The water absorption of green concrete is slightly higher than conventional
concrete.
The durability of green concrete under sulphate is higher to that of
conventional concrete. From the results after 90-day immersion, the mortar
specimens with green concrete in 7.5% sulphate solution have similar effect
with those immersed for 28 days, but for those in 7.5% magnesium sulphate,
the influence of addition on anti corrosion factor is not obvious.
The combined use of quarry rock dust and marble sludge powder exhibited excellent
performance due to efficient micro filling ability and pozzolanic activity. Therefore,
the results of this study provide a strong recommendation for the use of quarry rock
dust and marble sludge powder as fine aggregate in concrete manufacturing.
Strength development is shown in Figures 4 and 5. The figures show that PV4,
which has a fly ash content of 70%, has strength that is far too low: it appears that the
fly ash content must not exceed approximately 60%. Even so, the strength
development is still too slow. As regards the concrete in the aggressive environmental
class, the strength development is similar for all concrete types. However, preliminary
testing indicates that the high-volume fly ash concrete might have problems with frost
resistance.
35
30
Compressive Strength (MPa)
25
20 Control
PV1
15
PV2
10 PV3
PV4
5
0
48 168 672 1344
Time (h)
Figure 4. Strength development for high volume fly ash concrete in the passive environmental class.
Source: Glavind, 2000
50
Control
40
AV1
30 AV2
AV3
20
AV4
10 AV5
0
48 168 672 1344
Time (h)
Figure 5. Strength development for high volume fly ash concrete in the active environmental class
Source: Glavind, 2000
An environmental screening has been performed for a column presenting the different
design principles as described in Table 7 (green concrete columns defined as A, B, C).
For comparison, the same environmental screening has been performed for a
reference column (traditional concrete column defined as R), which is similar to
column A, except that the green concrete type being substituted by a traditional
concrete suitable for aggressive environment. The objective of the screening is to
identify significant resource consumption and environmental loads of traditional
concrete/design compared to green concrete/design occurring during the entire
service life, this includes the environmentally viewed most critical maintenance/repair
stage. The performed lifecycle screenings quantify material usage (consumption of
concrete) as well as CO2 emissions generated at the involved stages during the
lifecycle of the columns.
Table 10. A Comparison between Conventional and Green Concrete
The environmental parameters related to the working environment have not been
included. The results of the environmental screening for the 3 green concrete
columns (A, B, C) and the traditional concrete column (R) is presented in Table 3
with regard to the CO2-emission and in Table 4 with regard to the consumption
of concrete.
8000
7000
Concrete Consumption Kg
6000
5000 Concrete: Maintenance
4000 Concrete Construction
3000
2000
1000
0
Column R Column A Column B Column C
Given these limitations coupled with the urgent need of reduction in green house gas
emissions, has sparked off a number of researches across the globe to make green
concrete more durable and bring it up to the mark with conventional concrete.
7. SCOPE IN INDIA
Construction
work, 1.30%
Transportation for
construction, 5.00
%
Other
Industries, 62.70%
Production of
materials for
construction, 10.9
0%
Another type of green concrete, pervious concrete, is also a precious entity when it
comes to storm water management and rain water harvesting. Using pervious concrete
we can easily tame the run-off and harness it for future uses in relatively dry areas,
which would have otherwise drained away. With the alarmingly increasing cases of
droughts each year pervious concrete would prove to be a utilitarian tool. (Wikipedia)
The above facts clearly state a wide and promising scope of Green Concrete in the
near future.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The overview of the present state of affairs regarding concrete types with reduced
environmental impact has shown that there is considerable knowledge and experience
on the subject. The Danish and European environmental policies have motivated the
concrete industry to react, and will probably also motivate further development of the
production and use of concrete with reduced environmental impact. The somewhat
vague environmental requirements that exist have resulted in a need for more specific
technical requirements, and the most important goal is to develop the technology
necessary to produce and use resource saving concrete structures, i.e. green concrete.
This applies to structure design, specification, manufacturing, performance, operation,
and maintenance.
The potential environmental benefit to society of being able to build with green
concrete is huge. It is realistic to assume that the technology can be developed, which
can halve the CO2 emission related to concrete production, and with the large energy
consumption of concrete and the following large emission of CO 2 this will mean a
potential reduction of total CO2 emission by 2% (Obla 2009).
It is important to keep a holistic cradle to cradle perspective when it comes to the use
of a material. Based on a research Gajda et al. concluded that occupant energy use
accounts for 99% of life cycle energy use of a single family home. Less than 1% of
the life cycle energy used in that home was due to manufacturing cement and
producing concrete. The global cement industry accounts for approximately 5% of
global CO2 emissions. So whatever way one looks at it focusing on just the
production of concrete accounts for a very small percent of overall CO2 emissions.
This is not to say that progress should not be made in reducing the CO2 emissions
from concrete as produced. However one should keep in mind that whatever CO2
emission reductions that are possible will still account for at best a 2% global CO2
reduction (assuming a challenging 21% reduction in global CO2 emissions from
cement manufacture from now on).
REFERENCES: