Storage and utilization of CO2 in ready-mix concrete using CO2-loaded aqueous inorganic solvent

Date
2024-04
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Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina
Abstract

Cement production is a significant contributor to CO2 emissions, prompting the need for innovative approaches to mitigate its environmental impact. This work is focused on developing a workable process that can capture CO2 emitted by cement production and eventually store the captured CO2 in concrete to accelerate concrete curing. Potassium glycinate (K-glycinate), an environmentally friendly aqueous inorganic solvent was employed for this work. Firstly, 6M aqueous K-glycinate solvent prepared from glycine and potassium hydroxide was loaded with CO2 at 60℃ to produce CO2-loaded Kglycinate. Prior to being allowed to cool to room temperature (24±2 ℃), the solvent was diluted (dilution factor 1.5) with distilled water to eliminate any precipitation. Secondly, the CO2-loaded K-glycinate was utilized in two different batches of concrete. The first batch of concrete which is identified as concrete batch I consisted of sand, cement, rock and water. On the other hand, the second batch of concrete which is identified as concrete batch II consisted of additional materials which were admixtures (poly 980 and micro air) and fly ash. Nine different concrete mixtures were produced for this work. Four for the concrete batch I and five for the concrete batch II. The concrete mix for the concrete batch I were Baseline concrete I, 19% carbonated K-glycinate concrete I, 27% carbonated K-glycinate concrete I and 37% carbonated K-glycinate I. The baseline concrete I composed of only cement, sand, water and rock. The carbonated K-glycinate concretes I were produced by replacing a fraction of water with CO2-loaded K-glycinate. For instance, the 19% carbonated K-glycinate concrete I was produced by replacing the 19% of the mass of water in the Baseline concrete I with CO2-loaded Kglycinate. The concrete batch II consisted of Baseline concrete II, 6% carbonated Kglycinate concrete II, 9% carbonated K-glycinate concrete II, 20% carbonated Kglycinate II, and 32% carbonated K-glycinate concrete II. The baseline concrete II was produced by adding additional materials which were fly ash and admixtures (poly 980 and micro air) to the cement, sand, rock and water. A fraction of the water in the baseline concrete II was replaced with CO2-loaded K-glycinate to form the carbonated K-glycinate concretes II. The performance of the concrete was evaluated using compressive strength, curing time, CO2 storage capacity as well as other properties such as slump, air content and density of the concrete. The CaCO3 and other compounds formed in the concrete as well as the CO2 storage capacity of the concrete was analysed using XRD and TGA/DTA respectively. Physical properties of the CO2-loaded K-glycinate – water mixture such as viscosity, surface tension, capillarity and contact angle were estimated to investigate their effect on the rate of curing and CO2 storage capacity of the concrete. The 19% carbonated K-glycinate concrete I and the 6% carbonated K-glycinate concrete II had the highest performance in concrete batch I and batch II respectively. Among the concrete batch I, the 19% carbonated K-glycinate concrete I had the shortest curing time and highest compressive strength indicating the largest amount of CO2 uptake. Similar performance was observed for the 6% carbonated K-glycinate concrete II for the concrete batch II. The XRD profiles for concrete batch I and II revealed the presence of CaCO3 and CaMg(CO3)2, which are responsible for concrete's strength. The TGA/DTA profiles for the concrete confirmed that CO2 is permanently stored in the concrete due to the magnitude of the temperatures (600 - 930℃) that was required to remove the CO2 from the concrete. The properties of the carbonated K-glycinate – water mixture used for the concrete revealed that lower viscosity, higher capillarity, higher surface tension and contact angle favour concrete performance.

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A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Process Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xvi, 145 p.
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