Australian kaolin producer and silica sand exploration company, Suvo Strategic Minerals has inked an agreement with Curtin University to investigate the potential for its White Cloud kaolin to be used as a pozzolan for creating green concrete for the application markets.
Green concrete is a variation of ordinary concrete that uses low carbon materials that are better for the environment.
As a pozzolan, high reactivity metakaolin (HRM) will be adopted, potentially improving the properties of concrete by reducing CO2 emissions & improving performance.
HRM, which has a value of between USD $500t to USD $750t, is already in use as a pozzolan additive in the concrete industry for applications requiring ultra-high performance, high strength lightweight concrete.
When compared to ordinary Portland cement, CO2 emissions from HRM-based concrete mixes are much lower, with the potential to half the industry’s emissions.
Dr Thong Pham, Senior Lecturer of the School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University said the research will compare CO2 emission properties of HRM produced from Suvo’s White Cloud Kaolin project with other pozzolanics.
“Adoption of green concrete by the industry to date has been hindered due to the poor and variable quality of low carbon materials that are suitable to replace Portland cement. Compared to other sustainable binders, HRM has much higher quality control and consistent chemical compositions, which make it a great substitute to typical energy-intensive Portland cement for an alternative yet excellent and reliable binder in green concrete,” Dr Pham said.
“Suvo metakaolin will potentially be flash calcined to minimise carbon footprint and simultaneously provide optimum properties for use as a pozzolan, allowing for high cement replacement to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and improve concrete performance.
“Our research will focus on the viability and impact that HRM can have on rapidly decarbonising the global cement industry.”
