U.S. Department of Energy Funds 4 Advanced Cement and Concrete Materials Projects

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 3, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation confirmed funding support for a batch of industrial technology projects, among which the "Advanced Building and Infrastructure Materials: Cement, Concrete, Asphalt Pavement, and Glass" category includes 4 cement and concrete materials projects, with individual projects receiving approximately $2.9 million to $3 million in federal funding. This batch of projects falls under the FY2023–FY2024 project selection scope of the DOE's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, with the overall project portfolio comprising 56 projects and a total funding scale of approximately $117 million.

Among them, the project "Low-Cost Advanced Cement Materials from Abundant Feedstocks" led by Solid Carbon of Oregon received $3 million in federal funding, which will develop and scale up belite-rich calcium sulfoaluminate cement and super-sulfated slag cement, and test alternative supplementary cementitious materials such as high-ash biochar from forestry thinning waste and sewage sludge incineration ash. Project partners include Amrize, Wilsonville Concrete Products, U.S. national laboratories, Oregon State University, and the University of Kentucky.

The second project is led by a team from the University of Miami to develop concrete formulations incorporating high proportions of calcined clay, mechanochemically activated clay, and carbonated recycled concrete aggregate. The research will combine clays with low to moderate kaolinite content with Portland limestone cement and recycled concrete aggregate, enhancing clay reactivity through calcination or mechanochemical activation, with plans to reduce clinker content in relevant concrete formulations by 60% to 75% compared to conventional formulations. Ozinga Bros. and the Illinois Institute of Technology are participating in the project.

The project led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop novel cementitious materials composed of limestone, activated clay, and calcium sulfate, activating the clay through mechanochemical processes such as grinding, and partially replacing Portland cement. Partners include Carbon Upcycling, Irving Materials, Imerys, St Marys Cement, Tindall, as well as the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin, among other institutions.

The fourth project is led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, to develop a technical route for manufacturing cement and concrete through electrochemical processes, with partners including De Nora Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The process plans to use electrolyzers to replace traditional kiln combustion processes, producing calcium hydroxide at lower temperatures, and further validating its application in cement production. The above four projects are currently in the technology development and scale-up validation stage and cannot be described as having achieved industrial-scale production.