Roshni Limbachiya

Optimising low-C02 supplementary cementitious materials from waste mineral wool

Started: October 2017

Supervisor: Professor Chris Cheeseman and Dr Paivo Kinnunen

Industry Partner: University of Oulu

Description of Research

The Portland cement industry is a major generator of greenhouse gases, accounting for up to 8% of C02 emissions. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are used to replace a percentage of cement in concrete in order to reduce the embodied C02 and improve the mechanical properties of concrete. In previous work mineral wool waste from the Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry has been identified as a SCM in cement based composites, suggestively reducing the C02 emissions associated with the manufacturing of cement. This research is focused on using waste mineral waste from the C&D industry as an SCM and determining the optimal composition from a resource, performance, manufacturing and economical perspective. The research will develop durable concrete with high manufactured low CO2 SCM replacement rates. Overall we want to understand how compositional variations of mineral wool fibres influence the effectiveness as an SCM and the effect of different processing parameters such as milling techniques and alkali activation of material will have on the mineral wool fibres.