SBIR Phase I: High Performance Cement Additive from an Agricultural Byproduct

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段研究项目致力于将农业副产品(生物质)作为高性能水泥(HPC)用于公路应用的制造和测试。使用这种经过处理的副产品有几个好处，例如显著提高抗压强度，降低水化热以防止混凝土开裂，以及由于恶劣的环境条件增强对化学腐蚀的抵抗力。美国生产了710万吨这种生物质，与堆烧相关的环境污染导致农民每年为处理这些生物质而付出巨大的成本。因此，迫切需要利用这种生物质制造附加值产品。此外，包括联邦机构在内的几个州政府，如美国交通部和联邦公路管理局，已经要求使用高性能混凝土来提高结构的耐久性和寿命。提案的目标是为高性能混凝土加工这一副产品。在商业上，这项申请解决了目前竞争产品的缺点，如难以处理细小的粉尘颗粒、深色、产品可用性、性能和成本；因此，拟议的副产品将在市场上具有很强的竞争力。该项目可能会增加农民的收入，并在不取代其他行业工人的情况下创造农村就业机会。此外，这项技术还可以授权给生产这种农业副产品的其他国家。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project addresses the manufacturing and testing of an agricultural byproduct (biomass) as a high performance cement (HPC) for highway applications. There are several benefits of using this processed byproduct, such as significantly increasing the compressive strength, reducing heat of hydration to prevent concrete cracking, and enhancing resistance to chemical weathering due to harsh environmental conditions. The United States generates 7.1 million tons of this biomass and the environmental pollution associated with heap burning results in a significant annual cost to the farmers for its disposal. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make value-added products utilizing this biomass. Furthermore, several state governments including federal agencies, e.g., U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration have mandated the use of HPC for structure durability and longevity. The proposal objective is to process this byproduct for HPC. Commercially, this application addresses drawbacks of current competing products such as the difficulty in handling fine dust particles, dark coloration, product availability, performance and cost; hence, the proposed byproduct will compete very well in the marketplace. This project could lead to enhanced revenues to the farmers, and create rural jobs without displacing workers from other industries. Additionally, the technology can be licensed to other countries producing this agricultural byproduct.