STTR Phase I: Sustainable Glass Raw Materials and Processes for the Upcycling of Waste Concrete into SIlicate Glass

这个小型企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是为玻璃和其他行业提供废混凝土作为新的原材料来源。据估计，全球每年产生22亿吨废弃混凝土。美国产生的建筑垃圾中约有70%是混凝土，但通常不会用作玻璃生产或其他化学过程的原材料。使用混凝土作为原材料，减少了对垃圾填埋场的贡献，以及对开采原始原材料的需求，并有助于环境效益。本项目第一期工程将研究用于玻璃生产的可熔炉混凝土的制备工艺。本项目第一期项目将研究将废弃混凝土用作硅酸钙玻璃和玻璃制造的原料成分(原料)的可行性。环境效益是可能的，因为混凝土含有用于玻璃制造的关键氧化物(硅、钙、铝和铁氧化物)以及硫化合物(例如，石膏与水泥混合以调节凝结，因此可能成为生产硅酸钙钠钙和硅酸钙玻璃的候选原料。研究目标包括：1)表征工业相关来源的化学成分的变化；2)确定污染物浓度的变化；3)展示处理污染物变化的过程和方法；4)表征可用于熔炉的废混凝土玻璃配料的规格；5)生产硅酸钙钠钙玻璃的中试批次；这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to provide waste concrete as a new raw material source for the glass and other industries. It is estimated that 2.2 billion tons of waste concrete is generated globally each year. About 70% of the construction waste generated in the US is concrete, but it is not typically used as a raw material for glass production or other chemical processes. Using concrete as a raw material reduces its contribution to landfills as well as the need for mining virgin raw materials., and contributes environmental benefits. This STTR Phase I project will study processes to prepare furnace-ready concrete for glass production.This STTR Phase I project will study the feasibility of waste concrete as a raw material constituent (feedstock) for calcium-silicate glass and glass-making. Environmental benefits are possible because concrete contains the same key oxides used in glass making (silicon, calcium, aluminum and iron oxides) as well as sulfur compounds (e.g. gypsum mixed with the cement to regulate setting, and therefore can potentially serve as a candidate raw material in the production of calcium-silicate soda lime and calcium-borosilicate glasses.Research objectives include: 1) characterize variations in chemical composition from industrially relevant sources; 2) determine variation in contaminant concentrations; 3) demonstrate processes and methods to address contaminant variations' 4) characterize the specifications for a furnace-ready waste concrete glass batch; 5) produce pilot batches of calcium-silicate soda lime glass; and 6) characterize variations in produced glasses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.