PFI-TT: Decarbonizing concrete using carbon-negatively processed solid waste

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过使用烟道气中的二氧化碳（CO2）增强矿化作用，将城市固体废物焚烧（MSWI）灰烬（一种负价值、难以回收的固体废物）转化为高价值（50美元/吨）的混合辅助胶凝材料（SCM）。SCM是混凝土工业中用于性能增强和/或脱碳的商品。 许多国家面临严重短缺的SCM。MSWI灰衍生的SCM不仅在生产过程中吸收CO2（即，碳负性），而且还通过取代大部分水泥（混凝土的粘合剂相）来减少混凝土中包含的CO2。使用1吨SCM平均可减少1.2吨CO2排放。这种负碳SCM技术可以扩展到使用烟道气携带的CO2的各种固体废物，可以使混凝土工业和其他废物产生和CO2密集型部门受益。拟议项目旨在同时解决三个未满足的市场需求：（1）对负价值固体废物，特别是生活垃圾焚烧灰进行升级循环，（2）解决混凝土行业中SCM的短缺问题，以及（3）促进混凝土生产中大规模利用CO2。该技术可能导致多个碳密集型工业部门（例如，通过使用烟道气中的二氧化碳对本地废物进行升级循环，并生产可供当地混凝土生产商消费的负碳SCM，可将废物转化为能源和混凝土生产。为了填补这一技术商业化的知识空白，该项目旨在了解和解决垃圾焚烧炉灰在形成一致产品时的成分变化。 该团队还寻求设计和原型化一种工业上可行的工艺，将垃圾焚烧灰转化为负碳SCMs，并优化工艺参数，以最大限度地取代水泥。此外，该研究将使用碳负SCM测试混凝土比例的关键性能指标，以建立其性能可信度并指导其实际应用。教师和学生将进行初步的技术经济和生命周期分析，并与工业合作伙伴合作制定市场过渡计划。为了降低潜在的技术和技术经济风险，将开发一种基于泥浆的碳酸化方法和一种干式碳酸化方法，以实现负碳废物到商品的转化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is the conversion of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes – a type of negative-value, hard-to-recycle solid wastes – into high-value ($50/ton) blended supplementary cementitious material (SCM) through enhanced mineralization using flue gas-borne carbon dioxide (CO2). SCMs are a commodity in the concrete industry used for performance enhancement and/or decarbonization. Many states facing with a severe shortage pf SCMs. The MSWI ashes-derived SCMs not only absorbs CO2 during production (i.e., carbon-negative), but also reduces the CO2 included in concrete by replacing a large portion of cement (the binder phase of concrete). Using 1 ton of SCMs reduces, on average, 1.2 ton of CO2 emissions. This carbon-negative SCMs technology, which can be extended to a broad range of solid wastes using flue gas-borne CO2, may benefit both the concrete industry and other waste-generating and CO2-intensive sectors. The proposed project aims to simultaneously address three un-met market needs: (1) upcycling negative-value solid wastes, specifically, MSWI ashes,(2) addressing the shortage of SCMs in the concrete industry, and (3) facilitating large-scale CO2 utilizations in concrete production. The technology may result in the ability to co-decarbonize multiple carbon-intensive industrial sectors (e.g., waste-to-energy and concrete production), by upcycling the indigenous waste using flue gas-borne CO2 and producing carbon-negative SCMs that can be consumed by local concrete producers. To fill the knowledge gaps towards commercialization of this technology, the project seeks to understand and address the compositional variability of MSWI ashes in forming consistent products. The team also seeks to design and prototype an industrially viable process to convert MSWI ashes into carbon-negative SCMs amd optimize processing parameters for maximal cement replacement. Additionally, the research will test critical performance metrics of concrete proportions using the carbon-negative SCMs in order to establish their performance credibility and guide their practical applications. Faculty and students will conduct preliminary techno-economic and life-cycle analyses and develop a market transition plan in collaboration with industrial partners. To mitigate potential technical and technoeconomic risks, both a slurry-based carbonation method and a dry-carbonation method will be developed for the carbon-negative waste-to-commodity conversion.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.