SBIR Phase II: Using Geopolymerisation of Natural Aluminosilicate Minerals to Develop Sustainable Masonry Materials

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将开发一个全尺寸的制造设备的工作原型，以生产一种新型的环境可持续的砌体单元。传统的混凝土砌块（CMU）制造依赖于普通的波特兰水泥（OPC）以获得强度和耐久性。OPC是能源密集型的，是传统砌体中最昂贵的成分。相比之下，该项目提出了一种制造工艺，通过一种称为地质聚合的化学过程将天然存在的土壤元素（称为铝硅酸盐）转化为坚固耐用的砖石产品。 拟议活动的更广泛影响包括人类健康形式的社会效益、提高科学和技术认识以及商业考虑。 建筑业采用地质聚合物砌块将有以下好处：i）大幅减少国内CMU制造商每年排放的1400万公吨CO2，ii）由于在配方中使用细颗粒成分，减少了加工骨料所需的能量，以及iii）消除了骨料洗涤的要求，这将使再生骨料的广泛使用成为可能。 拟议的活动将提高国内建筑材料制造能力，并为美国经济创造技术工作岗位。 第一阶段的结果证明了使用专有的制造工艺来制造性能与基于OPC的样品相当的基于地质聚合物的砌体样品的科学可行性。在第二阶段，这些知识将用于开发能够生产具有成本效益的地质聚合物砌块的设备，以满足国内和全球市场对可持续砌体材料不断增长的需求。地质聚合物砌体是一种颠覆性的产品，有可能大大改善地球上最常见的建筑材料之一的环境状况。第二阶段的工作将包括设计和建造一个全尺寸的工作原型，用于生产地质聚合物砌体，其成本与传统的基于OPC的砌体产品相当，评估所产生的地质聚合物砌体块的机械性能，以验证其对实验室样本和管理砌体材料的ASTM标准的性能，以及通过将防水外加剂和疏水添加剂纳入地质聚合物混合设计来解决与性能相关的突出问题的研究。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a full-scale working prototype of manufacturing equipment to produce a novel environmentally sustainable masonry unit. Conventional concrete masonry unit (CMU) manufacture relies on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for strength and durability. OPC is energy-intensive and is the most expensive ingredient in conventional masonry. In contrast, this project proposes a manufacturing process that transforms naturally occurring soil elements called aluminosilicates into strong and durable masonry products through a chemical process called geopolymerization. The broader impacts of the proposed activity include societal benefits in the form of human health, enhanced scientific and technological understanding, and commercial considerations. The adoption of geopolymer masonry blocks by the construction industry will have the following benefits: i) a dramatic reduction of the 14 million metric tons of CO2 emitted annually by domestic CMU manufacturers ii) a decrease in the energy required to process aggregates as a result of a fine particle constituent to be used in the formulation, and iii) the elimination of the requirement of aggregate washing, which will enable widespread use of recycled aggregates. The proposed activity will increase domestic construction material manufacturing capabilities, and create skilled jobs for the US economy. The results of Phase I demonstrated the scientific feasibility of using a proprietary manufacturing process to create geopolymer-based masonry specimens with performance comparable to OPC-based specimens. During Phase II, this knowledge will be applied to develop equipment capable of producing cost-effective geopolymer masonry block to meet the steadily increasing demand for sustainable masonry materials in domestic and global markets. Geopolymer masonry is a disruptive product that has the potential to dramatically improve the environmental profile of one of the most common construction materials on the planet. The Phase II work will include the design and construction of a full-scale working prototype for the production of geopolymer masonry at a cost comparable to conventional OPC-based masonry products, evaluations of mechanical properties of the resulting geopolymer masonry blocks to verify their performance against laboratory specimens and ASTM standards governing masonry materials, and research to address outstanding issues related to performance by incorporating water-repelling admixtures and hydrophobic additives into geopolymer mix designs.