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移（STTR）第一期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22亿吨废混凝土。在美国，大约70%的建筑垃圾是混凝土，但它通常不被用作玻璃生产或其他化学工艺的原材料。使用混凝土作为原材料减少了其对垃圾填埋场的贡献以及对原始原材料的开采需求。，并贡献环境效益。这个STTR第一期项目将研究制备用于玻璃生产的炉用混凝土的工艺。STTR第一期项目将研究将废混凝土作为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，因为混凝土含有与玻璃制造相同的关键氧化物（硅，钙，铝和铁的氧化物）以及硫化合物（例如石膏与水泥混合以调节凝结），因此可能作为生产硅酸钙钠石灰和硼硅酸钙玻璃的候选原材料。研究目标包括：1)表征工业相关来源的化学成分变化；2)确定污染物浓度的变化；3)演示处理污染物变化的过程和方法；4)描述可用于炉膛的废混凝土玻璃批次的规格；5)生产硅酸钙钠石灰玻璃中试批次；6)描述生产的玻璃的变化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 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.