Green, Circular, and Smart Cement Manufacture

我将建立基础科学和技术知识，使英国水泥行业和英国含铝废物生产商能够为高性能低二氧化碳水泥的生产创造新的供应链。我还将开发一个用户友好的工艺模型，可以优化从废物中生产水泥熟料。此外，我将通过在英国建立一个急需的实验热力学中心来支持学术界和工业界，并将成为低碳水泥生产的领导者。水泥是地球上最大的制成品，对基础设施和经济的发展至关重要。水泥制造业占英国碳排放量的2%，每年超过800万吨。通常使用的波特兰水泥（PC）熟料的生产。在全球范围内，每年生产4 Gt水泥。硫铝酸钙（CSA）水泥的CO2排放量比PC水泥减少了30%以上，以质量为基础，采用原始原材料生产。CSA水泥的性能通常上级PC，因此用于高速公路和机场的快速修复等特殊应用。考虑到它们节省的工作时间和更高的性能，与PC相比，CSA水泥的CO2节省量实际上更大。此外，CSA水泥可以在现有的PC工厂配置中生产，而无需进行重大改造;因此，工业资本支出较低。CSA水泥通常由铝土矿、石灰石和粘土生产。然而，CSA水泥的使用在英国受到限制，这是由于缺乏原始氧化铝来源（即，另一方面，英国工业产生大量含氧化铝的废料，本奖学金的研究目的是使其价值化。两种主要的废物流是饮用铝水处理污泥（aWTS）和再生铝生产和回收的氧化铝残渣（AOR）。英国每年生产约90 kt aWTS（干）和约70 kt ALS，可用作氧化铝来源，替代铝土矿，每年生产约100万吨CSA水泥，这项转化研究将在英国创造一个新的子行业，通过创新工艺使CSA水泥制造业成为可能，使英国工业残留物增值，并创造新的英国产品。然而，为了开发和建立目标水泥熟料的制造工艺，必须解决废物中杂质的存在和波动问题。在工业上，通过原料热处理生产的水泥熟料相的比例是使用经验公式设计的。这种方法不适合生产CSA熟料，特别是当使用替代原料（含有杂质元素）时。需要采取更灵活的办法。因此，本研究金研究还将从废物中获得CSA熔块所涉及阶段的必要基本材料数据，并使用这些数据构建用户友好的高温处理模拟器，该模拟器将允许快速原材料混合和工艺设计，优化和故障排除。该模拟器还将能够识别熟料生产的其他潜在有用的进料来源;因此，减少未来的实验性熟料试验。作为该奖学金的一部分，我还将在英国建立第一个实验热力学中心。我将利用奖学金的成功完成，领导低碳水泥生产和热化学专业的研究。我的目标是成为CSA水泥和混凝土在英国的大使，并参与影响CSA水泥和混凝土的政策和编写标准。

I will establish the underpinning scientific and technical knowledge to enable the UK cement industry and UK producers of alumina-containing waste to create new supply chains for the manufacture of high-performance low-CO2 cements. I will also develop a user-friendly process model that can optimise cement clinker manufacture from waste. Moreover, I will support the academic and industrial community by creating a much-needed centre for experimental thermodynamics in the UK and will become established and recognised as a leader in low-carbon cement production.Cement is the most manufactured product on the planet and is essential to the development of infrastructure and economy. Cement manufacture is responsible for 2% of the UK's carbon emissions where more than 8 Mt p.a. of, the generally employed, Portland cement (PC) clinker are produced. Globally, the manufacture of 4 Gt of cement p.a. is responsible for 8% of man-made CO2 emissions.Calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cements can achieve more than 30% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to PC, on a mass basis, when produced from virgin raw materials. The properties of CSA cements are often superior to those of PC and are therefore used in special applications such as fast-track rehabilitation of highways and airfields. Considering their savings in work-time and their higher performance, CO2 savings from CSA cement, compared to PC, are in fact greater. Moreover, CSA cement can be produced in existing PC plant configurations without major modifications; thus, low industrial capex. CSA cements are normally produced from bauxite, limestone, and clay. However, the use of CSA cements has been limited in the UK due to the lack of a raw alumina source (i.e., bauxite), which is required for CSA manufacture; any CSA cement currently used in the UK is imported.On the other hand, the UK industry produces significant volumes of waste material containing alumina which this Fellowship research aims to valorise. Two major waste streams are potable aluminium water treatment sludge (aWTS), and aluminium oxide residue (AOR) from secondary aluminium production and recycling. The UK produces ~90 kt of aWTS (dry) and ~70 kt of ALS per year which can be used as alumina sources, replacing bauxite, to produce ~1M tonnes of CSA cement p.a., and replacing up to 50% of virgin raw materials with waste.This translational research will create a new subindustry in the UK, by enabling CSA cement manufacture through an innovative process, valorising UK industrial residues, and creating new UK products. However, to develop and establish the manufacturing process for targeted cement clinkers, the presence and fluctuation of impurities in the wastes must be addressed.Industrially, the proportions of cement clinker phases produced through thermal processing of the raw materials are designed using empirical equations. This approach is not suitable to produce CSA clinker, especially when alternative raw materials (containing foreign elements) are used. A more flexible approach is required. Therefore, this Fellowship research will also derive necessary fundamental material data for the phases involved in CSA clinkering from waste and use the data to build a user-friendly pyro-processing simulator that will allow for rapid raw material mix and process design, optimisation, and troubleshooting. This simulator will also enable identification of other potentially useful feed sources for clinker manufacture; thus, a reduction in future experimental clinkering tests.As part of this Fellowship, I will also establish the first centre for experimental thermodynamics in the UK. I will leverage the successful completion of the Fellowship to lead research in low-carbon cement production and specialising in thermochemistry. I also aim to become an ambassador for CSA cement and concrete in the UK and to be involved in influencing policy and writing standards for CSA cement and concrete.