Project: Re-generating (raw) materials and end-of-life products for re-use in Cement/Concrete

Acronym	RECEMENT (Reference Number: ERA-MIN-2018_77)
Project Topic	Understanding the complex reactions that occur upon cement (de)hydration is the key to re-generating end-of-life (EOL) materials as sources of cementitious minerals. The cement industry generates 8% of the total global CO2 emission, or 0.87 kg CO2 per kg of cement formed. However, it is the glue that enables concrete, which is ubiquitous in urban life. To reduce CO2 emission evolving during Portland clinker production, it can be replaced in part by supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Although the most common ones, fly ash and slag, have limited availability, urban demolition and mineral deposit quarries can be found everywhere, and these contain high percentages of potential SCMs. By developing mechanical and thermal treatment procedures to destabilize the pozzolanic-active phases, we can reactivate these zero-value remnants. We reduce the introduction of new raw materials sources into the value-chain of cement production, the CO2 emission, and the energy consumption, as well as reduce the adverse environmental impact of landfill contributions. The key innovation in RECEMENT is developing the re-generation of high SCM-content EOL materials, while the main objective is to replace at least 30% of the Portland clinker in cement with re-generated SCMs. We aim to produce recipes for re-generated cement blends in mortar with equivalent performance and durability. The team responsible for this interdisciplinary project has precisely the broad range of expertise for realizing the engineering of cement—geochemical and mineralogical understanding of reject materials and advanced (in-situ) structure-chemistry characterization of pozzolanic reaction pathways and their final products. The output of RECEMENT is foreseen to have a high impact as a paradigm for transforming locally sourced end-of-life materials into remanufactured cement, i.e. from a linear into a circular concrete economy.
Network	ERA-MIN 2
Call	ERA-MIN Joint Call 2018

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	University Politehnica from Bucharest	Partner	Romania
2	University of Ljubljana	Partner	Slovenia
3	Jozef Stefan Institute	Partner	Slovenia
4	Sabanci University	Coordinator	Türkiye