Geopolymer binders – Part 3: Ecological and economic analyses of geopolymer concrete mixes for external structural elements

1 Comparison of the minimum and maximum costs of the geopolymer and CEM I concretes • Vergleich der minimalen und maximalen Kosten der Geopolymer- und CEM I-Betone

2 Percentage contribution of the individual components to the raw material costs. The aggregate costs shown are possibly too high (cf. footnote 4) • Anteil der einzelnen Komponenten an den Rohstoffkosten. Kosten für die Gesteinskörnung sind ggf. überhöht dargestellt (vgl. Fußnote 4)

3 System boundaries for the production of geopolymer concrete and CEM I concrete • Systemgrenzen der Herstellung von Geopolymer- und CEM I-Beton

4 Comparison of the geopolymer concretes with the reference cement concrete • Vergleich der Geopolymer-Betone mit dem Referenz-Zementbeton

5 Contribution of the upstream processes to the global warming potential indicator GWP • Anteil der Vorkettenprozesse am Treibhauspotential-Indikator GWP

6 Compressive strength development of the concretes after 7, 28 and 90 days • Druckfestigkeitsentwicklung nach 7, 28 und 90 Tagen der Betone

7 Results of the freeze-thaw testing without and with de-icing salt by the CDF Test, H: water as the test medium, N: NaCl solution as the test medium • Ergebnisse der Frost-Tau- und Frost-Tausalz-Prüfung mittels CDF-Test, H: Wasser als Prüfmedium, N: NaCl-Lösung als Prüfmedium

8 Environmental profiles of the concretes under investigation. MI-5 before and MI-6 after the optimization • Umweltprofile der untersuchten Betone. MI-5 vor, MI-6 nach der Optimierung

Applications for geopolymers • Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Geopolymeren

Summary: Geopolymers are a technologically interesting group of materials that are already being used in various niche applications. The test results shown here also demonstrate the technical capabilities of this group of materials in potential bulk applications, such as concrete. When compared with cement-based concrete systems it can comply with technical and economic requirements (or even exceed them) and also reduce the environmental impact.

1 Background

The development of alternative binders is currently experiencing a renaissance. The reasons for this are partly the rising costs of primary raw materials (and their regional scarcity) and partly also a growing awareness of environmental problems. Widely varying pressures can be observed on the environmental side. Because of emissions trading there is much emphasis in the leading industrial nations on the reduction of CO₂ emissions during the production of cements. In addition to this the emergent industrial nations, such as India and China, have not yet developed any adequate ways...