Seawater Mixed with One Part Alkali Activated Material: An Environmental and Cost Evaluation

oleh: Xiaoyu Li, Huiyang Liu, Jinxin Xing, Min Gan, Zhiyun Ji, Xiaohui Fan, Zengqing Sun

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-08-01

Deskripsi

Concrete production is associated with extensive energy consumption and significant CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. In addition, tremendous amounts of freshwater are used as a mixing agent. Urgency is increasing to develop sustainable cementitious materials and promote freshwater-saving strategies. An environmentally friendly alternative binder, seawater mixed with one part alkali activated material, is studied. In this work, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment was applied to study the equivalent CO<sub>2</sub> emission and cost properties of the clinker-free binder. The seawater mixed mortar possesses comparable mechanical properties to Portland cement, with 3 d flexural and compressive strengths of 5.3 MPa and 25.2 MPa. In addition, the mortar developed in this work is of similar cost as commercial cement, but reduces CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 44.8%.