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Description
This project aims at the industrial development and promotion of multiple products / materials with a high degree of incorporation of waste from the construction and steel industry sectors. i) the development of industrial technology for structural concrete and bituminous concrete with incorporation of residues; ii) systematic models for the recovery of waste in a business environment, and its transition to the market. It is intended to contribute to a high degree of recovery of CDW, through its incorporation (up to 35%) in the development of structural and bituminous concrete and for the increase and promotion of the use of secondary raw materials, namely, with a high degree of incorporation (up to 75%) of Inert Steel Aggregate for Construction.
Summary of project results
This project aims to develop the industrial sector and to promote multiple products / materials with a high degree of incorporation of waste from the construction and steel industry sectors. Most of the construction companies'' operations rely on the use of structural and bituminous concrete, which in part is due to the large scale production of the sector, has an intensive use of raw materials and energy resources, as well as the dubious distinction of being one of the biggest contributors to CO2 emissions. Therefore, this project aims to contribute to a radical increase in the sustainability of the
construction sector, through a paradigm shift in the implementation of the principles of circular economy, based on the following activity: i) development of industrial technology for structural concrete and bituminous concrete with waste incorporation; (ii) systematic models for the recovery of waste in a business environment and its transition to the market.
The objective of the project involves the industrial development of products with large-scale incorporation of RCD and waste from the steel industry. The structure is based on the following activities: Activity 1 / Project Management comprised the technical and financial management of the project. In Activity 2, state-of-the-art technical, environmental and economic performance, including existing Requirements and Regulations, for structural concrete and bituminous concrete, including both recycled CDW aggregates or artificial aggregates of ASIC. This work supported the definitions of the requirements and technical specifications to be met by the aggregates in activities 2.3 and 2.4. These activities were developed iteratively with Activities 3 and 4 to continually update the requirements and specifications of the former to the results of the latter. Demonstration and production of prototypes incorporating recycled aggregates from CDW were carried out in Activity 3, which started with the production of these aggregates. These were characterized by appropriate trials according to the requirements defined in activity 2 and incorporated into BE and BB. These were studied to allow their production and industrial scalability, and their characteristics were defined through mechanical and rheological tests. Finally, prototypes of BE and BB were built with incorporation of recycled RCD aggregates in some construction works that DST is currently running. Activity 4 encompasses the necessary procedures for the design of industrial scale prototypes with the products to be developed. Industrial research activities were done, which systematically allowed the development / adaptation of BE and BB formulations according to the technical specifications defined in Activity 2, as well as the optimization of the incorporation of residues (over 80%) of the steel industry, ie ASIC. The formulation optimization procedure for industrial use was carried out on the basis of expedited experimental tests, in particular for the main rheological and mechanical properties to be achieved. The evaluation and performance of optimized BE and BB formulations as industrial products was characterized by: i) mechanical behaviour and the main deferred phenomena; ii) durability; iii) ecotoxicological and environmental properties; iv) validation of structural behaviour through pilot prototypes / experimental sections, while subjected to actual conditions of service and exposure to degradation agents. In Activity 5 the complete environmental life cycle study of the multiple products was carried out in accordance with the international standards applied to the construction sector. In addition, the cost cycle analysis of said products was performed based on the fundamentals of circular economy. A full study was carried out with a view to obtaining the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) according to EN 15804: 2012 + A1: 2013, as well as the development of the Circularity Passports of the developed products. The activity culminated with an environmental, economic and social analysis of solutions developed compared to conventional solutions available on the market. Activity 6 was the promotion and dissemination of project results through the publication of technical articles, participation in committees, technical-scientific conferences and national/international dissemination events in the sector. This activity included the development of the project-specific website, allowing for a wider dissemination of the solutions to be developed. The results obtained in the project were presented in a final public seminar.
This project presented a high innovative character for circularity in the construction sector, presenting a high degree of valorization of CDW in higher value applications, namely in concrete and bituminous concrete, and an increase and promotion of the use of high-grade raw materials incorporation of EAF SSA. It was possible to demonstrate the industrial viability of these products, as well as understand the necessary adjustments in industrial units for their production.
The project contributed to increasing efficiency in the use of resources in the construction sector (Output 1.4) by developing innovative solutions, which include structural concrete with recycled RCD aggregates; structural concrete with EAF SSA; bituminous concrete with recycled RCD aggregates; and bituminous concrete with EAF SSA.
As this is a pilot project in this area, the project activities will continue beyond its execution period, namely state-of-the-art report and requirements and technical specifications developed in activity 2. With this report, several companies, at the nationally and beyond, they will have access to more complete information on the use of the materials studied within the scope of this project.
By testing the products on an industrial scale, the project demonstrated the industrial viability of these products and defined the necessary adjustments in the industrial units for their production.
These contributions will make it possible, at national level, to achieve higher goals for the valorization of RCD and the promotion of secondary raw materials in more noble applications than those currently occurring in Portugal.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner - NTNU - actively participated in the Environmental and economic LCA analysis of the recycled aggregates from CDW and of the prototypes in concrete and in bituminous mixtures with incorporation of recycled aggregates from CDW and with EAF Slag aggregates, and in the Development of environmental labels for recycled aggregates from CDW and for the prototypes in concrete and bituminous mixtures - Type III Environmental Product Declarations.