| Abstract Scope |
Presumably, the Athenians of ancient Greece did not ask permission from other civilizations at that time on using marble for the Parthenon, and the same is probably true also for the Romans later on, when they built the Pantheon and the Colosseum, all buildings (and so many more) still standing. The use of cement nowadays is a different paradigm, as the typical cement globally is a Ca-rich formulation with well-defined crystal phases. The development of blended cements is already providing more options, where other materials can be employed often leading to better performance. Still, development of a new binder is associated almost by default with skepticism and a priori doubts, if not for the performance itself, then for the possibility to really deliver the more than 4 billion tons of cement used globally, or for the durability of this new material. All fair arguments, but an honest assessment will reveal that we do have formulations with proven performance and durability, at least for certain envisaged applications. As for the question on meeting the global demand, it is probably part of the problem itself: cements do not have to be the same for all. The “alternative” cements can be equally good, or better, with respect to performance and can be also more sustainable. With all the above as guiding principles, three binders and three precast, end-products, are presented, where the Extraordinary Leuven Cement, ELCE, is used. Next to the final products, the pilot-plan production is presented and in particular our choices to develop a simple, yet flexible and robust process. Inspiration on particular unit operations comes from the mining sector, metallurgy, ceramics, and other fields. This process is now housed in bespoke containers and can be demonstrated locally, with the hope to educate (and motivate) individuals and society to pursue alternative, more sustainable, solutions. |