Greening the construction industry: enhancing the performance of cements by adding bioglycerol.
The addition of glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel manufacturing, to cement eases its grinding and handling while considerably enhancing the strength of the resulting concrete. The benefits of using bioglycerol are significant both for the environment and for the concrete and biodiesel industries. The advantages for industry derive from having a single, readily available material that offers all three major technical improvements required of cement additives, namely enhanced concrete strength, and grinding and handling aids for cement, while the environmental impact is eased by using bioglycerol instead of ethylene glycol and hydroxyamines that are presently used as major components of cement additives.
Rossi
Michele
M
Dipartimento di Chimica Inorganica, Metallorganica e Analitica, Università degli Studi di Milano via Venezian 21, 20133 Milano, MI, Italy. michele.rossi@unimi.it
Della Pina
Cristina
C
Pagliaro
Mario
M
Ciriminna
Rosaria
R
Forni
Paolo
P
D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D019245:Compressive Strength; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000592:standards; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry*; D007221:Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D008422:Materials Testing; D010316:Particle Size
D005990:Glycerol