PROCESS FOR OBTAINING CAO-MGO BINDERS AND CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS WITH REUSE OF SUBPRODUCTS AND/OR RESIDUES AND ABSORPTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE

Abstract

The present invention is related to the process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders and construction products, with reuse of subproducts and/or residues and carbon dioxide, by compression molding (6). The binders are produced by crushing and grinding. The process of manufacturing the products consists of mixing binders and subproducts and/or residues with residual non-potable water (5), and curing this mixture with carbon dioxide (7), under constant humidity, temperature and pressure conditions. The process of hardening is carried out by recirculating carbon dioxide in a closed circuit, followed by drying of the products (12). The subproducts and/or residues contain calcium and magnesium and may be slag from the steel manufacturing industry or sand and mud resulting from the pulp, paper and cardboard production industry. The construction products may include other residues and materials containing silica and aluminum.

Claims

1. A process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders and construction products, comprising: reusing subproducts and/or residues; and curing and hardening the subproducts and/or residues, wherein the curing and hardening is done with absorption of carbon dioxide.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the subproducts and/or residues are rich in calcium and magnesium.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the curing and hardening is done in ambient conditions of constant humidity, temperature and pressure.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the binders are obtained by crushing and grinding.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein the construction products are obtained by mixing the binders with subproducts and/or residues having different granulometry.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein the products are obtained by mixing with residual non-potable water.

7. The process of claim 1, wherein the construction products include additives such as alcohol, sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein the construction products include other residues and materials containing silica and aluminum.

9. The process of claim 1, wherein the construction products are obtained by compression molding.

10. The process of claim 1, wherein the curing and hardening process is done with a system of recirculation of carbon dioxide in a closed circuit.

11. The process of claim 1, wherein the process of producing CaO—MgO binders is characterized by the following steps: a) crushing and fine grinding of the subproducts and/or residues; b) separating and sifting of the subproducts and/or residues with a size less than 250 μm; c) adding to the CaO—MgO binders of other fine residues, silica and aluminum-rich materials and/or Portland cement; and d) adding sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride or alcohol to the CaO—MgO binders.

12. The process of claim 1, wherein the process of producing construction products is characterized by the following steps: a) mixing CaO—MgO binders, with additives, with subproducts and/or residues with different granulometry, and with residual non-potable water; b) placing the mixture in compression molding equipment for obtaining products with a certain shape; c) placing the compacted products in a curing and hardening system with recirculation of carbon dioxide, under constant humidity, temperature and pressure conditions; and d) Drying of the compacted products after hardening.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Ahead is a detailed description of the drawings relating to the process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders and construction products with reuse of subproducts and/or residues, with absorption of carbon dioxide.

[0019] FIG. 1: Schematic representation of the general process of obtaining construction products with reuse of subproducts and/or residues and absorption of carbon dioxide.

[0020] Wherein (5) represents a dosage and mixture of binders and residues and/or subproducts with different granulometry, with different traces, and with non-potable water in varying amounts.

[0021] Wherein (6) represents the process of molding and compression of the mixture, for example by vibro-compression, for obtaining a certain product.

[0022] Wherein (7) represents the curing and hardening system with absorption of carbon dioxide of the molded and compacted products.

[0023] Wherein (12) represents the step of drying the compacted product after hardening.

[0024] FIG. 2: Schematic representation of the process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders with reuse of subproducts and/or residues

[0025] Wherein (1) represents the step of crushing and fine grinding of the subproducts and/or residues rich in calcium and magnesium.

[0026] Wherein (2) represents the step of separation and sifting the ground particles (less than 250 μm) of the subproducts and/or residues.

[0027] Wherein (3) represents the process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders additivated with other fine residues and rich in silica and aluminum materials and/or Portland cement.

[0028] Wherein (4) represents the process of obtaining CaO—MgO binders additivated with sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride or alcohol.

[0029] FIG. 3: Schematic representation of the procedures for obtaining different products (e.g. blocks, kerbstones, bricks) with different dosages/traces of mixtures.

[0030] Wherein (5) represents a dosage and mixture of CaO—MgO binders (simples or additivated) with residues and/or subproducts with different granulometry, for different dosages/traces, and with non-potable water in varying amounts.

[0031] Wherein (6) represents the process of compression molding of the mixture, for example, by vibro-compression, for obtaining a certain product.

[0032] FIG. 4: Schematic representation of the curing and hardening system with recirculation of carbon dioxide.

[0033] Wherein (8) represents the placement of compacted products into a curing chamber.

[0034] Wherein (9) represents the step of removing the existing air and injecting carbon dioxide into the curing chamber.

[0035] Wherein (10) represents maintaining the constancy of the humidity, temperature and pressure conditions, in the curing system, during the hardening time.

[0036] Wherein (11) represents the step of removal and storage in a secondary reservoir of the carbon dioxide existing in the curing chamber and injection of outer air.

[0037] Wherein (12) represents the step of drying the compacted product after hardening.

[0038] FIG. 5: Example of a typical result of the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy assay with attenuated total reflectance (FITR-ATR), relating to a sample of CaO—MgO binder, before and after the hardening by absorption of carbon dioxide. Wherein the absorbance peaks, relating from the C—O bonds, of the wave number 875 cm.sup.−1 and of the interval of wave numbers between 1399-1418 cm.sup.−1, show the formation of calcium carbonates (CaCO.sub.3). And the absorbance peaks relating to the Si—O bonds, of the interval of wave numbers between 995-1000 cm.sup.−1, show the formation of hydrated calcium silicates (C—S—H).

[0039] FIG. 6: Average results of compression resistance assays (presented in MPa) carried out on test bodies produced with mixtures of CaO—MgO binders and non-potable water, with different additives (alcohol, sodium chloride and crushed glass). Wherein the results with CaO—MgO binders (obtained in the following conditions: maximum diameter of the particles of CaO—MgO binder=45 μm; non-potable water/CaO—MgO binder ratio=0.1; Static compression pressure of 30 MPa, Curing and hardening temperature of 60° C.; Carbon dioxide pressure of 2.5 Bar; Concentration of CO.sub.2=100%; Hardening time=24 hours; Dosage of alcohol=10% substitution of non-potable water; NaCl content=20 g/L; Dosage of crushed glass=5% of the total mass of CaO—MgO binder) are compared with the average result of compression with equivalent mixture of Portland cement type I of class 32.5 (obtained in the following conditions: water/cement ratio=0.45; Curing time=28 days).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] The detailed process of obtaining binders and construction products with reuse of subproducts and/or residues, with absorption of carbon dioxide, consists of the steps and procedures set out ahead in subsections a) to g). The sequence of subsection a), b) or a), c) or a), d) constitutes the sequence of steps needed to obtain CaO—MgO binders and CaO—MgO binders with additives. The sequence of subsection e), f), g) constitutes the sequence of steps needed to obtain construction products with reuse of subproducts and/or residues, with absorption of carbon dioxide.

[0041] a) Crushing and fine grinding of the subproducts and/or residues and separation and sifting of the subproducts and/or residues with size less than 250 μm for obtaining CaO—MgO simple binders;

[0042] Initially, to obtain CaO—MgO binders the sub-product and/or residue (namely the sub-product and industrial residue), rich in calcium or magnesium, can be crushed and ground. The purpose of crushing and grinding is to make its particles finer, with a size less than 250 μm, which may be separated by sifting to be used as binder, because being finer they have greater reactivity to the carbon dioxide, given their high specific surface. The processes of crushing, grinding or pulverization can be carried out with any equipment having such purpose. The portion of particles larger than 250 μm will be used, subsequently, as aggregate of the mixtures to obtain products.

[0043] b) Addition of additives to the CaO—MgO binders, namely other fine residues and/or silica and aluminum-rich materials and/or Portland cement;

[0044] c) Addition of additives to the CaO—MgO binders, namely sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride or alcohol;

[0045] d) Mixture of CaO—MgO binders with subproducts and/or residues with different granulometry and residual non-potable water.

[0046] After grinding and sifting, the sub-product and/or residue that will be used as CaO—MgO binder, be it a single sub-product and/or residue, or mixture of subproducts and/or residues, can also be mixed with additives, with the objective of increasing the mechanical resistance of the end product. Preferably, the mixture of additives should be made directly with the binder prior to combining it with non-potable water, so as to increase the homogenous dispersion thereof in the mixture. Alternatively, additives can be combined after mixing the CaO—MgO binder with non-potable water.

[0047] The additives can be fine residues and/or silica and aluminum-rich materials and/or Portland cement. The additives may also be sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride or alcohol.

[0048] The maximum percentage in mass of powder additives is 40% of the mass of the CaO—MgO binder in dry state, the recommended addition percentage being under 10% for improved performance in terms of mechanical resistance. The glass recycled from bottles, after fine grinding, is an example of an additive material, rich in silica and aluminum, which can be added to the binders.

[0049] The maximum quantity of additives can also be determined by concentration of grams of additive per liter of non-potable water. In this case, the maximum dosage of sodium chloride should be less than 50 g/L, the maximum dosage of sodium bicarbonate should be less than 10 g/L, and the maximum dosage of alcohol should be less than 300 g/L.

[0050] To obtain construction products, which after molding harden with carbon dioxide, mixtures are produced with CaO—MgO binders (plain or with additives) and subproducts and/or residues, with different granulometry, and with residual non-potable water, in different dosages. The non-potable water may come from effluents of residues, domestic effluents that are impossible or unfeasible to treat, salt water (from the sea) or from polluted rivers that are impossible or unfeasible to treat to obtain potable water.

[0051] e) Placement of the mixture in compression molding equipment for obtaining a certain construction product.

[0052] After completing the mixtures from pre-determined traces depending on the end product, the mixtures should be molded and compacted to obtain products with a certain shape, with compression pressure, vibro-compression or, with a minimum value of 10 MPa of pressure, the value of 25 MPa being recommended as most efficient compression pressure.

[0053] f) Placement of the compacted product in a curing and hardening process in a system with recirculation of carbon dioxide, under constant humidity, temperature and pressure conditions.

[0054] The curing and hardening of the compacted products is carried out in a closed circuit with recirculation of carbon dioxide, under constant humidity, temperature and pressure conditions. Soon after placing the compacted products inside the curing chamber, the existing air will be withdrawn and carbon dioxide inflated into the inside. Initially, carbon dioxide from the secondary reservoir of the circuit will be inflated until an equilibrium pressure between 0.5 and 1 bar is attained. Thereafter, carbon dioxide coming from the main reservoir will be inflated, keeping a constant pressure, throughout the hardening period, between 0.5 and 2.5 bar, so as to maximize the absorption of carbon dioxide by the compacted products. Besides the constant pressure, throughout the curing and hardening period, humidity and temperature conditions will be kept constant inside the curing chamber, namely relative humidity between 40-100%, preferably 70%; and air temperature between 30 and 70° Celsius, preferably 60° Celsius. Once the curing period has finished, the carbon dioxide existing in the curing chamber will be removed, by suction system, to inside the secondary reservoir. And, subsequently, the air from the atmospheric environment will be inflated to inside the curing chamber, until an equilibrium pressure between 0.5 and 1 bar is attained again. Under these conditions, the hardened products are withdrawn from inside the curing chamber.

[0055] g) Drying the compacted product after hardening.

[0056] After curing and hardening, the products undergo a drying process, in a ventilated environment, with drying temperatures between 30 and 70° Celsius, for a minimum period of 12 hours, so as to obtain increased resistance to compression.

[0057] Examples of Application

[0058] The process of obtaining binders and construction products with reuse of subproducts and/or residues that harden with the absorption of carbon dioxide can be applied through the cement and concrete articles industry, and construction and structural elements, partially or fully replacing them, such as, for example, in the industry of street furniture, artifacts made of pre-stressed elements (pre-stressed beams, power poles), heavy prefabrication (such as architectural panels, galleries, boxes), building blocks (structural blocks, light blocks, thermal blocks), fungiform formwork blocks and flooring blocks, kerbstones, bricks and pavements, sanitation and boxes, and others.

[0059] Preferably, this process can be applied in the artifacts industry and pre-fabricated constructive elements produced by vibro-compression, such as blocks, kerbstones, tubes, bricks and pavements.

[0060] Put otherwise, this process is susceptible to be implemented in any industry of artifacts and constructive elements of cement and pre-fabrication produced by vibro-compression, simply by replacing the mixtures of cement, natural aggregates and water, by mixture of subproducts and/or residues and residual non-potable water and adapting the humid curing chambers existing in this type of industry, by chambers with recirculation of carbon dioxide in a closed circuit, with controlled temperature, humidity and pressure.

[0061] The binders and products obtained with this technology has mechanical resistance and superior fire resistance to equivalent construction products obtained with Portland cement. Additionally, the time needed for total hardening of the products obtained, is ten times lower than the time required for hardening equivalent construction products produced with Portland cement. Therefore, this technology is also useful for accelerating the process of production of construction materials.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

[0062] Humbert, P. S., & Castro-Gomes, J. P. (2018). Aglomerante livre de cimento ativado por dióxido de carbono. In CLB-MCS 2018-3o Congresso Luso-Brasileiro Materiais de Construção Sustentáveis Coimbra, February 14-16 (pp. 14-16). [0063] Shao, Y., Mahoutian, M., & Ghouleh, Z. (2017). Carbonate-bonded construction products from steel-making residues and method for making the same. US2017/0073270A1. United States.