“Toss one grenade into your concrete truck per yard of concrete enclosed and your concrete will have all of the migrating corrosion inhibitors needed,” says Jon Connealy, central region sales manager for MCI.

He said the grenades are a good “backup plan” for ready-mix providers who experience unexpected liquid admixture dosing challenges, such as a ready-mixer’s dispensing unit pump becoming blocked or not enough liquid corrosion inhibitors being available on the day of placement.

CarbonCure injects carbon dioxide into the concrete mix and mineralizes it.
Photo courtesy CarbonCure

More SCM Production

Solidia Technologies is ramping up production of its proprietary supplementary cementitious material with the activation of a pilot line for production at the company’s headquarters facility in San Antonio, Texas. The now-operational line will increase Solidia’s production capacity of SCM material 25-fold, Solidia said in a statement.

Solidia says its SCM is able to mineralizes waste CO₂, and can replace 35% to 50% of portland cement in a mix, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also improving the concrete’s strength, durability, and workability. The pilot line is optimized to ensure consistent quality and high performance, the company says.

“We are now shipping significant quantities of Solidia SCM to ready-mix concrete producers, transportation agencies, and contractors to qualify and trial our material,” says Pradeep Ghosh, Solidia’s senior director of strategy and business development. “The lab testing and field trials these organizations will conduct will help ensure our material meets the highest performance requirements for infrastructure applications as well as the individual sustainability needs of each department.”

He also said the new line will help ready-mix concrete producers address shortages of traditional SCM sources, such as coal fly ash.

Solidia’s new production facility will increase its production capacity for SCM.
Photo courtesy Solidia

AASHTO Approves CarbonCure

CarbonCure Technologies said Oct. 2, that ready-mix concrete made with its capture carbon technology is now compliant with the standards of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as an admixture.

The evaluation of CarbonCure concrete was performed by SGS TEC Services, an independent, accredited laboratory in Lawrenceville, Ga., following the patented, proprietary products testing protocol managed by AASHTO Product Evaluation and Audit Solutions. The concrete batching took place at Thomas Concrete’s facility in Doraville, Ga. The AASHTO testing program focused on the effect of injecting CO₂ into concrete.

The concrete properties of three control mixtures and three CarbonCure mixtures were tested in accordance with the AASHTO M194 (ASTM C494) standard by an independent laboratory, evaluating slump, temperature, density, yield, air content, compressive strength, flexural strength and resistance to rapid freezing and thawing.

“This prestigious AASHTO validation underscores CarbonCure’s effectiveness and reliability, opening doors for its widespread adoption in highway and transportation projects across the United States,” CarbonCure CEO Robert Niven said.

Five state departments of transportation have since accepted CarbonCure.