Researches in the field of civil engineering are focusing on

green concrete with unusual type of aggregates MIKE JABBOUR

CONCRETE WITH WASTE GLASS AGGREGATES … THE INNOVATIVE GREEN SOLUTION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

WASTE GLASS AGGREGATES CONCRETE FAST GROWING IMPACT

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONCRETE WITH WASTE GLASS AGGREGATES

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Researches in the field of civil engineering are focusing on an new type of lightweight aggregates with expanded glass granules made from waste glass is being used

Cement and glass industries are facing a lot of challenges due to the high greenhouse gases emissions, the intensive use of energy and the intensive use of the earth’s natural resources. The current situation of discarding waste glass to landfills is also not offering an environmental friendly management for the waste glass, due to the no biodegradable form of the waste glass. However, the chemical composition and the pouzzolanic properties of waste glass are encouraging for the use of this waste in the cement and concrete industries and to provide an environmental friendly solution for the glass and cement industries. This paper reviews the different uses of waste glass in cement and concrete and the effect of the glass properties on the performance and durability of the produce cement and concrete

Lightweight concrete has become a popular construction material because of several advantages it holds over conventional concrete. Lightweight concrete is characterized by good compressive strength, durability and the most important advantages – low density and improved properties of thermal conductivity. Typical lightweight concrete aggregates are expanded clay or shale, natural porous materials like vermiculite or pumice.

THE NEED TO REUSE GLASS WASTES Glass waste is representing urgent environmental problems allover the world

The best solution to overcome over the environmental impact of these glass wastes is to reuse them. Recycling of these wastes will help to conserve the earth’s natural resources, minimizes the landfills spaces and saves energy and money

A lot of challenges are facing the cement industry these days such as the increase in the cost of fuels and energy, the necessities to reduce the huge amount of greenhouse gases emission especially the CO2 emission and the high cost of the raw materials and the supply of theses raw materials in sufficient quantities and qualities.

CEMENT INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

In this context, the field of construction has seen its sustainable and environmental effects increase dramatically in the past years and reach the point where the need for an innovative tool like glass aggregates concrete to replace traditional concrete is vital.

WASTE GLASS AGGREGATES CONCRETE FAST GROWING IMPACT

YearRecyclingVolume

2004 157,5352005 149,8452006 166,2492007 197,8392008 194,6942009 207,6962010 211,6112011 238,3342012 221,5702013 222,5112014 227,743

Recycling Volume of Waste Glass Containers over Recent 10Years.

Units Tons . Source (recycle.epa.gov.tw)

The fears from the Alkali-Silica reaction can be solved by several method like the Coating it with zirconium (a solution chosen by the glass fiber industry, but impractical for post-consumer waste glass) or by sealing the concrete to protect it from moisture, either on a micro- or component level because ASR needs three factors to thrive: alkali, silica, and moisture. 

Studies on the use of different forms of glass as aggregate (quartz, opal, fiber glass and glass) with cement showed concerns related to the Alkali -Silica reaction (ASR).

This destructive reaction is the number one obstacle against the potential use of waste glass aggregates.

Concerns about using waste glass as an aggregate

Concrete made up with glass as an aggregate has a lower absorption rate for water than sand. These properties make waste glass an interesting material to be used as an aggregate in the production of concrete.

Waste Glass as an aggregate in Concrete

Because of the concern of the environmental impact of waste glass, a lot of studies have been done recently for the use of waste glass as aggregate in concrete.

These studies investigated the properties of the waste glass aggregate and tried to find the optimum percentage of waste glass that can be used as aggregate without any effect on the properties of the produced concrete.

Concrete Industry is under pressure to find a sustainable eco-friendly concrete

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONCRETE WITH WASTE GLASS AGGREGATES

Large quantities of the solid waste that can be used in the manufacture of cement and concrete are still discarded to landfills. The non biodegradable structure of glass makes the discarding of this waste to landfills a bad solution, while the cement and concrete industry can provide an environmental friendly waste management for the glass waste.

Physical properties of waste glass and sand. Source Z.Z. Ismail, E.A. Al-Hashmi, Recycling of waste glass as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in concrete, Waste Management (New York, N.Y.) 29 (2009) 655–659,

Different studies have been done to investigate the optimum percentage of waste glass that can be used as a partial replacement to cement to produce concrete.

The experimental results showed that the compressive strength of the waste glass concrete was less than that without waste glass.

The ASR expansion test results showed that the ASR expansion decreased with increasing the percentage of waste glass powder because the pouzzolanic reaction of the glass powder consumed the alkali hydroxide concentration and the CH of the concrete mixture. The researchers concluded that 30% replacement of cement by glass waste is required to reduce the ASR expansion below 0.1%.

The percentage of waste glass replacement

Technical advantages

This type of lightweight concrete provides low density, which reduces dead loads in constructions and good thermal conductivity, which allows using it in building envelope elements as effective thermal insulation and load bearing material.

Because it has basically zero water absorption, it is one of the most durable materials . With the current emphasis on durability of high-performance concrete,it is only natural to rely on extremely durable ingredients.

Lightweight concrete made from glass granules is one of the latest types of concrete made by incorporating the glass granules into the cement paste matrix which could be used as an insulation material with marginally low thermal conductivity and the strength of concrete could vary due to the chosen concrete mixture.

For a number of reasons, glass aggregate improves the flow properties of fresh concrete so that very high strengths can be obtained even without the use of superplasticizers.

The excellent hardness of glass gives the concrete an abrasion resistance that can be reached only with few natural stone aggregates or the addition of metallic fines

Strength development of mortar with WGS and FA.(FA refers to fluy ash) and WGS to waste glass. Source “Waste glass sludge as a partial cement replacement in mortar”

Economical advantages

The application of this type of concrete in construction reduces building costs, eases construction and contributes in a big way into the process of introducing ‘green’ building materials in nowadays civil engineering projects.  

The amount of waste glass is gradually increased over the years due to an ever-growing use of glass products. Most of the waste glasses have been dumped into landfill sites which are undesirable because they are not biodegradable, which makes them environmentally less friendly. Due to this there is huge potential for using waste glass in the concrete construction sector.

The use of recycled glass in concrete opens a vast new market for mixed as well as color sorted broken glass in a variety of specialty products or in local concrete operations.

The aesthetic potential of color-sorted glass, not to mention specialty glass, has barely been explored at all and offers numerous novel applications.

Some experts argue that the cost of the glass aggregates concrete is higher than the expected or estimated cost. This is due to the amount of work needed while the recycling and incorporating glass into the concrete mix which are not traditional methods and needs some specific equipment. 

This innovation can face difficulties

Time is an important and vital factor while building a new project. This type of "green concrete" needs more tasks in order to be incorporated and used smoothly in a construction site. All this will increase the period of preparation , execution and delivery of the project. 

The ASR (Alkali-Silica-Reaction) considered one of the most aggressive types of "concrete pathology" that can appear due to the use of glass aggregates. The consequences of such a reaction can lead to excessive deformations and loss in resistance as well as durability and stability.

CONCLUSION

For many years, the concrete and civil engineering management industry has struggled with the

problem of finding and using a new type of concrete that can be given the name of  "green concrete". 

Recent research has made it possible to use glass as aggregate in

concrete, either in commodity products, with the only objective being to utilize as much glass as possible,

or in value-added products that make full use of the physical and aesthetic properties of color-sorted

crushed glass. The potential  applications are still limited but it is expected that commercial

production of specialty glass concrete products will have a major impact on the future of the

civil engineering and construction industry. This innovation will lead to a big contribution to a more

environmental ecological system.

MIKE JABBOUR

Innovative Concrete Technologymike.k.jabbour@gmail.com

http://fr.linkedin.com/in/mikejabbourhttps://fr.linkedin.com/in/mikejabbour

• Z.Z. Ismail, E.A. Al-Hashmi. Recycling of waste glass as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in concrete, Waste Management (New York, N.Y.) 29 (2009) 655–659, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2008.08.012. 18848773.“

• Jani,Y , Hogland,W (September 2014). Waste Glass in the production of cement and concrete-A review. ARTICLE in JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261103380

• Khatib,J, Negim,E-S (January 2012). Effect of Incorporating Foamed Glass on the Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams. ARTICLE in WORLD APPLIED SCIENCES JOURNAL. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235913616

• Kim,J , Yi,C, Zi,G (January 2015). Waste glass sludge as a partial cement replacement in. ARTICLE in CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273775168.

• A. Shayan, Value-added utilization of waste glass in concrete, IABSE Symposium, Melbourne, 2002, pp. 1–11.

• S.B. Park, B.C. Lee, J.H. Kim, Studies on mechanical properties of concrete containing waste glass aggregate, Cement and Concrete Research 34 (2004) 2181–2189, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2004.02.006.

• A. Shayan, A. Xu, Performance of glass powder as a pozzolanic material in concrete: a field trial on concrete slabs, Cement and Concrete Research 36 (2006) 457–468, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2005.12.012.

• R.G. Pike, D. Hubbard, Physicochemical studies of the destructive alkaliaggregate reaction in concrete, Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards 59 (2) (1957) 127–132, http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/jres.059.013.

BIBLIOGRAPHY