Research & Innovation

CAMP Professor Neithalath Studies the Use of Non-Standard Waste and Recycled Materials in Concrete

Professor Narayanan Neithalath, of Clarkson's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is investigating the use of waste and byproduct materials in concrete construction. Concrete is the most important infrastructural material that is used for roads, bridges, and buildings. Currently 12 billion metric tons of concrete are used each year. This places an enormous strain on the natural resources since all the concrete ingredients are mined from nature.

In addition, the production of Portland cement is responsible for a share of the global carbon dioxide emissions. Hence, the best possible way to reduce the impact of concrete production on the environment is to incorporate large amounts of waste and recycled materials in concrete. Sustainable technologies like the use of industrial wastes such as fly ash and blast furnace slag, and recycling old concrete as aggregates in new concrete are being practiced extensively.

The research at Clarkson about sustainable concrete materials focused on the use of non-standard secondary cementing materials for concrete like fine glass powder and high carbon fly ash or filler materials like limestone powder that have the potential to replace a portion of cement in concrete. This results in a concrete that is more "green," and economical.

With funding from the Environmental Services Unit of the Empire State Development, NYSERDA, and NYSTAR, research at Clarkson has focused on development, characterization, and optimization of concretes including these secondary cementing and filler materials. The project on the utilization of fine glass powder has resulted in the development of concrete mixture proportions to be used by local concrete and block manufacturers.

This work was selected by the National Ready Mix Concrete Association to be featured in the fall 2008 issue of their Concrete InFocus magazine. A recent project awarded to Clarkson from the Metropolitan Development Authority (MDA) will explore the utilization of high carbon fly ash in concrete blocks manufactured by Taylor Concrete Products, Inc., a leading masonry producer in Northern New York.