Copyright - Carboclave

Next Generation Cement Products

Green and Resilient

ABOUT

Carboclave offers a green technology that employs CO2 for the enhanced manufacturing of prefab cement products 

Carboclave originally began as an initiative to find a safer, greener alternative to autoclave curing. The company was incorporated in 2016 after demonstrating a tier of successes in developing, validating, and scaling up a more sustainable technology that not only outperformed autoclaving but also all other conventional concrete curing methods.

Today, turnkey modular system installation and retrofit modifications are available to our customers.

Carboclave is headquartered in Kitchener, ON, Canada, with extended R&D facilities in Tonawanda, NY, USA

 
PARTNERS

Our strategic global partners play a key role in advancing our technology and its deployment worldwide

Praxair (a member of the Linde Group) is a leading global gas supplier. In addition to CO2 gas, Praxair also provides specially designed process control and safety systems used by the Carboclave technology. All CO2 used by the process is emission-sourced, ensuring true carbon diversion from the atmosphere. Praxair is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. 

Besser is a leader and longstanding producer of concrete manufacturing equipment and systems. Besser provides developmental, engineering, and installation support to all adopters of the Carboclave technology.

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TECHNOLOGY

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Process

The Carboclave process is a more sustainable alternative to concrete curing, where carbon dioxide is used in place of steam or mist. The technology is applicable to a wide variety of dry-cast and precast concrete products. The CO2 used by the process acts as an expediting and enhancing curing agent, resulting in rapid concrete hardening and strength gain. The reaction is highly exothermic and substantially accelerates the hydration of cement. The CO2 gas in turn is permanently sequestered in concrete as calcium-carbonate crystals intimately interlocked in the cement paste matrix.

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Product

Far from just serving as a storing medium, Carboclave products are stronger and more durable than equivalent benchmarks.
The precipitated calcium-carbonate crystals offer a sort of granular reinforcement to the hardened cement paste at the microstructural level, lending a densification effect that improves concrete’s overall mechanical and durability performances. Tangible reductions in porosity and permeability make Carboclave products less susceptible to damage from efflorescence, frost, sulphate attack, shrinkage, and foreign-ion ingress. Moreover, lower water absorption properties are generally linked to better service-life performance.

Improved chemical stability is mainly attributed to the replacement of calcium-hydroxide with the more thermodynamically stable calcium-carbonate crystals. Calcium-hydroxide is a major reaction product from cement hydration. Its is highly soluble and plays a role in several concrete damage mechanisms (including efflorescence, leaching, sulfate attack, ASR, and weak paste-to-aggregate bond).  
The high strength of these products allows for partial offset of cement content through direct content reductions and/or replacement by mineral additives. Moreover, Carboclave technology offers  complete aversion from steam.

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ADOPTION

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The technology presents an economic and environmental alternative to conventional curing, while also ensuring more resilient end-products. An adopter can eliminate the consumption of energy and water during curing since the use of steam is completely averted with the Carboclave process. Depending on certain parameters, further savings could be realized from the reduction of cement, with no compromise in meeting product performance criteria. 

The Carboclave process is a proven green technology offering the benefits of faster curing, high-performance products, reduced energy and fresh-water consumption, reduced manufacturing and material costs, and the diversion of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

The technology can be readily implemented as a retrofit modification to existing operations, or as a built-to-spec new installation, without incurring heavy non-recoverable capital costs. It is also deployable worldwide thanks to the help of our strategic partners Praxair and Besser. The process is delivered as a turnkey product with fully automated operation and safety protocols.

 

Adoption demonstrates a commitment to greener and more sustainable best-practices, and the opportunity to turn a plant into a net-negative carbon footprint operation. 

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Benefits to Adopter

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Inventory Cost Reduction

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High Performance Premium Products

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Cement Reduction

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Production & Material Cost Savings

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Net-negative Carbon Footprint Operation

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Scrap Reduction

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No Water & Energy During Curing

IMPACT

GHG emissions are a major global threat, necessitating immediate intervention and a collective effort to avoid irreversible environmental repercussions. Worldwide, approximately 40 Gtons of anthropogenic CO2 is emitted each year, with scientists irrefutably linking this activity to an unprecedented rapid rise in global average temperatures. The UNFCCC has identified that serious efforts need to be adopted globally to curb the rise in Global Mean Surface Temperature, which could reach a 1.5°C increase by 2050 and an alarming 2°C by 2100 at current emission rates.  

 

The preferable way to proceed in the future would be to have a symbiotic relationship between carbon sources and sinks, where captured CO2 from emission-intensive operations would be used as feedstock for concrete production. 

Governmental backing of carbon pricing schemes, like the Cap & Trade and Carbon Tax, has been ratified in 40+ countries. However, a commitment to move away from fossil fuels is not enough. The need for disruptive carbon-removing/utilizing technologies has never been more crucial.

Concrete is the most used building material in the world, with the synthesis of its cement component contributing heavily to carbon emissions.  

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Adoption
Contact Us Today
For More Information

E-mail us at: info@carboclave.com