In April, First Graphene (FGR) announced plans for major graphene-enhanced cement trials with a consortium that includes Breedon Cement, Morgan Sindall and the University of Manchester. Now, FGR confirmed the beginning of these trials using the company’s graphene in cement and concrete at the Breedon Group’s Hope Cement Works at Derbyshire in the United Kingdom.
The trials aim to build on smaller-scale trials with an accredited concrete processing laboratory in the UK, which First Graphene said “generated positive results”, and to further showcase the carbon dioxide reduction benefits of graphene additives. According to the company, the trial – with Breedon, Morgan Sindall Construction and the University of Manchester – will use approximately 1.2 tonnes of PureGRAPH 50 and create about 2,000 tonnes of graphene-enhanced cement at the works.
“The role graphene can play in helping to decarbonize the cement industry could be significant, and we are keen to contribute to this process by facilitating what is set to be one of the largest global trials of this kind at our Hope Cement plant in Derbyshire,” said Breedon Managing Director Jude Lagan.
“To our knowledge the volume of graphene-enhanced cement being produced is among the biggest ever trialed globally,” added First Graphene’s Managing Director and CEO Michael Bell. “We’re aiming to determine a simple, low-cost method of introducing graphene to industrial scale.”
According to a recent statement, the trial will test a variety of dispersion methods and loadings “to determine the most effective and beneficial application process”, with the graphene first formulated into a grinding aid and then introduced into the cement grinding mill feed.
Dispersion into the cement line will happen over a 24-hour period “using traditional grinding aid dosage lines, with minimal operational or mechanical change required to the existing plant.”
Cement will be validated by Breedon’s quality assurance team and then supplied to Morgan Sindall Construction for use in real-world construction demonstrations.