Eco-efficiency of a novel construction material produced by carbon capture and utilization
Carbon capture and utilization, CCU, has a great potential for the improvement of the environmental profile of products and services. This is the case for construction materials, which are able to sequester an enormous amount of carbon dioxide in the form of usable products, providing a long-term capacity for storage of CO2. In a recent approach, a solid carbonate, MgCO3·3H2O (nesquehonite) was discovered to have cementitious behaviour, similar to gypsum plaster, in its phase transitions...
A comprehensive energy and exergoeconomic analysis of a novel transcritical refrigeration cycle
A comprehensive energy and exergoeconomic analysis of a novel transcritical refrigeration cycle (NTRC) is presented. A second ejector is introduced into the conventional refrigeration system for the utilization of the gas-cooler waste heat. The thermodynamic properties of the working fluid are estimated by the database of REFPROP 9, and a FORTRAN program is used to solve the system governing equations. Exergy, energy, and exergoeconomic analyses of the two cycles are carried out to predict the...
Techno-economic assessment of a carbon capture and utilization process for the production of plaster-like construction materials
In the context of the decarbonisation of the building sector, this work focuses on the process economics of a carbon capture and utilization alternative for the production of a novel construction material based on magnesium carbonate trihydrate, also known as nesquehonite. This material, after a dehydration-rehydration process, can be conformed into moulds with a significant compressive strength in a very similar mechanism to plasterboard manufacturing. This paper discloses the mass and energy balance of the...
The Conversion of Magnesium Carbonates into Plaster-Like Products: A Preliminary Study of the Hardening Mechanism
Magnesium carbonate trihydrate, nesquehonite, is proposed as a precursor for the production of a construction material similar to plasterboard, in a unique carbon capture and utilisation process [1]. The hardening process is thought to follow a similar mechanism to gypsum in the manufacture of plasterboard, where the hardening is produced in the recrystallization of gypsum crystals. However, nesquehonite [2], during hardening, converts into hydromagnesite, releasing CO2 and H2O during the transformation. In this work, samples...