The positive environmental impact of the developed environmentally friendly innovative technologies for the recycling of waste quarry dusts in the construction industry is evident.
Quarry dusts, sourced from granitic rock, are stored up as a waste on a global scale. Prof. Łukasz Sadowski with a team of co-workers from Department of Material Engineering and Construction Processes from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology are searching for environmentally friendly innovative technologies how it can be recycled.
Quarry dusts stored up as a waste creates huge environmental problem. That is why an interdisciplinary team work hard on recycling of this material in construction. It has been found that adding waste quarry dusts to cementitious and epoxy composites has very positive effect and leads to significant reduction of carbon dioxide. Research shows that it is possible to partially replace even 30% of cement and even 40% of epoxy with granite powder.
– The project is conducted in two ways. We try to implement waste granite powders in epoxy and cementitious composites – says Dr Andrzej Żak who is a co-worker in the project from Electron Microscopy Laboratory – A purpose of research is to link durability features of two materials.
Mr. Adrian Chajec and Ms. Agnieszka Chowaniec explain that micro- and nanostructures should be tested using interdisciplinary approach. In case of epoxy composites scientists are using waste granite powders as a filler to find optimum composition. Recently, one of them was implemented in industry.
– One of our achievements is to get similar durability parameters of the elements made using our technologies. To sum up, we get competitive product – says Dr Sławomir Czarnecki.
Also students were invited to participate in this project. Mr. Mateusz Moj and Mr. Kamil Krzywiński emphasized the importance of involving students in such projects because it supports their professional development. Ms. Aleksandra Królicka and Ms. Marlena Rudner talked with fascination about interdisciplinary nature of project.
Surprising is the large representation of women in the project. Ms. Zuzanna Woźniak accidently links passion for architecture with passion for construction.
All of this happens at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, which 7th time at row was announced the best faculty in Poland in Perspektywy University Ranking 2021. Dean of the faculty, prof. Danuta Bryja actively supports those project, because it leads to technological development.
There is also Wroclaw Centre for Technology Transfer where Dr Jacek Firlej (Director) and Dr Eng Tomasz Marciniszyn promote the use of research results and search (carries out the commercialization process) for business entities who are willing to implement technology of university’s interdisciplary team into industry.
The researchers received funding to implement this research from the project supported by the National Centre for Research and Development, Poland [grant no. LIDER/35/0130/L-11/19/NCBR/2020 “The use of granite powder waste for the production of selected construction products”.
Aleksandra Engel
