Publications by authors named "Ricardo B Horta"

To ensure the acceptable mechanical strength of amorphous wollastonitic hydraulic binders (AWHs), activation with a sodium silicate solution is necessary. However, the use of this type of activator increases the final cost and the complexity of the product's overall use. In this work, we focus on enhancing the manufacturing of the alkaline activator by producing three NaSiO powders using cost-effective raw materials.

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Because of the severe environmental impact of the CO emissions associated with the production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and the increasing demand for this commodity material, the development of alternative products has become a global concern. One alternative to OPC, or alitic-based clinkers, are amorphous-wollastonitic low-calcium hydraulic binders (AWLCs). This new class of hydraulic binders, described in the literature for the first time in 2015, may significantly reduce the CO emissions associated with its production, resulting from its lower calcium content, but also from the fact that its production technology can be fully electrified.

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Currently, the production of one ton of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) releases considerable amounts of CO into the atmosphere. As the need and demand for this material grows exponentially, it has become a challenge to increase its production at a time when climate-related problems represent a major global concern. The two main CO contributors in this process are fossil fuel combustion to heat the rotary kiln and the chemical reaction associated with the calcination process, in the production of the clinker, the main component of OPC.

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In this work, the apparent activation energy () of a novel low-calcium binder was, for the first time, experimentally determined, using a calorimetric approach. Additionally, a correlation between the , measured at the acceleration period with the C/S ratio of the hydration product is proposed. The of the prepared pastes was determined through isothermal calorimetry tests by calculating the specific rate of reaction at different temperatures, using two different approaches.

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