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Pumice Pozzolan as
a Green Product
The “green” tag is generally given to
products and processes that are not energy intensive or do no harm to the
environment. That is, of course, a very basic definition...the term “green” is
now a widely applied marketing term for just about anything.
Pumice pozzolan is green by the simple
fact that the most crucial step in the manufacturing process—the superheating
that gives pumice is amazingly versatile properties—has already been taken care
of by Mother Nature. Pumice is “naturally calcined,” which simply means that
the pumice has already had it’s time in the furnace: a volcanic furnace. Unlike
metalolin, silica fume, and fly ash, pumice does not need to be heated or calcined
to change its chemical makeup to make it useful as a pozzolan.
Contrast, for example, Portland
Cement—the key ingredient for concrete. Portland Cement is manufactured by
mining limestone, crushing it, and then (critical!) heating it in a furnace to
change its physical properites. The resulting “clinkers” are then ground down
to about -325 mesh. The result is ever-so useful cement powder. So, in terms of
a carbon footprint—the energy needed to produce the final useful
product—Portland Cement, is a major concern of industry and governments alike.
Cement production constitutes a major portion of all major green house gases
production.
Fortunately, when it comes to concrete,
pumice makes an incredibly useful pozzolan (the Roman word for pumice was
“pozzolana”), and pozzolans do wonderful things to enhance and improve standard
concretes. So, replacing part of the Portland Cement power with pumice powder
(pozzolan), significantly moves the green needle on the concrete while
imparting incredible high-performance characteristics as well. A bonus on top
of a bonus.
The process: pumice is mined from an ancient volcanic deposit, crushed and
transported to the refining plant, where it is again crushed and separated into
the various particles sizes utilized by industry…from half-inch aggregate all
the way down to an ultra-fine grind of 3-microns—the equivalent of smoke. The
refining process needs little energy and uses no fresh water.
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