Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation showcases the transformation of green magic construction waste

        In Taiwan, the amount of surplus concrete generated during the construction process each year is astonishing. If these pre mixed concrete scraps are not properly disposed of, they not only waste resources but may also cause environmental burdens. To this end, Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation actively invests in research and development to create a "pre mixed concrete waste drying cycle carbon fixation treatment system", which revitalizes waste materials, reduces the consumption of natural resources, and lays a niche for new product services.

                Difficulties in the Pre mixed Industry of Concrete Waste Materials

        If the construction industry is the locomotive of economic development, then pre mixed concrete is undoubtedly the key driving force to ensure its progress. However, at construction sites, various uncontrollable factors such as customer cancellations, traffic congestion, construction equipment malfunctions, customer estimation errors, production errors, or quality discrepancies often result in the concrete in the pre mixed truck being unable to be poured and used within the time limit, and can only be transported back to the pre mixed concrete plant, becoming so-called 'leftover materials'.

                Pre mixed concrete plants usually prepare multiple cubic steel molds, pour the leftover materials into them, wait for the concrete to solidify and form the next day, then lift out the concrete ingots, and re oil and maintain the steel molds for the next use. However, this method requires a large amount of factory space to stack steel molds and ingots. When the space is insufficient, it is inevitable that there will be a shortage of space, and the application of the poured concrete blocks will also be limited.

        Therefore, most pre mixed factories adopt wet treatment methods, which wash and dilute pre mixed concrete with a large amount of water, and then use mud sand and gravel separators to recover some sand and gravel. Through the recycling of water, the sand and gravel raw materials are reused in the production process, achieving the goal of resource recycling. But this method must be treated before the concrete has hardened, which often leads to overtime problems for personnel. In addition, a large amount of water resources are consumed during the process, and a large amount of sewage and settled waste soil are generated. Moreover, once the amount of leftover materials exceeds the processing limit of the mud sand and gravel separator, it cannot effectively wash the sand and gravel, and ultimately requires additional payment. It is outsourced to sand and gravel suppliers or CLSM factories for assistance in processing.

        Dry cycle combined with carbon sequestration technology to convert waste into building materials

        Whether pouring concrete blocks or using wet flushing, it will increase operating costs and make it difficult to deal with the increasing problem of pre mixed concrete waste. With the rise of net zero carbon emissions, the Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation team is planning innovative solutions to balance environmental and economic benefits.

        Firstly, the team introduced drying technology to suspend the hydration reaction of concrete that has not yet hardened, and restore it to reusable aggregates. After repeated testing and evaluation, superabsorbent polymers (SAP) were ultimately selected as the key desiccant. Simply add an appropriate amount of SAP to the pre mixed truck bucket and mix it by rotating the bucket, which can quickly absorb the moisture in the concrete and achieve the drying effect.

                The biggest advantage of this technology is that the entire processing process can be completed inside the pre mixed truck bucket, without the need to dump it into the factory treatment equipment. It can also significantly reduce water consumption and shorten the processing time from 1 hour to 15-20 minutes, improving overall efficiency. In addition, the dried granules can last for up to five days. Even if the leftover materials are produced at midnight, the staff only need to put them into SAP for drying first, and then complete the subsequent screening and recycling the next day, avoiding overtime and additional labor costs, making the operation more flexible.

        Although the dried granules have the potential for reuse, in order to ensure stable quality, the project team uses mobile screening equipment to sort according to the size of the granules. Three or six stones are returned to the process, and natural sand and gravel are appropriately added to the recycled sand to meet the requirements of future process applications.

        The project team also conducted a test on the impact of recycled sand and gravel mixing ratio on concrete quality. The results showed that the addition of 15% recycled aggregates had no significant effect on concrete quality. In the future, further plans will be made to apply different grades of aggregates to Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation's lightweight, thermal insulation, sound insulation and other functional mortar products.

        In addition to recycling and reusing, considering that the fine particles after screening treatment will produce a large amount of calcium hydroxide during the hydration process, the project team introduced carbon mineralization technology to allow calcium hydroxide to actively absorb CO2 and fix it in the material for storage, forming stable calcium carbonate and achieving carbon reduction effects. According to Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation's patented technology "Carbon Sequestration Detection Method for Construction Materials", each cubic meter of pre mixed waste material can store about 60-80 kilograms of carbon dioxide. In other words, Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation's low-carbon concrete products can already reduce carbon emissions by 50%. Through this carbon mineralization and storage technology, it can further reduce carbon emissions by more than 18%, taking another big step towards the goal of near zero carbon emissions by 2050.

        Combining environmental protection and economic benefits to create new value

                Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation is not only committed to improving the quality of concrete products, but also actively promoting long-term development in environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) aspects. Through the innovative "Pre mixed Concrete Waste Drying Cycle Carbon Fixation Treatment System", the remaining concrete waste on the construction site has been successfully reduced to sand and gravel raw materials through drying, granulation, carbon mineralization, and screening technologies, and reused in the concrete process. In addition to solving the problem of limited processing capacity and space in the factory area, it also significantly reduces water resource consumption, allowing 100% recycling and reuse of waste materials, replacing some natural materials, saving sand and gravel procurement costs, and reducing carbon emissions. At the same time, this system also brings considerable economic benefits, not only saving high outsourcing processing fees for the factory area, but also allowing the recycled pellets to be used for personal use or sold externally, transforming into a new source of revenue.

        At present, Ya Tung Ready Mixed Concrete Corporation is applying for a national invention patent and plans to promote it to the entire concrete industry through technology licensing in the future, providing more environmentally friendly and efficient solutions for the industry. In addition, the company actively evaluates cooperation with overseas enterprises to expand the carbon trading market and create new opportunities for carbon reduction and sustainability development in the construction industry.

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