Raw materials

Aggregates

Fine and coarse aggregates, sand and stones, make up 60-70% of the raw materials in a concrete mix.

Local sourcing is an economical and sustainable solution, though not always viable due to unfavorable characteristics of the materials available. Aggregates can have contamination, unfavorable gradation, clay particles, which affect durability and pumpability.

Concrete Industry Solutions provides local competence, self-developed test procedures and local laboratories to evaluate aggregate quality and mix design optimization. Our approach will:

maximize the value of local aggregates.
reduce production cost.
minimize the consumption of cement.
reduce the use of scarce resources.
reduce the carbon footprint from concrete production.

Cement substitution

The use of mineral additions as supplemental cementitious materials, like fly ash, slag, silica fume, metakaolin, natural pozzolan, all improve the performance and the durability of a concrete structure, by enhancing sustainability and delivering economic savings. Mapei offers a range of mineral products, such as Mapeplast PZ 300 and Mapeplast SF, designed to:

reduce costs and carbon footprint by substitution of Portland cement.
increase strength and durability.
control temperature gradients during massive pours.
improve the micro-structure of the concrete.

Recycling

Mapei offers specifically designed highly effective water reducers that work in combination with recycled aggregates. The products from the ReCon Agg portfolio are particularly suitable for concrete designed with recycled aggregates.

ReCon Zero EVO represents a ground-breaking solution to treat the returned concrete and sludge from cleaning. The resulting recycled aggregate can be used in different applications.

Activators

Replacement of Portland cement with by-products like fly ash or blast-furnace slag requires concrete hardening activation. Mapei offers the latest-generation activators based on homogenous nucleation such as Mapefast Ultra, whose benefits are multi-functional:

Sustainability: allowing mix designs with alternative binders
Performance: enhancing the strength gain of concrete at all ages

Moisture control in aggregate

Precise evaluation of water content in the aggregate at mixing, represents one of the most difficult challenges in the automation of concrete production. Deviation leads to variable quality, increased cement consumption, and a higher carbon footprint.

Elettrondata develops and produces high-end probes based on microwave technology which is the cutting edge of plant automation.

The flexibility of the probes allows installation in storage silos, in weighing hoppers or on conveyor belts.

Raw material handling

Mapei offers customers remote tank control to reduce the carbon footprint by optimizing the transport.

Removes the time-consuming inventory control, and order process.
Automatic ordering and supply chain management.
Optimizing the delivery route. Less distance means less CO₂ emissions and less costs.
By machine learning, the data from the last 3 years are used to constantly improve the predictions, and thereby improve the process.
Reduce transport, cost and emissions.
Control of product type and tank capacity at delivery
Enhanced, quality control and safety.
Improved safety by through leakage alarms and knowledge of the content in any situation.