Construction World June 2022

CHRYSO ® EnviroMix delivers a reduction in CO 2 emissions of up to 50%.

READYMIX

CHRYSO’s HISTORY OF INNOVATIVE CHEMISTRY FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

As it is for its parent company, Saint-Gobain, the environment, sustainability, safety and quality are key drivers for CHRYSO. Locally CHRYSO Southern Africa is ISO certified for quality, safety and its environmental impact. Hannes Engelbrecht, CHRYSO’s Concrete Unit Business Director says that climate change, waste and water management are KPIs for this focus. At its production plant in Jet Park it uses solar power to reduce its carbon footprint. He reminds ConstructionWorld of CHRYSO’s commitment to sustainable and innovative construction while simultaneously using examples to show that CHRYSO has done just that for many years.

C HRYSO technical experts are aiming to facilitate the development of innovative materials through the optimisation of concrete formulations to achieve low CO 2 cement, concrete and energy savings. It has, through strong R&D, enabled low-carbon concrete admixtures by giving access to new performance levers that creates such solutions. The range of admixtures that CHRYSO developed are for use in existing low-carbon cements such as those where fly ash and slag are used. “R&D is essential, because new cements with additions as well as the binders of tomorrow made of new geopolymers will require new additives supported by advanced technologies. CHRYSO is well prepared to support its customers in this low-carbon concrete revolution,” says Bruno Pellerin, R&D Director at CHRYSO. In the last 15 years CHRYSO has been strengthening its expertise in the field of concrete admixtures with low carbon impact. The innovative technology in the company’s portfolio of cement additives underpins its specialist knowledge in the chemistry of low-carbon cements. EnvironMix® Frédéric Guimbal, CHRYSO’s Global Director of Concrete BU says the construction industry is accelerating its transformation to manage and reduce the environmental impact of its carbon footprint. “CO 2 footprint is a major challenge in the development of concrete formulations, coupled with the traditional properties of this material, and at the heart of our construction techniques (classes of strength, durability, workability, setting time, etc.),” he says.

In 2021 CHRYSO launched Environmix®. This is a global range of innovative products and services aimed at reducing and controlling the carbon footprint of concrete and is dedicated to the readymix and precast concrete industries. These followed growing concerns over climate change and the scarcity of natural resources. T he CHRYSO®EnvironMix is a range of tailor-made admixtures that minimises the environmental impact of concrete mix designs. “Locally we have an excess of fly ash and this admixture range allows better utilisation of mixes to incorporate these pozzolans while still ensuring superior levels of technical performance,” says Engelbrecht. “This assists in the reduction of the clinker to reduce CO 2 . The products designed for cement production are directly coupled with the technology for concrete producers, so the technology is vertically integrated downstream.” CHRYSO®EnvironMix provides a reduction in CO 2 emissions of up to 50%, while CHRYSO®EnvironMix ULC (Ultra Low Carbon) can achieve a reduction of more than 50%. CHRYSO®Quad and CHRYSO®Graft technologies “Many sand producers wash sand to remove clay to provide clean product to concrete producers. Water is used and CO 2 is produced to transport the sand,” says Engelbrecht. Depleting resources and new types of sand available are turning sand sourcing into a major challenge. CHRYSO®Quad provides a solution for the use of ‘challenging sand’. This typically includes lack of fines (influencing porosity and slump retention) or excess of fines (influencing water and

32 CONSTRUCTION WORLD JUNE 2022