Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Properties and sustainability of alkali-activated slag foamed concrete

Keun-Hyeok Yang a, *, Kyung-Ho Lee b, Jin-Kyu Song c,1, Min-Ho Gong d, 2
a

Department of Plant Architectural Engineering, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea Department of Architectural Engineering, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea c Department of Architectural Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Chonnam, Republic of Korea d Arch Technology & Development Team, Hyundai Amco Co., LTD, Seoul, Republic of Korea
b

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 2 July 2013 Received in revised form 22 December 2013 Accepted 22 December 2013 Available online xxx Keywords: Alkali-activated foamed concrete Granulated ground blast-furnace slag Unit binder content Economic efciency Environmental impact Sustainability

a b s t r a c t
In the present study, 15 concrete mixes with dry density between 300 and 500 kg/m3 were tested for developing reliable mixing proportions, and establishing the signicance of sustainable application of alkali-activated (AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material in oor heating systems of buildings. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) was activated using the following three types of alkali activators: 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2, 5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3, and 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3. The unit binder content varied in the concrete mixes corresponding to each type of activator. All mixes were produced using the pre-formed foam procedure with no aggregate or ller. The test results revealed that AA GGBS foamed concrete has considerable potential for practical applications when the unit binder content is close to 400 kg/m3, achieving the minimum quality requirements specied in the KS F 4039 as well as ensuring economic efciency. Furthermore, the tested AA GGBS foamed concrete developed higher compressive strength than ordinary Portland cement (OPC) foamed concrete with the same dry density. In particular, a lifecycle assessment demonstrated a reduction in the environmental impact proles of all specimens relative to typical OPC foamed concrete as follows: 99% for photochemical oxidation potential, 85e93% for global warming potential, 73e85% for abiotic depletion, and 68 e85% for both acidication potential and human toxicity. Overall, the developed AA GGBS foamed concrete can be enlarged to sustainable varieties of cast-in-place structural ll and precast masonry materials. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Foamed concrete commonly consists of cementitious paste and macroscopic air voids that are entrapped in matrix using a suitable foaming agent (Wee et al., 2011). Owing to the air void system in the matrix, this concrete has low weight, high thermal insulation, and strong re resistance, and consumes limited natural resources. However, it is structurally weak with low mechanical strength and high inelastic deformation (Ramamurthy et al., 2009). Lee et al. (2001) mentioned that the combination of such favoruable and unfavourable properties makes foamed concrete mainly applicable as insulation material to non-structural elements in building structures. In Korea, foamed concrete of approximately 250,000 m3

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 82 (0)31 249 9703. E-mail addresses: yangkh@kyonggi.ac.kr, yangkh@kgu.ac.kr (K.-H. Yang), horang2@kgu.ac.kr (K.-H. Lee), jgsong@jnu.ac.kr (J.-K. Song), gong92@hyundaiamco.co.kr (M.-H. Gong). 1 Tel.: 82 (0)62 530 1914. 2 Tel.: 82 (0)2 3464 4685. 0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.12.068

by construction volume is used annually as an essential component in a oor heating system. In the typical oor heating systems (see Fig. 1) used in Korea, foamed concrete is placed between the reinforced concrete slab and the nishing lath mortar covering the heating pipe, and its primary function is to minimise heat loss through the concrete slab and maintain the layout of heating pipes during the construction of the nishing mortar. Therefore, foamed concrete with low density (resulting in low dead load by selfweight), low thermal conductivity, and adequate compressive strength is preferred for xing the heating pipe and preventing the bearing failure of foamed concrete during the construction of the pipe and the nishing mortar. As a result, the Korean Industrial Standard (KS) F 4039 (2006) species the minimum requirements for foamed concrete for its use in oor heating systems, and classies it into three grades according to density and compressive strength, as listed in Table 1. With the growing importance of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certications for buildings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many players in the concrete industry are strongly focussing on minimising the use of ordinary

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K.-H. Yang et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8

Fig. 1. Details of sections of typical oor heating system.

Portland cement (OPC), which is commonly estimated to emit 0.8e 0.9 ton-CO2 per ton of cement and consume considerable energy during the plasticity process. Furthermore, since the late 1980s, alkali-activated (AA) concrete without cement has garnered popularity owing to the (a) perceived high-strength gain property (Pacheco-Torgal et al., 2008); (b) benecial environmental impact from low CO2 emission (Hebert et al., 2011); and (c) amenability of by-products (such as ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) and y ash (FA)) to recycling. When using foamed concrete as a non-structural element in oor heating systems, greater emphasis needs to be placed on its functional properties than structural performance. Reducing material costs and achieving sustainable strength are the other concerns regarding foamed concrete in the present scenario. Therefore, AA binder is considered to be a promising alternative to OPC in the production of sustainable foamed concrete. Shi et al. (2006) have reported that using AA GGBS binder is very practical because it does not require any special treatment such as a high-temperature curing environment. Turgut (2012) showed a potential promise of AA brick manufactured without OPC as an environmental-friendly building material. Esmaily and Nuranian (2012) tested nonautoclaved high-strength cellular concrete (with wet densities between 681 and 2169 kg/m3) using GGBS activated with sodium silicate solution, and concluded that the air void distribution and compressive strength of such concrete signicantly depend on the ratio of the sodium silicate solution to the aluminum powder used for gas production in the foaming process. Lim et al. (2013) illustrated that incorporating pozzolans enhances the fresh- and hardened-state properties of foamed concrete. In contrast, Yang et al. (2010) emphasised that using strong alkali solutions poses several practical problems including the excessively fast setting of concrete, risk of material handling outside the laboratory environment, low economic efciency, and high potential for alkali-aggregate reaction. Moreover, foamed concrete for a oor heating system should have high owability and selfcompactability. Hence, the alkali activator and source material for foamed concrete should be carefully selected such that they allow the following: good control of setting time with relieved
Table 1 Quality and grade of foamed concrete for thermal insulation specied by KS. Grade Fresh concrete Wet density of slurry (kg/m3) Flow (mm)

workability loss, adequate strength development, easy handling, cost reduction, and low environmental load. Accordingly, further investigations are required to provide the sufcient understanding about AA foamed concrete. In the present study, 15 mixes were prepared with different binder contents and alkali activators to propose a reliable mixing proportion of AA GGBS foamed concrete for use in a oor heating system. The quality and availability of the mixed foamed concrete were ascertained through their comparisons with the minimum requirements specied in the KS F 4309 (2006). The pore size distribution and air void structure of the hardened concrete were typically examined according to the unit binder content. Based on the test results, empirical equations were formulated to predict the compressive strength and thermal conductivity of AA foamed concrete. The production cost and various environmental impacts of the test mixes were also compared with those calculated from a typical OPC foamed concrete mix. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Materials The GGBS used as the main source material was mainly composed of 44.6% CaO, 34.7% SiO2, 13.8% Al2O3, and 4.38% MgO, giving a SiO2-to-Al2O3 ratio by mass of 2.51, which is very similar to that of OPC, as listed in Table 2. The FA added in mixes of Group II had a low-calcium oxide (CaO) and SiO2-to-Al2O3 ratio by mass of 2.02. All dry-powdered alkali activators were pre-blended with the source materials in the dry form. The specic gravity and specic surface area of GGBS were 2.9 and 4400 cm2/g, and those of FA were 2.2 and 4200 cm2/g. The specic gravity and maximum particle sizes were 2.24 and 21.2 mm for Ca(OH)2, 2.2 and 1026.1 mm for Na2SiO3, and 1.56 and 600 mm for Mg(NO3)2. Sodium silicate powder was composed of 50.2% Na2O and 45% SiO2 with a molar ratio of 0.9. The foaming agent used to produce the pre-formed foam was based on protein with enzymatic active components, which is generally applied for OPC foamed concrete. Up to 2000 L of foam can be produced from 1 kg of agent.

Hardened concrete Defoamed depth (mm) Dry density (kg/m3) Compressive strength (MPa) 7 days 28 days 0.8 1.4 2.0 0.13 016 0.19 Thermal conductivity (W/m$k)

0.4 0.5 0.6

390 520 720

180

15 10 6

300e400 400e500 500e700

0.5 0.9 1.5

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K.-H. Yang et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8 Table 2 Chemical composition of selected source materials (% by mass). Materials FA GGBS
a

SiO2 57.70 34.70

Al2O3 28.60 13.80

Fe2O3 5.08 0.11

CaO 4.70 44.60

MgO 0.67 4.38

K2O 0.57 0.48

Na2O 0.37 e

TiO2 1.53 0.74

SO3 0.68 0.95

LOIa 0.1 0.24

Loss on ignition.

2.2. Specimens and mixing proportions A trial-and-error process is often required to produce foamed concrete with the desired properties because the volume requirements for foam and slurry (which signicantly affect the density, air void structure and compressive strength of the concrete) depend on the constituent materials (Ramamurthy et al., 2009). The foam volume required is also determined according to the binder content and water-to-binder (W/B) ratio. Hence, the unit binder content is one of the most critical elements for achieving the targeted density and compressive strength of foamed concrete. In addition, foamed concrete for a oor heating system practically requires high workability, with ow above 180 mm for achieving the desired self-compactability. Based on practical mixing conditions, the present study prepared 15 AA GGBS foamed concrete mixes with the main test parameters being the unit binder content and type of alkali activator, as listed in Table 3. All specimens were classied into three groups according to the type of activator: Group I for a combination of 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2, Group II for 5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3, and Group III for 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3. The unit binder content varied from 375 to 515 kg/m3, 325e425 kg/m3, and 375e475 kg/m3 for Groups I, II, and III. The W/B ratio was xed at 40% for Groups I and II and 37.5% for Group III. In the specimens in Group II, GGBS was replaced with FA with 15% binder content, and to those in Group III, 1% naphthalenebased high-range water-reducing agent was added for high workability. The foam volume required for a given unit binder content and W/B ratio was determined based on the procedure specied in ASTM C796-97 (2012) along with the unit volume of concrete. All concrete mixes did not include aggregates or llers.

2.3. Casting, curing and testing In accordance with the mixing procedure recommended in ASTM C796-97 (2012), pre-formed foam was added to the cementitious slurry produced by mixing the pre-blended binder and water in a mixer pan of 0.12 m3 capacity, equipped with rubber wiper blades. The foaming agent was diluted with water in 1:19 ratio by volume and thereafter aerated to 40 kg/m3 density using a foam generator connected with a compressed air source, to produce foam. The water content was considered to be a part of the water in the overall mixture. Fresh concrete was cast in various steel molds lined with stiff vinyl to prevent their interaction with the mould release oil. Most specimens were then sealed using a plastic bag to prevent evaporation and cured at room temperature until testing. The specimens intended for measuring dry density were cured under wet condition after one day. The initial ow and depth of defoaming in fresh concrete were measured in accordance with the KS F 4039. The ow was tested without raising and dropping the ow table to ascertain selfcompactability. The actual foam volume in the fresh concrete was also recorded using a mess cylinder and methyl alcohol as per the method proposed by Lee et al. (2001). The compressive strength of the concrete was measured using cylindrical specimens of 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height at ages of 7 d and 28 d. The dry density and thermal conductivity of hardened concrete were measured in accordance with the KS provision. For the oven-dried concrete sampled in Group II, the pore size distribution was recorded using mercury intrusion porosimetry (under pressures of 0e200 MPa) and air void structure was captured using a light optical microscope.

Table 3 Details of prepared concrete mixes and summary of test results. W/B Unit binder Composition of AA binder by weight (%) Results of fresh concrete Group Specimens Designed foam volume ratio (%) content GGBS FA Ca(OH)2 Na2SiO3 Mg(NO3)2 Actual foam Flow Defoamed (kg/m3) ratio (%) (mm) depth volume (mm) ratio (%) I* I-375 I-415 I-455 I-480 I-515 II-325 II-350 II-375 II-400 II-425 III-375 III-400 III-425 III-450 III-475 71 68 65 63 60 75 73 71 69 68 73 71 69 67 65 40 375 415 455 480 515 325 350 375 400 425 375 400 425 450 475 86 e 10 e 4 72 70 68 64 62 76 73 68 67 68 73 71 68 69 68 195 170 175 190 195 225 220 195 205 245 200 195 200 195 190 1 0 0 2 1 15 14 13 17 16 9 12 9 11 6 Results of hardened concrete Dry Compressive Thermal density strength (MPa) conductivity (kg/m3) (W/mK) 7 days 28 days 386 395 436 456 492 325 346 399 429 444 375 390 427 447 461 0.69 0.70 1.01 1.27 1.48 0.39 0.78 1.18 1.28 1.49 0.95 1.01 1.15 1.27 1.43 0.80 1.03 1.56 1.64 1.97 0.50 0.92 1.54 1.75 1.84 1.03 1.21 1.36 1.43 1.66 0.096 0.094 0.115 0.117 0.129 0.088 0.091 0.099 0.114 0.12 0.091 0.094 0.110 0.113 0.121

II

40

73.5

15

6.5

III**

37.5

91

2.5

6.5

Note: In specimen notations, the rst part refers to the afliated group and the second part indicates the unit binder content. * Concrete mixes of Group I include high early-strength agent with 0.3% binder content. ** Concrete mixes of Group III include naphthalene-based high-range water-reducing admixture with1.0% binder content.

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550

Dry density of concrete (kg/m ) '

Group I 500 450 400 350 300 400 Best fit linear curve y =0.68x R2=0.88 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 Group II Group III

requirement specied in the KS F 4039 (2006). The alkali activators selected for the present tests were effective in achieving high workability and preventing the quick setting of concrete. The ow of AA GGBS foamed concrete was marginally affected by the unit binder content. At a similar level of foam volume, higher ow was observed in the specimens in Group II than in those of Groups I and III. As in OPC normal-weight concrete, the ball-bearing action of FA owing to its spherical shape is expected to enhance the workability of AA GGBS foamed concrete. 3.2. Depth of defoaming in concrete While the depth of defoaming in fresh concrete was signicantly affected by the type of activators used, it was, however, independent of the binder content. Defoaming almost did not occur in Group I specimens, indicating that they met the requirement of Grade 0.6 of the KS F 4039 (2006). In contrast, the depths of defoaming in the Ca(OH)2 and Na2SiO3-activated mixes in Groups II and III were relatively higher. In particular, the addition of FA was found to accelerate defoaming, though there is no scientic evidence to explain its effect on the process. In general, a low-calcium FA containing aluminosilicate glass is somewhat less reactive than GGBS under the ambient environment. In addition, unburned carbons in FA damage the formation of an independent cell in fresh concrete. These may be the main causes of accelerated defoaming upon the addition of FA. These observations lead to the inference that Na2SiO3 is not the ideal activator for producing AA GGBS foamed concrete because severe defoaming results in the deterioration of the thermal insulation capacity of the foamed concrete and cracking and settlement of the nishing lath mortar. 3.3. Dry density As expected, the dry density of the foamed concrete increased with the unit binder content regardless of the type of activators used (Table 3). At the same unit binder content levels, the effect of the replacement of FA on the dry density of AA GGBS foamed concrete was negligible, although the specic gravity of FA is lower than that of GGBS. The dry density was also not signicantly inuenced by the activators used. AA GGBS foamed concrete generally achieved the density requirements of Grade 0.4 of the KS F 4039 (2006) when the unit binder content was below 400 kg/m3, beyond which the density of specimens pertained to Grade 0.5. As most properties of foamed concrete are expressed in terms of its dry density (Ramamurthy et al., 2009), estimating this parameter directly can support its reliable design. The relationship between the nominal unit weight (Wn WB WW Wf) of the plastic mix (by absolute volume) and oven-dry density of the foamed concrete is plotted in Fig. 2, where WB, WW, and Wf are the weights per unit volume of the binder, water and foam. As dry density is directly proportional to nominal density, the dry density (gd, in kg/m3) of AA GGBS concrete can be written as follows:

Nominal unit weight of concrete, W n (kg/m3)

Fig. 2. Relationship between nominal unit weight and dry density of foamed concrete.

3. Results and discussion In general, the properties of foamed concrete signicantly depend on the foam content. However, precisely controlling the desired foam volume being pumped into the cementitious slurry is challenging because the density of pre-formed foam slightly varies with the aerating time, pressure of the compressed air from the source to the foam generator, and atmospheric temperature. Hence, information about the actual foam volume is essential to reasonably examine the effect of the test parameters on the properties and porosity of foamed concrete with excessively low density. Test results including the designed and actual foam volumes are summarised in Table 3. The differences between the actual and desired foam volumes were no more than 4%, indicating that mixing and pumping of the pre-formed foam were successfully achieved as intended. Hence, the following discussion focuses on the designed foam volume rather than the actual value. 3.1. Flow of fresh concrete As listed in Table 3, all mixes except specimens I-415 and I-455 met the targeted initial ow of 180 mm, which is the minimum

16 14 12
Pore volume (%)
Gel pores Micro Capillaries Macro capllaries Artificial air pores

10 8 6 4 2 0 1 10 100 1000 10000 Pore diameter (nm) 100000

II-350 II-375 II-400 II-425

gd 0:68Wn
3.4. Porosity and pore structure

(1)

1000000

Fig. 3. Effect of unit binder content on pore size distribution.

The effect of the unit binder content on the pore size distribution of the mixes in Group II is plotted in Fig. 3. The air void structures of those mixes are also shown in Fig. 4. The pore system in the cementitious materials is typically classied into gel pores (f < 10 nm), micro capillaries (10 nm  f < 50 nm), macro capillaries (50 nm  f < 50 mm), and articial air pores (50 mm  f)

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K.-H. Yang et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8

Fig. 4. Effect of unit binder content on air void structure.

(Esmaily and Nuranian, 2012), where f is the pore diameter. The macro capillaries and articial air pores are caused by the deliberately entrapped air and insufcient compaction (Ramamurthy et al., 2009). With decrease in the unit binder content, the amount of gel pores decreased whereas that of macro capillaries and articial air pores increased, resulting in increased porosity. In addition, a few large-sized pores were found with their number increasing in the concrete with lower binder content because of the merging and overlapping of pores and the consequent reduction of ne and independently closed pores. As the presence of macro capillaries and articial air pores reduces the strength and dry density of foamed concrete (Ramamurthy et al., 2009), its porosity can be directly related to its dry density. 3.5. Compressive strength Fig. 5 compares the variation of the 28-day compressive 0 strength (fc 28 ) of OPC (from the test data compiled by Song and Yang, 2012) and AA GGBS foamed concrete mixes across the gd 0 range of 300e700 kg/m3. Similar to OPC foamed concrete, the fc 28 of the AA GGBS foamed concrete mixes increased with increase in 0 its dry density, albeit more steeply. This indicates that the fc 28 of AA GGBS foamed concrete is comparable to that of OPC foamed concrete at gd < 500 kg/m3. The effect of the alkali activators on the 3 0 fc 28 of the foamed concrete was minimal. At gd > 400 kg/m , the specimens in Group II developed slightly higher strength (by an average of 5%) than those in Groups I and III, whereas both groups 0 demonstrated similar fc 28. To achieve the minimum strength requirement specied by Grade 0.4, gd should exceed 375 kg/m3. The specimens with gd exceeding 400 kg/m3 commonly met the strength requirement of Grade 0.5, regardless of the type of activators used.

For the further development of AA GGBS foamed concrete, 0 0 simple equations to predict fc 7 and fc28 were proposed based on a 0 multiple regression analysis of the test data, where fc 7 is the 7-day compressive strength. For establishing the basic models, the factor a was introduced to reect the effect of the type of activator used in this study on the strength development of GGBS foamed concrete although the difference in strength across the different types of activator used was minimal. Inuential parameters such as gd and the type of activator were combined and adjusted repeatedly using a trial-and-error approach until a relatively higher correlation coefcient (R2) was obtained. Based on this regression analysis, the compressive strengths of AA GGBS foamed concrete at the ages of 7 d and 28 d can be empirically expressed as follows (see Fig. 6):
3:1 0 fc fco 7 15:3agd =g0 3:3 0 fc fco 28 22:7agd =g0

(2) (3)

where a 1.05 for 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3-activated GGBS and 1.0 for the other cases, g0( 1000 kg/m3) is reference value for dry density and fco( 1 MPa) is reference value for compressive strength. 3.6. Thermal conductivity The thermal conductivity of AA GGBS foamed concrete was independent of the type of activator used; however, it decreased with decrease in gd, as listed in Table 3. The thermal conductivities were approximately 0.095 W/m$k for gd 400 kg/m3 and 0.13 W/m$k for 500 kg/m3, which are approximately one-tenth of that for typical OPC normal-weight concrete. Furthermore, all specimens met the requirements of Grade 0.4. Weigler and Karl (1980)

Fig. 5. Relationship between dry density and 28-day compressive strength of foamed concrete.

Fig. 6. Regression analysis of compressive strength of AA GGBS foamed concrete.

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illustrated that a decrease in gd by 100 kg/m3 results in 0.04 W/m$k reduction in thermal conductivity for lightweight aggregate foamed concrete, implying that the thermal conductivity of foamed concrete is linearly proportional to its dry density. Hence, based on experimental observations, the thermal conductivity (l) of AA GGBS foamed concrete can be simply determined from (see Fig. 7)

l 0:26gd =g0 l0

(4)

where l0( 1 W/m$k) is the reference value for thermal conductivity.

4. Economic efciency and sustainability The production cost of the tested AA GGBS foamed concrete relative to that of OPC foamed concrete is plotted in Fig. 8. Based on the case investigation result (Song and Yang, 2012), OPC foamed concrete was typically assumed to have W/B ratio of 50%, unit binder content of 425 kg/m3, and designed foam volume ratio of 65%. The commercial unit cost (USD/ton) of each constituent material, which is provided in Korea Price Information (2013), is also listed in Table 4. The production cost of AA GGBS concrete depended on the type and content of the alkali activators used, as seen from the lower cost for concrete mixes in Group I than those in Groups II and III. To ensure economic efciency over OPC foamed concrete, unit binder content of less than 375 kg/m3 is generally required for AA GGBS concrete. However, to full the minimum compressive strength requirements for foamed concrete mandated by Grades 0.4 and 0.5 of the KS F 4309 (2006) for a oor heating system, the unit binder content should exceed (a) 415 kg/m3 for 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2 activators and (b) 375 kg/m3 for 5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3, and 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3 activators. For these lower bounds of unit binder content, the production cost of AA GGBS foamed concrete was slightly higher by 1.0e1.11 times than that of OPC concrete with binder content of 425 kg/m3. Considering the benecial effect of environmental load reductions including low CO2 emissions (discussed in detail in the following section), up to a certain point, this slightly higher cost would be acceptable for practical applications. The environmental loads of foamed concrete were calculated in accordance with the lifecycle assessment (LCA) procedure specied in the ISO 14040 series (2006) based on the Korean lifecycle inventory (LCI) database (summarised in Table 5 (Korea LCI Database

Fig. 8. Product cost ratio of AA foamed concrete relative to typical OPC foamed concrete.

Information Network, 2013)). This implies that the studied boundary condition was from the cradle to the pre-construction system including various contributions subdivided into (a) constituent phase, (b) production phase using a mixer at the construction site, and (c) transportation phase from the gate of the raw material-producing facility to the site. The procedure and typical examples of LCA for various environmental loads are explained in detail in literature (Yang et al., 2013). To assess environmental loads in the transportation phase, the transportation distance of each concrete constituent material was assumed to be 50 km from the gate of the production facility to the construction site. The vehicles assumed were (a) an 18-ton-capacity bulk trailer for cementitious materials including activators and (b) an 1.25-ton-capacity diesel truck for chemical admixtures. The environmental inputs and outputs of the foaming agent were not included in this LCA because of non-availability. Furthermore, the LCI database provided by Sakai and Kawai (2006) was referenced for FA and GGBS because values for these are not available in the Korean LCI database. Table 6 summarises the magnitude of the environmental loads determined from the mixing proportion of each specimen based on the LCA procedure. The environmental load inventories obtained for the typical OPC foamed concrete used for cost comparisons are also shown. The magnitude of the loads of the tested AA GGBS foamed concrete signicantly depended on the unit binder content and the type and content of activators used. The CO2 emissions from the Group I mixes were lower than those from the mixes in Groups II and III. This is why the CO2 inventory of Ca(OH)2 is considerably lower than that of Na2SiO3, as listed in Table 5. Furthermore, the magnitude of loads of foamed concrete tends to increase with the unit binder content because such increase is accompanied by an increase in the activator content. Among all environmental loads of the AA GGBS mixes, the largest was CO2 emission followed by natural gas consumption, whereas the second largest load of OPC foamed concrete was the use of bituminous coal. The CO2 emission from AA GGBS foamed concrete was considerably reduced by 90e93% for Group I mixes, 87e89% for Group II mixes,

Table 4 Commercial unit cost of each constituent material (Korea Price Information). Material OPC GGBS FA Ca(OH)2 Mg(NO3)2 Na2SiO3 SPa 644 644 VFAb

Unit cost 69.92 41.4 (USD/ton) Fig. 7. Relationship between dry density and thermal conductivity of AA GGBS foamed concrete.
a b

27.6 99.36

644 1380

SP: naphthalene-based high-range water-reducing agent. VFA: vegetable-based soap-typed resin foaming agent.

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K.-H. Yang et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8 Table 5 Summary of Korean LCI database used for assessing environmental loads of foamed concrete. Item Functional unit (FU) Lifecycle inventory for input and output affecting environmental loads (kg/FU) Output ingredients CO2 OPC GGBSa FAa Ca(OH)2 Mg(NO3)2 Na2SiO3 1.25 ton truck 18 ton truck Mixer (2.5 m3)
a

Input ingredients (primary energy use) SOx 5.64E04 8.36E06 6.20E06 1.31E04 1.52E03 1.52E03 1.42E07 2.68E08 e NOx 1.03E03 1.02E06 7.54E06 5.18E03 3.03E03 3.03E03 1.35E06 7.27E07 e NH3 4.36E07 e e 2.74E07 1.45E06 1.45E06 3.67E12 1.06E12 e Anthracite coal 7.44E03 e e 1.95E02 7.94E01 7.94E01 4.09E07 1.18E07 e Bituminous coal 1.80E01 e e 4.48E05 2.36E02 2.36E02 2.08E07 5.99E08 e Natural gas 7.99E03 e e 4.02E01 1.69E01 1.69E01 3.22E06 9.26E07 e Crude oil 2.42E02 e e 3.34E02 2.14E01 2.14E01 7.34E05 2.11E05 e

CO 8.90E02 e e 7.45E05 4.77E04 4.77E04 1.37E06 6.80E07 e

kg kg kg kg kg kg kg/kg km kg/kg km m3

9.31E01 2.65E02 1.96E02 5.17E01 1.32E00 1.32E00 2.21E04 6.30E05 7.28E01

LCI data provided in JSCE were referenced for GGBS and FA, because these data are unavailable in Korean LCI database.

and 85e88% for Group III mixed, compared to that of OPC foamed concrete. With regard to compliance with the minimum compressive strength requirement for the lower bound of the unit binder content (as per the KS), the reduced CO2 emission corresponded to approximately 92% for I-425 mix, 87% for II-375 mix, and 88% for III-375 mix. The percentage of reduction in the environmental impact prole of each AA GGBS foamed concrete specimen relative to typical OPC foamed concrete is plotted in Fig. 9. The selected environmental impact categories include abiotic depletion (by primary energy use), global warming potential (by CO2 emission), acidication potential (by SOx, NOx, and NH3), eutrophication potential (by NOx and NH3), photochemical oxidation potential (by CO, SOx, and NOx), and human toxicity potential (by SOx and NOx). The reduction percentage was the largest (>99%) in the photochemical oxidation potential category and those in the global warming and abiotic depletion categories were 85e93% and 73e 85%. The acidication potential and human toxicity categories demonstrated similar reduction percentage (68e85%). In conclusion, AA GGBS foamed concrete may be deemed noteworthy as a sustainable building material with considerably reduced environmental impact. 5. Conclusions To provide basic data for the mixing design, and establishing the signicance of the sustainable application of AA GGBS foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for a oor heating system,
Table 6 Environmental load inventories of each specimen calculated using LCA procedure. Specimen Environmental load inventories (kg/m3) Emissions CO2 I-375 I-415 I-455 I-480 I-515 II-325 II-350 II-375 II-400 II-425 III-375 III-400 III-425 III-450 III-475 OPC 3.01E01 3.33E01 3.64E01 3.84E01 4.11E01 4.55E01 4.91E01 5.25E01 5.59E01 5.40E01 4.84E01 5.15E01 5.46E01 5.80E01 6.11E01 4.12E02 CO 1.63E02 1.81E02 1.98E02 2.09E02 2.24E02 2.20E02 2.37E02 2.54E02 2.71E02 2.76E02 2.63E02 2.80E02 2.97E02 3.15E02 3.33E02 3.58E01 SOx 1.02E02 1.13E02 1.24E02 1.31E02 1.40E02 3.85E02 4.16E02 4.45E02 4.74E02 4.91E02 4.39E02 4.68E02 4.96E02 5.27E02 5.56E02 2.28E01 NOx 2.09E01 2.31E01 2.53E01 2.67E01 2.87E01 1.60E01 1.72E01 1.85E01 1.97E01 1.54E01 1.38E01 1.47E01 1.56E01 1.65E01 1.74E01 8.67E01 NH3

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Reduced percentage relative to ' OPC foamed concrete (%)

Global warming Photochemical oxidation Eutrophication

Abiotic depletion Acidification Human toxicity

I- I- I- I- I- II- II- II- II- II- III- III- III- III- III375 415 455 480 515 325 350 375 400 425 375 400 425 450 475 Specimen
Fig. 9. Reduction in environmental impact prole of AA GGBS concrete specimen relative to typical OPC foamed concrete.

15 concrete mixes with targeted dry density between 300 and 500 kg/m3 were tested. The results presented here prove that AA GGBS foamed concrete has considerable potential for practical application when the unit binder content is approximately 400 kg/ m3, at which it fulls the minimum requirements of the KS F 4039 and ensures economic efciency. In particular, the tested AA GGBS foamed concrete displayed higher compressive strength than OPC foamed concrete with the same dry density, at considerably low environmental impact. However, as the present study is only elementary, further research is essential to evaluate the durability,

Primary energy use Anthracite coal 7.35E01 8.14E01 8.92E01 9.41E01 1.01E00 3.21E01 3.44E01 3.70E01 3.94E01 2.10E01 1.86E01 1.98E01 2.10E01 2.24E01 2.36E01 3.04E00 Bituminous coal 3.64E03 4.03E03 4.42E03 4.66E03 5.00E03 2.44E03 2.63E03 2.82E03 3.00E03 2.46E03 2.34E03 2.50E03 2.65E03 2.81E03 2.97E03 7.21E01 Natural gas 1.51E01 1.67E01 1.83E01 1.93E01 2.07E01 1.01E01 1.09E01 1.17E01 1.24E01 8.91E00 7.89E00 8.40E00 8.91E00 9.48E00 9.99E00 3.25E00 Crude oil 1.28E00 1.42E00 1.56E00 1.64E00 1.76E00 5.09E00 5.50E00 5.89E00 6.27E00 6.30E00 5.57E00 5.93E00 6.30E00 6.69E00 7.05E00 1.15E01

2.59E03 2.86E03 3.14E03 3.31E03 3.55E03 2.61E03 2.81E03 3.01E03 3.20E03 2.67E03 2.36E03 2.51E03 2.67E03 2.84E03 2.99E03 5.92E02

Please cite this article in press as: Yang, K.-H., et al., Properties and sustainability of alkali-activated slag foamed concrete, Journal of Cleaner Production (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.12.068

K.-H. Yang et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e8

shrinkage behaviour and re resistance of AA GGBS foamed concrete. From the present experimental investigation and assessment of environmental impact, the following conclusions may be drawn: 1. The ow of most concrete mixes was above 180 mm, indicating that the alkali activators used were effective in achieving high workability and preventing the quick setting of concrete. 2. Defoaming almost did not occur in 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2-activated concrete mixes, whereas Ca(OH)2 and Na2SiO3-activated concrete underwent defoaming at relatively higher depths, indicating that the addition of FA accelerated defoaming. 3. The compressive strength of AA GGBS foamed concrete signicantly depended on its dry density and marginally affected by the type of activators used. 4. The production cost of AA GGBS foamed concrete was slightly higher by 1.0e1.11 times than that of typical OPC foamed concrete with binder content of 425 kg/m3. 5. The CO2 emission of AA GGBS foamed concrete (calculated based on LCA) was considerably lower (by 85e93%) compared to that of typical OPC foamed concrete. 6. The reduction in the environmental impact proles of all concrete specimens relative to typical OPC foamed concrete across various impact categories was assessed as follows: 99% for photochemical oxidation potential, 85e93% for global warming potential, 73e85% for abiotic depletion, and 68e85% for both acidication potential and human toxicity. Acknowledgement This research was supported by the Public Welfare & Safety Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2013067519). Notation B 0 fc 7 0 fc 28 fco W/B WB Wf Wn WW unit binder content (kg/m3) concrete compressive strength at 7 days (MPa) concrete compressive strength at 28 days (MPa) reference value for concrete compressive strength (1 MPa) water-to-binder ratio by weight weight of binder per unit volume of concrete (kg/m3) weight of foam per unit volume of concrete (kg/m3) nominal unit weight of the plastic mix of concrete (kg/m3) weight of water per unit volume of concrete (kg/m3)

a gd g0 f l l0

factor representing the effect of the type of activator on concrete compressive strength dry density of hardened concrete (kg/m3) reference value for dry density of hardened concrete (1000 kg/m3) pore diameter thermal conductivity of concrete (W/mK) reference value for thermal conductivity of concrete (1 W/m$k)

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Please cite this article in press as: Yang, K.-H., et al., Properties and sustainability of alkali-activated slag foamed concrete, Journal of Cleaner Production (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.12.068