Title: Simplified life cycle analysis for rigid pavements constructed using waste materials as binders in concrete

Authors: Janitha Migunthanna; Navya Tumakuru Manjunatha; Varun Gulappa Shatagar; Dhanush Hirisave Raghu; Rakesh Shamantbhai Zinzala; Pathmanathan Rajeev; Jay Sanjayan

Addresses: Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia ' Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC-3122, Australia

Abstract: A simplified life cycle analysis (LCA) was conducted to evaluate and compare the environmental performance of ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concrete and geopolymer concrete (GPC) in rigid pavement construction. Environmental impacts were evaluated by quantifying carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and energy consumption related to the different LCA stages. In an OPC concrete mixture, the cement binder was responsible for almost 70% of CO₂ emissions and 88% of energy consumption. Replacing OPC in concrete with geopolymer binders allowed reducing total CO₂ emissions by almost 50% and energy consumption by 72%. In this study, waste clay bricks (WCBs), fly ash and slag were used as the aluminosilicate precursors and anhydrous sodium silicate was used as the activator to produce one-part GPC. The case study results show that for a 1 km rigid pavement construction, the total CO₂ emission and energy consumption can be reduced by 39% and 63%, respectively, by replacing OPC with geopolymer binders.

Keywords: life cycle analysis; LCA; rigid pavements; geopolymer concrete; GPC; waste clay bricks; WCBs; carbon emission; energy consumption.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSPR.2022.128746

International Journal of Student Project Reporting, 2022 Vol.1 No.2, pp.143 - 165

Received: 05 Jan 2022
Accepted: 13 Jul 2022
Published online: 02 Feb 2023 *

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