Contribution of Metasilicates Containing TENORM to Radon Activity Concentration in Building Materials

Author(s):  
Antonella Nicolino ◽  
Mattia Rocco Ligato ◽  
Mario Ferraro ◽  
Salvatore Procopio

Abstract Radon exhalation from soil and ores is among the most dangerous risks for the public health care. The impact becomes even more powerful when technological enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) are used for public and private building. Here, we report the realization of a down-scaled model of a building, whose construction materials contain TENORM harvested in a site in Crotone (Italy). We observe an increase of the radon activity in the model when TENORM residues are employed. These results have then been compared to a real use case. The correspondence found between the values of radon activity concentration in the model and in the use case suggests that estimating the radon concentration is an useful method to target TENORM presence inside buildings.

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Salmabanu Luhar ◽  
Demetris Nicolaides ◽  
Ismail Luhar

Even though, an innovative inorganic family of geopolymer concretes are eye-catching potential building materials, it is quite essential to comprehend the fire and thermal resistance of these structural materials at a very high temperature and also when experiencing fire with a view to make certain not only the safety and security of lives and properties but also to establish them as more sustainable edifice materials for future. The experimental and field observations of degree of cracking, spalling and loss of strength within the geopolymer concretes subsequent to exposure at elevated temperature and incidences of occurrences of disastrous fires extend an indication of their resistance against such severely catastrophic conditions. The impact of heat and fire on mechanical attributes viz., mechanical-compressive strength, flexural behavior, elastic modulus; durability—thermal shrinkage; chemical stability; the impact of thermal creep on compressive strength; and microstructure properties—XRD, FTIR, NMR, SEM as well as physico-chemical modifications of geopolymer composites subsequent to their exposures at elevated temperatures is reviewed in depth. The present scientific state-of-the-art review manuscript aimed to assess the fire and thermal resistance of geopolymer concrete along with its thermo-chemistry at a towering temperature in order to introduce this novel, most modern, user and eco-benign construction materials as potentially promising, sustainable, durable, thermal and fire-resistant building materials promoting their optimal and apposite applications for construction and infrastructure industries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 140-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Simons ◽  
Alexandra Bertron ◽  
Christophe Roux ◽  
Aurélie Laborel-Préneron ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Aubert ◽  
...  

The impact of building materials on the environment and the health of occupants is nowadays a priority issue. Ecological construction materials such as earthen materials are currently experiencing a regain of interest due to both ecological and economic factors. The microbial proliferation on indoor materials can induce a deterioration of the building air quality and lead to an increase of health risks for the occupants. The issue of indoor air quality raises questions about the use of earthen building materials and their possible susceptibility to fungal development. The microflora of earthen materials and their ability to grow on such support are indeed poorly studied. This study focused on the quantification of both bacterial and fungal microflora along the manufacturing process. The impact of extreme humidity, simulating a hydric accident, on microflora development was analyzed on the surface and inside earthen bricks. The initial microflora of these materials was dramatically reduced during the manufacturing process, especially after heat treatment for drying. Proliferation of remaining microorganisms was only observed under high humidity condition, in particular for earthen materials with vegetal aggregates. Moreover, in situ samplings were performed on naturally dried earthen materials used in buildings. The characterization of the microbial density revealed a higher microbial density than on manufactured specimens, while microbial concentration and detected taxa seemed mainly related to the room use and building history. These results provide a better understanding of microbial proliferation on these materials.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia Orlovska ◽  
◽  
Daria Havrylenko ◽  

The main international trends in the world market of construction materials and services have been analyzed. The dynamics of world GDP and exports of construction services for the period 2000-2019 has been studied and a conclusion is made on the impact of economic crises on their growth rates. It has been determined that the dynamics of world exports of construction services is characterized by high instability with peaks of growth and decline, and is more sensitive than GDP growth. It has been noted that overcoming the crisis in the export sector of construction services takes more time and occurs with an approximate two-year time lag compared to GDP dynamics. The share of the construction industry in the world GDP by the degree of development has been analyzed. The reasons for the decline in the share of the construction industry in countries with economies in transition have been substantiated. It has been noted that in the developed countries the share of the construction sector is accounted for by real estate management activities related to maintenance, rent, purchase and sale and other transactions with land and real estate. The forecast values of growth of the market of building materials and services till 2030 have been given. The essence of the term «wide construction» has been revealed and the structure of this sector in different countries of the world is shown. The main exporters in the world construction market have been given and the structural distribution of the largest construction companies in the world ranking by country of origin has been analyzed. The dynamics of income level in the construction industry market for the period 2011-2018 has been studied. It has been noted that an important area of the construction sector is the market of roofing and facade materials and the world's largest companies for the production of this type of construction materials have been revealed. Conclusions on the essence of global transformations of the market of building materials and services have been made, and also it has been defined that they are caused by transnationalization of corporate structure of the market, influence of scientific and technical progress and information and communication technologies on world centers as well as the emergence of the concept of «sustainable construction» in the course of humanity for sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelrhman Muhamed Fahmy Sayed Ahmed ◽  
Fatma Muhamed Helmy

Abstract Abusir is the name of an elaborate burial area, dotted with 19 pyramids other temples, stretching on the western side of the Nile from the south of the Giza Plateau to the northern rim of Saqqara. It seems to have been created as the resting site for the Pharaos dated from 2494 to 2345 BC. The name Abusir, originally spoken as Busiri, means” temple of Osiris”. Over time, the name has become so popular, that more than 60 villages now carry this name. But only one is the archaeological site. This paper does not refer to all of the Abusir archaeological area, but focuses one of its most important sites: Sahure pyramid, one of Egypt’s little known, but heavily damaged treasure. One of the highlights of the relevant research is the discovery of a piece of cement (Basaltic mortar/concrete), which consists of several materials and which is harder than any cement produced today and detection of a clear and significant Anorthite mineral (Plagioclase) in the mortar sample which had been proven by XRD, XRF (analysis) and Polarized light microscope (investigation). The main objectives of this paper are 1) to reveal and identify the construction materials of the pyramid and the construction of the pyramid,2) to evaluate the durability and vulnerability of the Ancient construction materials of Sahure pyramid,3) to compare the decayed patterns of the different construction materials, 4) to study the pyramid building materials from geological, meteorological, geochemical, petrological and petrophysical point of view, and 5) to present a proposal for scientific conservation and protection of the pyramid. Laboratories and field studies have been carried out by researchers from various countries to investigate and understand the problems of the pyramid leading to the final results which confirmed the impact of the geo environment conditions on the structural and engineering stability of the pyramid.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ema Sinanović ◽  
Feriz Adrović ◽  
Amira Kasumović ◽  
Amela Kasić

Man is continuously exposed to ionizing radiation because of the presence of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the environment. Various technological processes of processing and using of materials that contain natural radionuclides generate materials of enhanced natural radioactivity (TENORM). The largest contribution to irradiance with natural sources of ionizing radiation is the exposure of the population to indoor radon. This gas originates from the radioactive decay of 226Ra and 224Ra that are present in the soil under houses and building materials. Depending on the type of building materials, indoor exposure to radon at dwellings and workplaces can be over a thousand times greater than in outdoor space. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, no valid and comprehensive radiological studies on the building materials have been performed that would guarantee for their dosimetric safety use for installation in residential and industrial buildings, highways, as well as their application for other purposes. The quantification of the radon levels that comes from building materials is a necessary and very important part of the global protection of the population from ionizing radiation. This paper presents the first results of a study on the radon activity concentrations in building materials used in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Measurements were performedwith a professional Alpha GUARD system. The mean values of the activity concentration of the exhaled radon of investigated building materials varied from 10 Bqm-3 to 101 Bqm-3, radon exhalation rate values ranged from 77.0 mBqm-2h-1 to 777.7 mBqm-2h-1. Gamma dose rate was in the range 57–112 nSv h−1.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Mona Baglou ◽  
Parviz Ghoddousi ◽  
Mohsen Saeedi

Construction industry regarded as one of the key aspects of achieving the goals of sustainable development in communities. In this regard, the choice of building materials is one of the key challenges in order to improve project performance with respect to sustainable development indicators and the use of sustainable materials, is an effective step towards achieving sustainable construction. This research uses information and evidence, interview and questionnaire prepared (by five points Likert scale method). Also, it has provided expert opinions related indicators widely used in a construction materials, manufacturing process and defining the impact of the production of these materials on sustainable development deals. Validity and reliability of the questionnaires were also performed (with Cronbach's alpha method). As a result of this research, Cement was identified as the most unsustainable material, after that Steel and then Brick and Glass were located with a wide margin. So Light concrete block, Gypsum, Stone, Lime, and Concrete were identified as the most sustainable materials according to existing indicators respectively. The consequences of this study can help the project executors in order to promote the use of sustainable building materials in construction and also industries will be aware of the impact of the sustainability indicators on their products.


Author(s):  
D. P. Kothari

The green building design aims to minimize the need for the non-renewable energy of these resources, optimize their sustainability and maximize their conservation, recycling and usage. The use of effective building materials and construction techniques is maximized. Architectural bioclimatic technology will also optimize on-site usage of sources and sinks. It requires only minimum electricity to fuel itself and efficient appliances to meet its lighting, air-conditioning and other needs. Green buildings architecture optimizes the use of renewable energies and efficient waste and water management methods to create practical and hygienic working conditions for indoor environments. Materials such as chemical, physical and mechanical material properties and an appropriate specification are the fundamental elements of construction design and responsible for the mechanical strength of the design. The construction of green buildings is also the first step in choosing and utilizing eco-friendly materials with or better characteristics than traditional building materials. Based on the practical, technical and financial requirements, construction materials are usually selected. But, given that sustainable development has been a core issue in recent decades, building industry that is directly or indirectly responsible for a substantial share of annual environmental destruction, by pursuing environmentally sound constructions and buildings should take responsibility for contributing to sustainable growth. The quickest way for manufacturers to start integrating environmental design practices into buildings would be the diligent procurement of eco-friendly sustainable construction materials, including options for new material uses, recycling and reusing, organic product creation and green resource use. This paper aims to show how green building materials will help reduce the impact on the atmosphere and create a cleaner building that can be healthy for the occupant or our environment. In the sustainable progress of a nation, the choice of building materials that have reduced environmental burdens is helpful.


Author(s):  
Laura Platace ◽  
Sandra Gusta

Abstract One of the most important parameters that is currently used in public and private procurement in building process is the lowest price. The legislation of Latvia permits that an estimate forming process does not include criterions of quality, durability, and the potential high cost of maintaining the building during the exploitation time. That allows the constructor to reduce the cost estimate by using cheaper construction product or technology and does not let to provide the highest possible quality and the basic principle of sustainable construction. One of possible construction cost reduction solutions is the replacement of building material with equal building material, at the same time assessing the quality and replacement impact on the direct costs of estimate. The tasks of the research are: (1) to do literature review on what is an estimate, what an estimate includes and the basis of estimate; (2) to analyse the existing construction estimate, to evaluate the used construction materials and to study technical characteristics of materials, to explore a specific construction junction; (3) to replace the selected construction materials with analogous, thus reducing the direct costs of estimate; (4) to evaluate the affect of the price of the construction material on quality; (5) to compare the obtained cost estimate with the current cost estimate; (6) to implement laboratory research and to compare technical characteristics of the construction materials and analogue materials in order to check if they are the performing parameters that are defined in the declaration of performance. After comparing of the obtained direct costs of construction and analysing the quality of construction materials it is possible to provide the most appropriate offer of the direct costs of estimate to satisfy the customer’s interests.


2021 ◽  
Vol 352 ◽  
pp. 00001
Author(s):  
Stanislava Gašpercová ◽  
Linda Makovická Osvaldová ◽  
Erik Richnavský

The future of the whole world focuses on reducing waste produced by people. As the construction sector is one of the biggest producers of waste, a great deal of effort has been made to introduce this trend in modern construction. The “green” building sector, therefore, draws attention to natural and recyclable building materials. These include natural thermal insulation such as cork, fiberboard, hemp insulation, and even sheep wool insulation. Almost all types of such insulation are made from waste materials which, were they not reused in the form of thermal insulation, would end up as municipal or biodegradable waste. At the same time, we should point out that almost all “green” construction materials are flammable. This feature is not very advantageous from the point of view of fire protection and it can significantly affect the fire safety of a construction. It is for this reason that the main objective of this research was to determine the impact of a radiant heat source on various types of thermal insulation used as plasterboard filling and to evaluate the possibilities of their use in sandwich constructions for fire protection purposes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 735 ◽  
pp. 145-148
Author(s):  
O. Richard Alonge ◽  
Mahyuddin Ramli

Metakaolin is a produce from Kaolinite. Meanwhile, Kaolinite is a natural clay mineral that consists of so many mineral materials, metakaolin inclusive, that can be used in many areas of life and hence sustainable in contents if process adequately. The issue of global warming coupled with a general belief of greenhouse gas emission through the production and usage of cement, a main building and infrastructures construction materials, necessitate for the substitution of cement in building materials most especially concrete. This study focused on the effect of metakaolin on the early day's strength of sandwich engineered cementitious concrete modified with nanosilica particles. The nanosilica in this mix served two purposes, one as a cementitious substitute and secondly as to increase the silica content of the normal sand used. The fresh and engineering properties of samples with 12% weight replacement of ordinary Portland cement with metakaolin was also evaluated. The surface area of metakaolin used in this experiment was 25.4m2/g. The result shows that the sandwich ECC samples modified with nanosilica produced higher strength compared with the base standard M45 ECC.


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