{"id":152453,"date":"2023-09-04T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=152453"},"modified":"2024-10-17T15:28:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T13:28:12","slug":"coffee-offers-performance-boost-for-concrete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/coffee-offers-performance-boost-for-concrete\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffee offers performance boost for concrete"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Lead author Dr Rajeev Roychand from RMIT University said the team developed a technique to make concrete 30% stronger by turning waste coffee grounds into biochar, using a low-energy process without oxygen at 350 degrees Celsius.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change,\u201d said Roychand, from the School of Engineering.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Australia generates 75 million kilograms of ground coffee waste every year \u2013 most of it goes to landfills. Globally, 10 billion kilograms of spent coffee is generated annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published in the\u00a0Journal of Cleaner Production<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the study by RMIT engineers is the first to prove that waste coffee grounds can be used to improve concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffee offers performance boost for concrete <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a \u201cdouble shot\u201d at life and reduce waste going to landfills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe inspiration for our work was to find an innovative way of using the large amounts of coffee waste in construction projects rather than going to landfills \u2013 to give coffee a \u2018double shot\u2019 at life,\u201d said Roychand, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeveral councils that are battling with the disposal of organic waste have shown interest in our work.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have already engaged us for their upcoming infrastructure projects incorporating pyrolysed forms of different organic wastes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pyrolysis involves heating organic waste in the absence of oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Drew
Drew Paten, Co-founder of Talwali, listens to Dr Rajeev Roychand explain how they used spent coffee grounds in their concrete, with fellow RMIT researchers Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian (pictured left to right). \u00a9 Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The construction industry can support the recycling of waste<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Joint lead author, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, a Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT, said construction industries around the world could play a role in transforming this waste into a valuable resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cInspiration for my research, from an Indigenous perspective, involves Caring for Country, ensuring there\u2019s a sustainable life cycle for all materials and avoiding things going into landfill to minimise the impact on the environment,\u201d said Kilmartin-Lynch from the School of Engineering.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe concrete industry has the potential to contribute significantly to increasing the recycling of organic waste such as used coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur research is in the early stages, but these exciting findings offer an innovative way to greatly reduce the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"Samples
Samples of unroasted coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, spent ground coffee and the team\u2019s coffee biochar. \u00a9 Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Preserving a precious natural resource<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Corresponding author and research team leader Professor Jie Li said the coffee biochar can replace a portion of the sand that was used to make concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe ongoing extraction of natural sand around the world \u2013 typically taken from river beds and banks \u2013 to meet the rapidly growing demands of the construction industry has a big impact on the environment,\u201d Li<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

50 billion tonnes of natural sand are used in construction projects globally every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere are critical and long-lasting challenges in maintaining a sustainable supply of sand due to the finite nature of resources and the environmental impacts of sand mining,\u201d Li<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith a circular-economy approach, we could keep organic waste out of landfill and also better preserve our natural resources like sand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Co-researcher Dr Mohammad Saberian said the construction industry needed to explore alternative raw materials to ensure its sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cOur research team has gained extensive experience in developing highly optimised biochars from different organic wastes, including wood biochar, food-waste biochar, agricultural waste biochar, and municipal solid-waste biochar, for concrete applications,\u201d Saberian<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"RMIT
RMIT University researchers Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Mohammad Saberian and Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch with Jordan Carter, Co-founder of the Indigenous-owned Talwali Coffee Roasters (pictured left to right). \u00a9 Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What are the next steps?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The researchers plan to develop practical implementation strategies and work towards field trials. The team is keen to collaborate with various industries to develop their research.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\u00a0RMIT
\u00a0RMIT researchers Professor Kevin Zhang, Professor Jie Li, Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch and Dr Mohammad Saberian in the RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, where they analysed the structure of their coffee concrete (pictured left to right). \u00a9 Will Wright, RMIT University<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Support for the research<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The authors acknowledge the support from ARUP Australia Pty Ltd, Earth Systems Pty Ltd and RMIT University, including the Strategic Capability Deployment Fund, Rheology and Materials Characterisation Laboratory, the X-Ray Facility and the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors also acknowledge the Indigenous-owned coffee supplier Talwali Coffee Roasters for providing used ground coffee for the research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Transforming spent coffee grounds into a valuable resource for the enhancement of concrete strength<\/a>\u2019 is published in the\u00a0Journal of Cleaner Production<\/em>. (DOI: 10.1016\/j.jclepro.2023.138205).<\/strong> RMIT co-authors are Dr Rajeev Roychand, Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, Dr Mohammad Saberian, Professor Jie Li, Professor Guomin (Kevin) Zhang and Professor Chun-Qing Li.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lead author Dr Rajeev Roychand from RMIT University said the team developed a technique to make concrete 30% stronger by turning waste coffee grounds into biochar, using a low-energy process without oxygen at 350 degrees Celsius. \u201cThe disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":152518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a \u201cdouble shot\u201d at life and reduce waste going to landfills","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[12738,18431,12430,18991,10416,25015,23016,13553],"supplier":[13483,25014],"class_list":["post-152453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biochar","tag-biorecycling","tag-buildingmaterial","tag-carbonwaste","tag-circulareconomy","tag-coffeegrounds","tag-coffeewaste","tag-concrete","supplier-rmit-university-melbourne-aus","supplier-talwali"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152453"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=152453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}