Petracrete is a new idea based on an ancient technology. The Roman empire had been able to create incredible structures without steel reinforcing, and without Portland cement. The ancient Aztecs, Mayans and Incas built incredible stone structures bonded together with a natural mortar. Portland cement as we know it today was never needed for their cement. Ordinary Portland cement contains 85% silic
ates and lime. The other 15% is made up of filler materials not needed for the cementing reaction. The lime "slakes" with water when added to create Calcium Hydroxide. The Hydroxide solution blends calcium with silicates. Calcium silicate hydrate is created. The Hydrate compound is actually the cementing agent. Sand, aggregate stone and other materials are cemented together by the calcium silicate hydrate. To obtain Portland cement bricks, stone and other materials are crushed and roasted in a furnace to extremely high temperatures. The roasting creates carbon dioxide at a rate of 1 ton per 1 ton of Portland cement produced. The roasting is essentially burning off the organic matter in the raw material to leave the silicates. The resulting "clinker" is crushed to a fine powder and sold as Portland cement. The mixture being silicates, lime and filler materials. We have found this is a very complicated procedure for the production of something very simple. Coal fired electrical plants burn coal to heat water to create steam pressure to spin turbines to produce electricity. As coal burns the organic matter is destroyed leaving fly ash and bottom ash. Both of these ashes are extremely good sources of silicate material. Fly ash and bottom ash can actually replace Portland cement in concrete production. This is significant in that coal ash waste can be beneficially used to reduce or eliminate a process that produces considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, Portland cement production. The resultant concrete materials are far superior to ordinary Portland cement products. Petracrete is waterproof, chemical resistant, does not absorb heat, has minimal cracking and can actually self heal. Also, Petracrete provides a method during the production of cement materials that reacts upon potentially toxic heavy metals in fly ash to render them non-viable as human pathogens. The sulfur ion is presented in a negative state allowing the continuous bonding of sulfur to positively charged heavy metal ions. Heavy metals effected in this reaction include mercury, zinc, arsenic, uranium, thorium, cadmium and others. These toxins are changed to sulfide crystal forms that are not water soluble and pose no threat to biological organisms. Petracrete can obtain and easily surpass the structural strength of ordinary Portland cement concrete. The proof is in the existence of the Pantheon, the Aqueducts and other wonders of the ancient world. The Roman pozzolans were found naturally as a result of volcanic activity. They mixed volcanic ash, burnt limestone, volcanic rock and water. Their silicates were the volcanic ash and rock. Their calcium hydroxide was made from burning white limestone and blending the resultant slurry with water, essentially lime "slaking" the water to calcium hydroxide. Chemically their mixture was the same as our synthetic pozzolan, fly ash, and our calcium hydroxide is chemically the same as their slaked lime. In addition, sulfur also known as brimstone would have been present on their volcanic materials as sulfur is found near the vents and brim of active volcanoes. We have recreated the concrete mix that has given the Pantheon strength for over 2000 years. In addition, that very mix renders heavy metal contaminants non-toxic through the same natural chemical reaction. This technology should lead to the understanding that Coal electric production and contaminants are not confined instances, but related to an entire life cycle. If waste products can be used beneficially to reduce and replace other processes causing the elimination of carbon dioxide emissions should the coal plants not receive credits for these emission reductions? Proper studies must be made to understand the complete impact of carbon emissions in totality. In the end, most likely Coal emission, subtracting the reduction in Portland cement emission can easily surpass the EPAs new goal of 1000lbs. of carbon dioxide produced per kilowatt hour of electrical generation. This would make coal clearly the cleanest, cheapest and best form of electrical production known today. In addition toxic fly ash accumulations would be eliminated as all coal ash can be utilized in concrete. The TVA Kingston spill could never be repeated. Petracrete - the comprehensive environmental solution.
