KIIT researchers have developed a cement-less green construction material. For the first time, the technology has been implemented successfully in Odisha.
Experiments with the novel road construction material were carried out on a pilot basis near village Amanapada in Cuttack district in the first week of June 2020. The innovative Green Concrete road was constructed without using cement and using only industrial wastes. The new technology, which does not contribute to global warming, has potential to bring about a revolution in engineering constructions, claimed KIIT researchers.
The cement industries contribute about 6% of all CO2 emissions, next only to automobiles. Ever increasing production of cement may also cause acute shortage of limestone, the main raw material, in 25 – 50 years.
Fly ash (FA), a waste product from thermal industries, is simply dumped on the earth occupying a large space. Hence, an alternative binder like Geo-polymer concrete is an emerging alternative construction material to the conventional cement concrete. Fly ash is the source material rich in silica and alumina, which reacts with an alkali solution to produce alumina silicate gel that binds the fine as well as coarse aggregates to produce a good mode of concrete.
The behaviour of fly ash based geo-polymer concrete on mechanical and durability properties are similar to normal cement concrete. The durability and serviceability property is much better than normal cement concrete. The innovation is a result of the collective effort of the academic fraternity and the all supportive engineering personnel who extended whole-hearted assistance.
The pilot project was carried out by Rural Works Department, Cuttack under research and development (R&D) scheme under the guidance (technical support, Supervision and Quality Check) of Prof. Dillip Kumar Bera, Associate Professor KIIT Deemed to be University and Prof. Ashoke Kumar Rath, former professor of KIIT. All tests were carried out at the KIIT laboratory before implementation.
Expressing his happiness, Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS thanked all M. Tech and Ph.D students including research scholars Er. Jagannath Patel, Er. Subodha Routrai and Er. Amarendra Mohapatra, who were involved in this research work. The research and development projects in KIIT have been continuing since its inception. It is the latest among several success stories, added Dr. Samanta.
Er. Santosh Mishra, EE, Er. Prahalad Barik, Er. Prasanna Sahoo, Er. Ramyaranjan Panda of RD-Cuttack-1, Er. Nilamadhaba Sahu, Er. Saheb Kumar Sahu, Er. Satyajit Dalai, Er. Prasant Kumar Satpathy, Contractor, Mr. Sheik Khalilulla, social activist, Mr. Lalit Kumar Dash were present during the construction work.