The latest SeRaMCo group meeting (14th and 15th November 2019) was organized in Nancy (Institut Jean Lamour, Université de Lorraine). It has naturally been an opportunity for presentations and discussions concerning the developed products, the pilot projects (city of Seraing, city of Saarlouis and department of Moselle) or the strategy to achieve long term effects. This meeting has also been the occasion to visit the facilities of two project partners.
The laboratory Institut Jean Lamour has been visited, especially equipment allowing advanced characterization of materials used in civil engineering or other fields. Equipment for X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy analysis and nanomaterials elaboration and characterization under vacuum were presented. In the SeRaMCo project, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used for characterization of the recycled aggregates (mineralogical composition), evaluation of their effect on the raw meal (unreacted minerals, free lime, etc.) and study of the properties of the clinkers produced (cement composition, minerals shape, etc.).
The partners had also the opportunity to visit a cement plant in Xeuilley (Vicat). After an introduction to cement production in this plant (semi-dry process with a granulation step of the raw meal), a guided tour was done around the site. It has been then possible to discuss the challenges of using recycled aggregates (fines) in cement industry (competition with other wastes, supply chain) and the importance of each cement plant specificity (process, quarry composition, etc.). For example, for SeRaMCo project, the two industrial trials of cement production were done in Créchy cement plant and not Xeuilley because it’s easier to incorporate recycled aggregates with a dry process (without granulation of the raw meal).
