Boron Concrete For Active Formation of Lithium As Mitigation of Neutron-Induced Expansion and Passive Neutron Absorption

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Program:
Exploratory Topics
Award:
$1,176,976
Location:
Gainesville, Florida
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
09/20/2019 - 12/19/2022

Critical Need:

This topic would develop extremely durable concretes and cementitious materials to tackle technology challenges in the development of widely applicable concrete and cement. Cement is the second most used substance in the world (next to water), largely due to its low cost, abundance, and reliability in a wide variety of environments. Cement has been a LITERAL building block of society dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, but current production and utilization methods pose significant energy and emissions challenges. These threaten cement’s growth as domestic infrastructure degrades with age. Cement is important to U.S. energy production, as well as to infrastructure industry. The International Energy Agency estimated that in 2016 the cement and concrete sector consumed 10.5 exa-joules of energy and generated 2.2 gigatons of CO2 emissions globally. ARPA-E is seeking to develop novel materials for infrastructure with improved performance and lifetime and lower energy and emissions impacts. These projects present opportunities to develop material and process improvements that could improve the durability of cement, while maintaining or lowering production and deployment-related emissions. They could also ensure new types of cement are cost-competitive with existing traditional materials.

Project Innovation + Advantages:

Develop a means to combat the damage that neutron exposure causes to concrete used to house nuclear reactors. The project will explore novel additives incorporating boron and will determine whether or not, when bombarded with neutron radiation, these can produce lithium that improves the concrete’s strength and extends its lifetime.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Marina Sofos
Project Contact:
Dr. Christopher Ferraro
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
ferraro@ce.ufl.edu

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Release Date:
05/09/2019