Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras
Unsaturated Anacardate based Foaming Agent(s) for the Preparation of Foam Concrete
Categories for this Invention
Technology: Foam Concrete
Category: Civil Infrastructures & Structural Engineering
Industry: Chemical/Construction.
Application: Preparation of foam concrete. Market: The global market size was valued at USD 95.6 Billion in 2022 and is poised to grow from USD 103.15 Billion in 2023 to USD 175.64 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% in the forecast period (2024-2031).
Image Gallery
Problem Statement
- Foam concrete is a lightweight construction material used in precast blocks, panels, and partition walls.
- It is produced through mixed foaming or preformed foam and requires suitable surface-active agents.
- The development of foam concrete focuses on using geopolymer materials, which are sustainable and environmentally friendly cementitious materials.
- Foam concrete development uses eco-friendly geopolymer materials, produced from agricultural and industrial waste, for strength, durability, and fire resistance, with optional calcium for ambient curing and early strength gain.
- The market offers proprietary foaming agents but from petrochemicals, This necessitates the identification of alternate foaming agents which are more sustainable than synthetic foaming agents.
Technology
The lightweight cellular foam concrete prepared by mixing
- Preformed foam, obtained by mechanical foaming of aqueous solution of salt of unsaturated anacardic acid(s) and
- Admixture for foam stabilization, and
- Base mix, obtained from Portland cement or geopolymer binder, aggregate, and water.
- A foam concrete comprising 5-70 vol% of a pre-formed foam and a base mix.
- Salts of unsaturated anacardic acid(s) are selected from the group comprising of monosodium anacardate, disodium anacardate, monopotassium anacardate, and dipotassium anacardate or other mono/di anionic derivatives of anacardic acids.
- Admixture is selected from the group comprising of Xanthan gum, Guar gum, and carboxyalkyl cellulose or other viscosity modifying agents/materials.
- The addition of admixtures significantly enhanced the foam stability.
- Foam stability has been assessed in terms of percentage liquid drained and foam density variation with time.
- The pre-formed foam is obtained from the foaming composition by passing compressed air through the said foaming composition or by high-speed stirring of the said foaming composition.
Key Features / Value Proposition
- A light-weight construction block prepared from the foam concrete.
- The foaming composition comprises 0.1 – 10 wt. % of salts of unsaturated anacardic acid(s), 0.01 – 2 wt. % of the stabilizing agent, and water, such that the sum of the three components is 100 wt.%.
- speed of stirring is 500 – 5000 rpm.
- Pressure of the compressed air is 30 – 350 kPa.
- Mixture of unsaturated anacardic acid(s), derived from cashew industry waste.
- Foam concrete mix design is carried as per ASTM C796.
Questions about this Technology?
Contact For Licensing
sm-marketing@imail.iitm.ac.in
ipoffice2@iitm.ac.in
Research Lab
Prof. Indrapal Singh Aidhen
Department of Chemistry
Prof. K Ramamurthy,
Department of Civil Engineering
Intellectual Property
- IITM IDF Ref. 2636
- Patent No: IN 530064
Technology Readiness Level
TRL-4
Experimentally validated in Lab