Quad®– Circular economy & Sustainable construction
Environmental challenges
The supply of sand and aggregates is becoming a major challenge in the face of dwindling resources and new types of available aggregates.
Every year, 15 to 20 billion tonnes of sand are used by the construction industry. While this figure is impressive, it becomes even more so when we compare it to the sands that can be exploited by this industry.
Indeed, the majority of the so-called “complex” aggregates (deserts, local quarries, seabeds, etc.) available on our planet are not exploitable for the manufacture of concrete, leading to various problems – high presence of clays, excess of fines, too slick, poor bonding with cements – thus restricting the quantity available of this precious resource.
Complex Aggregates: Impacts on Concrete Performance and Placement
Lack of fines
Compactness – Porosity
Rheology – Penetration, pumpability issues
Excess of fines
Water demand / admixture
Rheology – pumpability and workability
Productivity – Mixing time
Sand shapes
Water demand / Admixture
Rheology – pumpability and workability
Maintaining workability
Productivity – Mixing time
Swelling clays
Water demand / Admixture
Rheology – pumpability and workability
Maintaining workability
Productivity – Mixing time
Quad® solution
Promoting the circular economy: a shift in aggregate supply
The use of a wide range of sands, with the integration of complex sands, allows to optimise local resources, to reduce supply costs and to decrease the carbon footprint.
With the Quad® solution, Chryso extends the field of use of complex aggregates in concrete formulations.
It becomes possible to use locally sourced aggregates and/or aggregates from deconstruction sites, while maintaining the technical performance of concrete.
The implementation of a circular economy approach with the use of local aggregates or aggregates from deconstruction sites is a major challenge to accelerate sustainable construction.
The Quad® range and dedicated services allow to optimise production costs and to improve the quality and performance of concrete using complex aggregates.
Related services
Quad® Lab is an advanced aggregate diagnostic tool, developed to analyse your sands and select the Quad® admixture best suited to your needs.
To go even further in the selection of your local aggregates, Chryso offers you a set of services that can be carried out in the field:
Analysis of your sands
Thanks to Chryso® Clear Test, a unique, patented tool developed by Chryso, we are able to quickly reveal the presence of swelling clays in sands.
The test can be performed directly in the field or in the laboratory. It offers an immediate and targeted result.
Quad® 815
Quad® 815 is a chemical admixture specifically designed to selectively react with clay contaminants in both coarse and fine aggregates.