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Coal
flyash tested as building block material
OAK
RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 28, 2002 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
researchers are testing a new wall system utilizing an extremely
lightweight concrete building material that could be used in wall
systems of future construction of homes and businesses.
 Researchers
at ORNL's Buildings Technology Center, working with TVA and Babb
International of Ringgold, Ga., are testing an autoclaved aerated
concrete block weighing as little as one-fifth the weight of an
ordinary concrete block. This block is composed of 70 percent recycled
flyash produced by TVA's coal-fired power plants.
Babb
International is the largest U.S. manufacturer of autoclaved aerated
concrete products.
Plans
call for the flyash block wall to be tested for one year at a Habitat
for Humanity home to be built in northern Georgia. ORNL researchers
hope to install instrumentation while monitoring the energy efficiency
and air-tightness of the home. The results will be compared to data
obtained from the insulation monitoring of two Habitat homes built
more than a year ago in Lenoir City.
Jeff
Christian, director of ORNL's Buildings Technology Center, said
that energy production and energy efficiency both can benefit through
this project.
"One
of the unique aspects of this particular research project is that
it helps the supply of energy by utilizing historic waste stream
- being flyash from coal-fired power plants - and enhances the country's
efforts to improve energy efficiency by providing an energy efficient
construction material," Christian said.
The
project will help the Department of Energy reach both of the broad
goals underlying the most recent national energy plan -  providing
energy supply in an environmentally responsible manner and promoting
energy conservation.
Testing
is taking place at ORNL's Buildings Technology Center, a DOE national
user facility that is the site for conducting research in improving
systems that make up roofs, walls and building foundations, as well
as the insulating materials these systems contain.
Christian
said preliminary tests in the Buildings Technology Center's whole-wall
hot box indicate the walls produce a thermal mass effect that can
heat a home at night long after the sun has set.
"The
thermal mass benefits of the autoclaved aerated concrete wall can
result in a home as energy efficient as a typical home constructed
of 2 by 4s in the Knoxville area," Christian said.
This
wall test marks the 200th user of the facility, which has provided
whole-wall performance evaluations of 67 different wall systems
for industry users.
ORNL
is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed by UT-Battelle
for the Department of Energy.
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Fred Strohl
Communications & Community Outreach
(865) 574-4165
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