“DECARBONIZATION OF BRICKS IN HEAVY CLAY INDUSTRY ”
Climate crisis, energy crisis, political turning point…Decarbonization is the issue of our time. The challenges in building materials production are particularly evident in this year 2022. Permanent price increases and the continuing supply insecurity of natural gas cast doubt on the resilience of these energy-using industries. The path to large-scale industrial use of renewable energy seems inevitable, with electrification of process production plants being a viable approach. This approach seems particularly sensible if the electricity demand can be generated on site from solar, wind or biogenic residues. In the near future, building products should not only shine with their required performance in terms of statics, thermal insulation and long service life, but also with the lowest possible CO2 footprint and other indicators, such as those used in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). With a little additional effort, this new innovative building material can also be presented as climate-neutral in its balance sheet, as the German government has already demanded with its proclaimed greenhouse gas neutrality for the year 2045. Schlagmann Poroton, as an innovation leader in the heavy clay industry for the manufacturing of masonry bricks, is part of the Wienerberger Group and faces this challenge to bring new building products with a reduced CO2 footprint to the market. In the brick industry, 2 types of CO2 emissions can be distinguished. Firstly, the energy emissions required for heating in the two main process steps of drying and burning and, secondly, the process emissions caused by the secondary component of lime in the clay during firing. Current solution concepts are presented.
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“CURRICULUM VITAE”
Since 2009 R&D manager for Schlagmann Poroton, Wienerberger group
– Responsible for insulating materials, lightweight aggregates, especially perlite
– Expert for binding agents like organic polymers, cement
– Manager of R&D funding projects on national and international level
– Proposal writer of national funding projects
– Contact person for the collaboration with Universities and Research Institutes
– Chemist for construction and building materials
– Transfer of R&D activities from lab to industrial scale
– Manager for regulatory affairs
– Contact person in chemical issues for clients
2009: Obtaining the Ph.D degree at the University of Regensburg, Department of Organic Chemistry