5 ms·
but we have more sand than iron-dust, no?
by anotheryou 8y ago
but we have more sand than iron-dust, no?
- d4mi3n 8y agoGood question. I know for a fact that the type of sand is important, specifically that the shape and grain of the sand required for concrete makes a lot of readily available sand unusable for concrete. As for iron dust, I have to agree. The only way I could see iron dust being practical is if this tech was able to repurpose industrial waste (rusted up sheet metal, old rebar, etc).
- jacobolus 8y agoFrom the article: > It’s actually created from waste steel dust which is normally discarded from industrial processes and silica from ground up glass. The iron within the steel dust reacts with C02 and rusts to form iron carbonate. It’s this that is fused into the matrix of Ferrock and, like concrete, after it’s dried, it cannot be melted back into a liquid form but retains its hard, rock-like qualities. > ... But there’s skepticism from the cement industry that while Ferrock could be great for niche projects, it isn’t practical for large-scale industrial use, like highways for example. If steel dust suddenly goes from being a “waste” material to a highly-prized building resource, it’s price will increase exponentially and the costs of producing Ferrock may limit its application.
- e12e 8y agoWell, just don't switch iron/iron oxide dust for aluminum dust... http://thehomescientist.blogspot.com/2010/03/experiment-silicon-dioxide-thermite.html http://thehomescientist.blogspot.com/2010/03/experiment-sili...
- JulianMorrison 8y agoI read that the Sahara is useless, for example, because desert sand is rolled rounded. The only sand that concrete can use is the dug up, sharp cornered kind.
- MarsAscendant 8y agoI wonder if it's possible to "roughen up" smooth sand for this purpose. Shoot it against itself in a special machine, thus breaking it to smaller, sharp-edged pieces... or something. "Large Saharan Collider – not what you think it is!"
- mobilefriendly 8y agoConcrete "sand" is made by smashing quartz into tiny rough bits.
- timkpaine 8y agoSurprisingly we don't https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/world-facing-global-sand-crisis-180964815/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/world-facing-g...
- rebuilder 8y agoWe may be running out of suitable sand to use for concrete, but that doesn't mean iron dust is more abundant.
- ubittibu 8y agoI heard that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on earth, so we could use stars instead..
- zeristor 8y agoHave you tried mixing stars and water together?
- MarsAscendant 8y agoI believe that's the recipe for the Philosopher's Stone, from the old books. That's why the Middle-Age alchemists couldn't make one. Now we can.
- zeristor 8y agoPerhaps that’s how the sauna was invented
- darkpuma 8y agoYou're forgetting that it's easier to create rock dust from scratch than it is to create iron dust from scratch. That's important when you're comparing the two, since you can't simply scoop up iron dust off beaches and river banks anyway. Given the choice between manufacturing rock dust and manufacturing iron dust, the choice is obvious. To manufacture rock dust you: 1. Quarry rock. 2. Pulverize it. To manufacture iron dust you: 1. Quarry ore. 2. Pulverize it. 3. Smelt it (which requires coke, a basket of worms in itself.) 4. Cast it. 5. Grind it.