Plans Moving Ahead for Autoclaved Cellular Concrete

Autoclaved cellular concrete—a well-accepted building product in Europe for more than 35 years—is moving closer to reality here. North American Cellular Concrete is building a prototype manufacturing plant to demonstrate how the product is produced and what it’s like to work with. With funding from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and participating utility companies, the mobile facility will begin operation this fall at New Eng­land Electric’s coal generating station in Somerset, Massachusetts. After several months there, it will be moved to other utilities around the country, including United Illuminating Connecticut, Public Service Company of Indiana, and Ohio Edison.

Reducing solid waste is the motivation for the utility industry’s involvement with autoclaved cellular concrete (ACC). They spend about $1 billion per year getting rid of fly ash produced by coal-fired power plants, according to Mike Miller, EPRI’s program manager for Waste and Water Management. ACC blocks are produced from fly ash (30-40%), along with cement, lime, and a small amount of alumina. By autoclaving the formed but uncured block at high temperature and pressure, the material is chemically transformed into an inert calcium silicate mineral.