Project duration: 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2022
Objective
IDEAL’s objective is the upscale and commercialization of fire resistant air fresh material for the construction sector. The material is made out of mining slags while the addressed markets for fire resistant and photocatalytic components represent values of €25 and €10 billion respectively.The commercialization of the results will be held by a Joint Venture constituted by partners from the consortium and EIT RM.
The solution (technology)
The IDEAL project demonstrates an innovative waste-to-product approach that valorises industrial residues and waste (with almost negative cost) by transforming them into smart, functionalized materials with added-value. As a case study, the IDEAL project applies this approach to the slags produced by a mining and smelting company and transforms them in advanced fire resistant and photocatalytic geopolymer components that destroy air pollutants in indoor environments and at the same time protect the structure against fire.
The proposed approach combines existing know how and expertise of the involved partners, following three distinct steps:
(a) Development of large scale prototype adjusting the commercial requirements
(b) Engineering of the material formulation to be compatible with casting and 3D printing
(c) Production of the materials, and demonstration in a relevant environment through fire tests in a tunnel and in a demo-building.
IDEAL lowers the cost of fire resistant components by more than 50%, while improves their capabilities beyond those of commercial products and market parts that decrease fire-related risks, improve safety, and remove pollutants that are harmful for people. In addition IDEAL reduces the waste production (50%) with the additive manufacturing production method.
Partnership
- Boliden Mineral AB, Sweden
- DESAMANERA SRL, Italy
- DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
- Enalos Research and Development, Greece
- Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Greece
- Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
- LTU Business AB, Sweden
- National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
- University of Padova, Italy
- Tecnalia Research & Innovation Foundation (Lead Partner), Spain