Producing CO2-optimized concrete without affecting compressive strength is an all-too-familiar challenge – but now an innovative concrete admixture is setting an entirely new standard in efficiency and sustainable construction. Read on to discover how Master X-Seed STE from Master Builders Solutions offers a new way forward to help reduce your carbon footprint. Here are 11 reasons to use Master X-Seed STE for strong, CO2-optimized concrete…
1. Master X-Seed STE helps reduce the CO2 emissions associated with concrete
Managing environmental impact is a priority at all stages of the construction process. Embodied energy – the energy involved in extracting, transporting and processing raw materials – is one of the key factors used to measure the sustainability of a construction material or product.
Using Master X-Seed STE, you can reduce the Portland cement content in a concrete mixture to a minimum and instead use higher replacement levels of supplementary cementitious materials. As a result, you can decrease the energy demand and CO2 emissions associated with Portland cement’s production for your mix design. Thanks to the opportunity to replace up to 15 % of Portland cement with limestone filler, you can significantly reduce the heat of hydration and CO2 emissions involved in concrete production. Consequently, you can decrease the embodied energy of the concrete mix from cradle to gate.
2. Master X-Seed STE removes the need to compromise
Until now, concrete manufacturers and specifiers had to consider the potential trade-off between environmental gains and loss of performance when designing mixes for reduced CO2 emissions. The availability of fly ash and slag, in addition, has become increasingly challenging. Limestone filler is among the most easily accessible alternative material but provides only limited strength development. Master X-Seed STE – the STE in its name stands for ‘strength enhancing’ – delivers exactly what it promises, both for early and late strength development. This aspect of Master X-Seed STE sets it apart from other products currently available on the market, making it the first of its kind in supporting sustainable construction and performance at all stages.
3. Master X-Seed STE enables reduced cement content with consistent performance
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Master X-Seed STE’s ability to enable cement content reductions while keeping the same strength development and reducing CO2 emission lies in the admixture’s specially developed mechanism of action. This allows the concrete mix design to be adapted by reducing the cement content and replacing it with limestone filler or supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). With Master X-Seed STE, you can maintain the same strength development of concrete even when the mix is produced using variable raw materials.
4. Master X-Seed STE promotes cement hydration
You can reduce the cement content in your concrete mix design without decreasing the water–cementitious materials ratio. The science behind this exceptional capability comes from our C-S-H (calcium-silicate hydrate) seeding technology, which improves the hydration process by suspending synthetically produced crystalline calcium silicate hydrate nanoparticles in the mix.
5. Master X-Seed STE increases both early and late strength development
Master X-Seed STE is unique in enhancing both early (one-day) and late (28-day) strength development. At the same time, it avoids the typical demands of higher cement content and a reduced water-cement ratio that high-strength concrete mixes can involve.
6. Master X-Seed STE provides a strength safety factor and/or expanded performance space
The immediate benefits of Master X-Seed STE’s strength-enhancing technology include the flexibility to expand the performance parameters of the concrete mix, improving the concrete’s strength safety factor as a result.
7. Master X-Seed STE increases construction and production efficiency
The strength enhancement provided by Master X-Seed STE means that contractors can exploit quicker shoring and stripping time and reuse of formwork, increasing production efficiency and the speed of construction in both precast and ready-mixed concrete applications. Thus, the use of Master X-Seed STE results in improved production schedules and helps to meet tight deadlines.
8. Master X-Seed STE encourages a more durable mix design
Master X-Seed STE allows you to include higher levels of limestone filler or SCMs in a concrete mixture, optimizing the use of raw materials while improving the durability of your concrete and extending its service life through a robust, clinker-efficient mix. A more durable concrete means reduced maintenance, too – lowering whole-life costs.
9. Master X-Seed STE is compatible with standard cements and admixtures
This ready-to-use liquid admixture is added during the mixing process and can be used with all types of EN 197 cement, meaning that it offers an ideal solution to overcome the problem of maintaining compressive strength with variable raw materials in concrete production. It is also fully compatible with common admixtures. The additional use of high-range water reducers such as MasterEase or MasterGlenium can further enhance the strength development of your concrete mix.
10. Master X-Seed STE brings design flexibility
The increased strength development brought by using Master X-Seed STE provides you with more flexible engineering and design options, from reducing the size of structural elements to increase the usable area to decreasing floor slab thickness and more.
11. Master X-Seed STE supports low heat of hydration
Master X-Seed STE is the perfect choice for large and mass concrete constructions where low heat of hydration during concrete curing is a prerequisite. In any large-scale project, the thermal gradient is impacted by the higher rate of heat loss from the exterior surfaces compared to the inner core. Using Master X-Seed STE contributes to achieving a low heat of hydration, which helps to control the non-uniform expansion of concrete within the structure’s body, minimizing cracking.
Reference: Static restoration of the breakwater at the Port of Augusta, Italy
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If you have any questions, feel free to contact Oliver. You can also find more information about the impressive early and late strength development and other advantages of Master X-Seed STE by visiting this page.
Oliver Mazanec
