BRE EP94 PDF

PREFACE

Calcium aluminate cements (CACs), also known as high-alumina cements, are a range of cements in which calcium aluminates are the principal constituents.

The first industrial process for the production of a cement based on calcium aluminates was patented in 1908 by Jules Bied and full commercialization took place shortly thereafter (described in the first paper). Since then, calcium aluminate cements have become hugely important for a wide range of applications. So it is fitting that we celebrate the arrival of the centenary of the discovery of CACs with an International Conference in Avignon, a location that is close to the site of the invention of CACs at Le Teil, just a few kilometres to the north.

This is the third International Conference on calcium aluminate cements, the first being at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, UK in 1990, the second being at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK in 2001. The Proceedings of both previous meetings are still widely used as standard texts on CACs, and we anticipate that the same will be true of these Proceedings.

The response to the call for papers for this meeting has been excellent, and these Proceedings demonstrate a strong continued interest and real progression in the knowledge and understanding of this important class of cement, demonstrating that CACs are well placed to continue being an important class of cement for, hopefully, the next hundred years.

In editing these Proceedings, we have been impressed by the number of papers dealing with applications of CACs, including a number of diverse uses, such as offshore applications and encapsulation. Interest in the use of CACs for wastewater treatment has clearly increased, owing to proven corrosion resistance, and we are able to devote a whole session to these studies. Refractory applications are still very much an area of interest, with three papers demonstrating that there is still room for innovation with one of the oldest applications for these versatile cements.

Various studies also demonstrate the increasing importance of CACs in formulations, with much interest in blended systems, including applications with fillers and reactive powders, and especially the ternary system with calcium sulphate and Portland cement. The prospects for these are demonstrated by a number of papers on self-levelling flooring applications, which are now very well established.

In addition to these application-oriented papers, we have some very strong contributions related to the phase systems, CAC types, hydration, mechanical properties and durability.

We would like to thank all the authors for their hard work in preparing their contributions and for meeting the rather tight deadlines that have enabled these Proceedings to be ready in time for the conference. The papers included in these Proceedings have all been reviewed by the Organising Committee, Scientific Advisory Panel and Referee Panel, all of whom have willingly given up their time to read the manuscripts carefully and offer the authors valuable assistance in refining their papers. We are profoundly grateful to them all.

The editors would also like to thank Kerneos Aluminate Technologies, Calucem and Cementos Molins for their unfailing financial and practical support for this meeting – without their assistance, this Centenary Conference simply would not have been possible. In particular, we acknowledge Francois Saucier (Kerneos), Christine Alvim (Kerneos), Frank Michael Kindler (Calucem) and Marieke Van den Berg (Molins), who have been of particular help with the practicalities of organising this event. We also wish to thank the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) for their support and assistance in various ways and in particular for promoting the meeting on their website.

Finally, but certainly not least, the Editors would like to extend particular thanks to Nick Clarke (who worked on the first of these meetings) of IHS BRE Press for all his hard work in the production of these Proceedings.

The Editors express the wish, on behalf of all authors, that readers find the volume topical and useful in their work: also, that it stimulates further work on this interesting and useful class of materials.