Innovative applications of nonmetallic materials
"The vision and mission of NEXCEL is to accelerate the innovative applications of nonmetallic materials and create a low-carbon and more sustainable solution for construction industry. By developing new technologies and formulating new standards, NEXCEL plays an important role in promoting people's awareness of nonmetallic materials, and expanding and accelerating the application of nonmetallic materials in the building and construction sector."
At the 2024 China Development Forum, Mr Amin H. Nasser, Aramco President & CEO, also said:
As an international innovation platform, NEXCEL has an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary technical committee composed of academicians and top experts. NEXCEL has formulated 9 industry and group standards, and carried out nearly 20 demonstrations such as buildings, bridges and asphalt pavement, which reduces CO2 emission by over 10,000 tons.
Dr Li Juan, Program Director of NEXCEL, introduced the outcomes of NEXCEL projects. The project of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite solves the problem of lack of testing and evaluation for thermoplastic composite reinforcement that fills the gap in China, and can better meet the application needs of engineering; The project of high compatibility self-healing fire-retardant coating on the surface of nonmetallic materials can give the material self-healing performance and extend the service life of composites; The high-flame retardant and ultra-long service life thermoplastic polyolefin waterproof sheets developed by NEXCEL project is suitable for long-term high temperature waterproof scene, realizing the vision of "same life with building"; The project of snow melting of phase change energy storage intends to develop high-performance, low-cost oil-based composite that can overcome the traditional snow removal method with low efficiency and environment pollution.
Low-carbon sustainability
In the field of road engineering, mechanical foamed warm mix asphalt technology has made a big breakthrough, which reduced asphalt mixture construction temperature by more than 20℃, reduced CO2 emissions by more than 50%. The in-situ recycling technology of waste asphalt pavement can use 100% of waste pavement materials, reduced the construction temperature by 30℃, reduced CO2 emissions by 60%, and has been demonstrated in shanghai-Shaanxi Highway and Baomao Highway. Recycled plastics are used to partially replace asphalt and mineral fillers, and 150,000 tons of waste plastics can be used for every 10,000 kilometers of asphalt pavement, reducing 10 million tons of CO2 emissions, and the project outcomes have been applied in a road construction in Jiangsu Province.
The ultra-low energy building insulation and structural integration project can realize the same life of building envelope and main structure, reduce CO2 emissions by 30%, and reduce whole life cycle cost by 30%; The cement-based material prepared by desulfurized petroleum coke slag and CO2 has a carbon utilization rate over 10%. The research and development of new materials not only promotes the progress of science and technology, but also brings unlimited possibilities for environmental protection, energy utilization and the improvement of life quality.
"1,000 tons waste polymer recycled, 10,000 tons CO2 reduced, 1,000,000 trees planted." NEXCEL is proud of the project achievements and industry contributions.
Innovation empowering new opportunities
At present, 5G construction is in full swing all over the world. Compared with metal tower, the FRP composite tower is lighter and stronger, and the installation and transportation are also convenient, which greatly reduces the cost of inspection and maintenance of towers. The 5G FRP tower built by the project in Egypt has been highly praised by Egyptian users and hailed as an unprecedented technological innovation by Egyptian telecom companies.
In Haiphong City Vietnam, the Lahe Port project undertaken by Jiangsu Hengmeide New Materials Company is under construction. It is worth noting that the reinforcement used in this project is FRP rebar from NEXCEL project, which significantly improves the durability of concrete structures while achieving energy saving and low carbon in the whole life cycle.
"In the next stage, NEXCEL will continue to increase the development and promotion of high-quality materials in the field of construction, and promote the high-quality development of infrastructure to meet the needs of economic and social development." Li Juan is full of expectations.
"The building materials industry is currently in a more efficient, more environmentally friendly and more intelligent direction, which not only solves the existing problems in the industry, but also brings new development opportunities for the industry. In the future, NEXCEL is committed to promoting the green and low-carbon transition through the nonmetallic materials industry, and the cooperation with Saudi Aramco has potential to positively contribute to low-carbon development, while helping the transformation and development of the global building materials industry."
Wail Al Jaafari, Saudi Aramco Executive Vice President of Technical Services, said:
"We look forward to expanding our efforts with CNBM as we pursue new breakthroughs in materials science that have potential to deliver tangible benefits for the building sector and beyond. From developing solutions that could reduce construction emissions to innovations that enhance product performance, our goal is to help drive the materials transition. "