Turning Mud into A Strong Concrete
Inspired by his childhood living in brick houses in Togo, Gnanli Landrou has developed a technology that turns local excavation materials into poured earth concrete. His invention forms a hard, build-ready material that doesn't use cement in just 24 hours. He hopes to take the technology to market through his startup, Oxara. [1]
Figure 1: turning mud into eco-friendly ‘concrete’.
Figure 1 shows that Landrou researched the challenges facing the global construction industry: the energy- and CO2-intensive production of cement, the dwindling supplies of construction grade sand and gravel, and the high cost of concrete, which is simply unaffordable in many countries.
Landrou on his time as a doctoral student at ETH, where he found a supportive environment and an inspiring mentor in Professor Guillaume Habert. Together, they developed a process to turn clay-based excavation material into an alternative concrete without the addition of cement.
Landrou’s soil-based concrete can be poured while fresh; it hardens rapidly and is suitable for building floors and non-load-bearing walls. Its processing resembles that of conventional concrete and it uses a similar infrastructure.
“Our technology gives clay construction nearly all the processing benefits of cement, while being about 2.5 times cheaper and 20 times more environmentally friendly,” explains Landrou. The market potential for non-structural building elements is considerable. [2]
It’s got a far lower carbon footprint than concrete – and it’s about to be used in a new apartment block. [3]
Gnanli Landrou helping his neighbours dry out soil to make bricks, and his big dream is to help people like them build stronger, cheaper, houses.But the European building industry is also excited about his new, low carbon building material. [3]
References:
- https://www.forbes.com/profile/gnanli-landrou/?sh=667ec7641a5d
- https://www.livescience.com/59278-turn-any-flat-surface-into-touchpad.html
- Source:https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2019/02/portrait-gnanli-landrou-oxara.html
- https://netionaldastak.com/the-man-turning-mud-into-eco-friendly-concrete/
- Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3j2b
Cite this article:
Sri Vasagi K (2022), Turning Mud into A Strong Concrete, Anatechmaz, pp. 349