Gypsum industry news

Germany: The German Gypsum Association (GIPS) has welcomed the publication of a government report that took an inventory of natural gypsum deposits. It supports the work as it allows its members to make qualified decisions about future planning. The Federal Commission on Geosciences (BLA-GEO) has created a register of gypsum supplies in the country. The association added that it believes there will be no large-scale alternatives to natural gypsum supplies in the foreseeable future. This is due to low volumes of gypsum recycling and falling production of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) Gypsum as coal power plants are shut down.

New Zealand: University of Canterbury (UC) student Andy (Minhong) Park has developed a biocomposite wall panel that uses seaweed or algae as a bio-filler. Preliminary testing indicates the plasterboard-style product offers similar fire performance to other commercially available products. Using seaweed also provides moisture control properties. The finished seaweed plasterboard product has a glossy marble surface, coloured green, red or brown depending on the type of seaweed used.

“Seaweed is fast-growing at 0.5m/day and is capable of sequestering around 173Mt/yr. It’s easy to cultivate and can be farmed offshore, not competing for farmable land with other bio-based materials, making it an attractive, low-cost farming commodity. Because seaweed can absorb carbon underwater, large wall-panel manufacturers could employ seaweed farming as a carbon offset by growing it,” said Park.

The 12 week project was supervised by UC Product Design Senior Lecturer Dr Tim Huber in collaboration with UC Fire Engineering Lecturer Dr Dennis Pau. While still in the early stages of research, design and testing, the team is working with the UC’s Research and Innovation team to develop a commercialisation plan, and Kaiārahi Rangahau Māori to identify suitable species of seaweed for product development and marine agriculture. The project recently won the UC Innovation Jumpstart Greatest Commercial Potential Award and a US$13,000 prize.

UK: Adaptavate and the University of Bath have produced alternative gypsum-free wallboard from compostable crop waste. The partners have received funding from the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) for a six-month pilot project of production of their prototype wallboard, called Breathaboard. It uses the natural properties of bacteria to form a board with similar properties to gypsum wallboard. The producers claim that it is both lighter and more insulative than gypsum wallboard. They hope to scale up production and market Breathaboard as an environmentally friendly alternative to gypsum wallboard, as it does not require gypsum extraction or flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) at coal-fired power plants.

Project leader Susanne Gebhard said “This is an exciting project that will see whether we can exploit the natural biofilm-forming abilities of bacteria to function as a kind of glue that will help improve the properties of biodegradable construction materials.”

Canada: Dalhousie University, in collaboration with the Canada and US joint Gypsum Association and Divert NS, has entered Phase 2 of its research project into uses of construction and demolition waste gypsum in concrete. The research, continuing until September 2023, will test the durability of various concrete mixes containing gypsum powder recycled from waste drywall. It will examine 81 specimens under three environmental exposures and three exposure durations. The team will use the results to understand the performance and environmental benefits of concrete containing recycled gypsum over the life of a structures. Study leader and Canada research chair in sustainable infrastructure Pedram Sadeghian said that Phase 1 of the study had demonstrated that gypsum could be a viable supplementary cementing material when combined with fly ash in concrete.

Sadeghain said “Our research group aims to study the durability of concrete containing recycled gypsum by monitoring compressive strength and potential expansion after exposure to selected environmental conditions, such as moisture and salt particle penetration, that are common to concrete structures exposed to the environment.”

Gypsum Association executive director Stephen Meima said “The gypsum industry is committed to landfill diversion of construction and demolition gypsum panel waste, and Professor Sadeghian’s work demonstrates that waste gypsum panels may have value beyond their service life in buildings and homes.”

Canada: The Gypsum Association has partnered with Divert NS to support research at Dalhousie University into the use of recycled gypsum from construction waste in concrete production. Dalhousie University previously demonstrated that gypsum could be a viable supplementary cementitious material when combined with fly ash in concrete. In this second phase of research, the team aims to expand on the work to optimise concrete production methods and product quality.

Canada research chair in sustainable infrastructure Pedram Sadeghian said “As durability is important for construction materials, our research group at Dalhousie University aims to study the durability of concrete containing recycled gypsum by monitoring the compressive strength and potential expansion after exposure to selected environmental conditions such as moisture and salt particle penetration that are common for concrete structures exposed to the environment.”

Gypsum Association executive director Stephen Meima said “We are very pleased to join Divert NS in supporting research that may improve numerous environmental outcomes. The gypsum industry is committed to landfill diversion of construction and demolition gypsum panel waste, and Professor Sadeghian’s work demonstrates that waste gypsum panels may have value beyond their service life in buildings and homes.”

UK: British Gypsum’s mine at Brightling near Robertsbridge has provided gypsum samples to researchers from the Natural History Museum. The rock specimens are intended to aid the scientists in looking at signs of past life in preparation for a joint European Space Agency and Russian Roscosmos State Corporation mission to send a robotic rover to mars in July 2020, according to the Rye & Battle Observer newspaper. Previously, NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity found bright veins of a mineral, which appeared to be gypsum, in 2011.

"Minerals like those found at Brightling hide clues within them that can tell us about the history of liquid water where they formed, and they have the potential to trap and preserve organic material. Studying these natural fresh samples on Earth that mimic not just the minerals, but also the formation environments we see on Mars, will give us an insight into the potential for life to be detectable at the ExoMars2020 landing site," said Louisa Preston, UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow and member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum.

US: Carbon monoxide (CO) from external sources can easily penetrate gypsum wallboard according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Neil B Hampson, James R Holm and Todd G Courtney of the Virginia Mason Centre for Hyperbaric Medicine. The study is believed to be the first to examine the ability of CO to diffuse through gypsum wallboard.

In the study, a plexiglas chamber divided by various configurations of gypsum wallboard was used to determine whether CO diffuses across wallboard. Wallboard of various thicknesses were used. CO test gas was infused into the chamber and then CO concentrations were measured once per minute in each chamber for 24 hours. The authors sought to determine how rapidly a concentration of CO toxic to humans would be reached in the non-infused chamber and whether diffusion would then continue. The researchers found that CO diffused across single-layer gypsum wallboard of two thicknesses, double-layer wallboard and painted double-layer wallboard.

"Gypsum's permeability to CO is due to its porosity. The ability of CO to diffuse across gypsum wallboard may explain at least some instances of CO poisoning in contiguous residences. Exempting residences without internal CO sources from the legislation mandating CO alarms may put people in multifamily dwellings at risk for unintentional CO poisoning," said the study. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes about 500 accidental deaths annually in the US.

China: Beijing New Building Materials Public Co Ltd (BNBM) has announced that it plans to invest US$58m to build three gypsum wallboard projects in China. BNBM, part of the massive state-controlled China National Building Material Co Ltd (CNBM) said that it will construct the plants to expand the domestic market for wallboard. In addition, the company will build a product development centre using a total investment of US$108m.

UK: Saint-Gobain, the French building materials giant, has opened its new innovation centre on Great Portland Street in London, UK to showcase the company's products. Showcasing innovative and sustainable products, the centre contains product libraries and resources for specifiers alongside meeting spaces and conference facilities. The centre will display products from Saint-Gobain's many UK businesses, including Artex, British Gypsum, Ecophon, Saint-Gobain Glass, Isover, Pasquill and Weber.

Models of construction products and solutions provide a better understanding of how systems work in practice, whilst screens showcase products, solutions and other Saint-Gobain initiatives.

Speaking at the launch, Saint-Gobain's CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar said, "With this new Innovation Centre, Saint-Gobain opens up to professionals with a global vision of our market to help develop and stimulate research. This Innovation Centre reflects our ambition to become the reference for sustainable habitat, bringing innovative solutions to meet the main challenges of our time."

Germany: Scientists have observed tailor-made specialist micro-organisms directly 'feeding' on CO2-containing flue gases from lignite-fired power stations, in what is being described as a 'very promising' initial result of a research project run by RWE Power and Brain AG. The research may have interesting implications for the gypsum industry, which already uses desulphurised flue gas.

The joint project, which has been running since January 2010, aims to convert CO2 into biomass or directly into secondary raw materials with the help of micro-organisms bred to explore innovative CO2 conversion and synthesis pathways. The ultimate aims of the project are to produce industrially-usable products. These are likely to include insulation and construction materials.

"Our pioneering work in the search for biotechnological CO2 conversion solutions bears first fruit," said Dr Johannes Heithoff, head of research and development at RWE Power. "We continue to lead the efforts to protect the climate."

The work is being carried out at the Coal Innovation Centre located at the Niederaussem power plant, which hopes to produce scaleable solutions to reducing emissions from coal-fired power stations. If such solutions can be found, the gypsum industry may find that desulphurisation of flue-gas moves into competition with the production of insulation materials or other chemicals.