CO2 Curing of Concrete Blocks

Abstract

As part of a future global atmospheric stabilization strategy, industrialized countries may need to sequester large amounts of CO2. One method could be to use CO2 in curing cement-based materials. Manufacturers of concrete masonry units could sequester CO2, reduce energy consumption, and reduce the associated generation of CO2 by switching from current steam curing processes to a CO2 curing process. Although CO2 curing provides slower strength development than steam curing, it has been shown that this performance can be improved if the blocks are properly preconditioned before CO2 curing. This article summarizes a laboratory study of CO2 curing for full-sized concrete masonry units (blocks) and compares the properties of CO2- and steam-cured blocks.