Ludhiana, July 17, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
An alumnus of 1966 batch of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Er Manmohan Jain has come up with a novel idea of Geopolymer cement, a green product which has a potential to replace Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) at a competitive price.
As per Er Jain, who is also one of the partners of a Chennai based firm Kiran Global, geopolymer cement sets faster and does not need water for mixing and curing in contrast to OPC. “Geopolymer concrete is made up of geopolymer cement that gains strength with the passage of time and does not cause any carbon-dioxide emission.
There is substantial saving in construction on account of speedy execution, superior finish and low maintenance,” he said.
Furthermore, Er Jain divulged that it has been used in parts of Delhi Metro and now railways were also using precast elements of geopolymer for paving stones. Notably, our country is the largest producer of cement and for every tonne of cement, 800 kg of carbon dioxide is generated, he disclosed.
Ponting out that construction industry was a major contributor to carbon emissions, Er Jain called the use of geopolymer cement as a step towards sustainable construction.
Dr Manjeet Singh, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, congratulated Er Jain for developing this novel technology.
He acknowledged the Department of Civil Engineering for conducting research on the performance of rice husk ash- and flyash- based geopolymers which were published in reputed journals as well.
“The use of geopolymer cement will help in lowering the environmental impact of OPC production and use,” he observed. However, in order to advocate the use of geopolymer cement/concrete, there is also a need to create more awareness in this direction, he stressed.
Dr Singh further said that agricultural engineers of PAU were excelling in diversified fields, be it farm machinery, soil and water engineering, processing and food engineering, mechanical engineering or software engineering.
Apart from this, some of the alumni of COAE were also working in management, banking, construction sector, etc., he informed.
The Head, Department of Civil Engineering, Dr VP Sethi, observed that the use of geopolymer cement in the construction of walls and other structural elements was in the nascent stage because there were no standard guidelines/codes for the use of geopolymer cement/concrete.
However, Russia, France and Australia have been using geopolymer cement for decades, he added.
Dr Preetinder Kaur, President of Alumni Association, appreciated the conscientious efforts made by the alumnus Er Jain in developing a geopolymer cement. She said that PAU agricultural engineers were playing a key role in developing novel solutions for creating sustainable ecosystems across the globe.
