NBRI creates Pozzolana cement technology that reduces cement cost, pollution

Prof. Samson Duna, Director-General, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), says NBRRI has come up with a cement technology, Pozzolana, that will drastically reduce cost of cement and limit air pollution.

Duna said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ongoing Technology and Innovation Expo on Thursday in Abuja.

Pozzolana is a natural siliceous-aluminous material which reacts with calcium hydroxide in the presence of water at room temperature.

He said that the cost of cement had increased drastically recently and that the production of pozzolana cement would reduce the dependence on conventional cement as well as cut down the price.

“Once there is a shift in product, you will realise that the price will go down and you still get the product you want,” Duna said.

Accordingly, the Professor explained that pozzolana is produced from agricultural waste and natural volcanic waste.

He said that cement production was associated with emission of gases into the atmosphere leading to pollution.

Duna added that if the country ventured into pozzolana production, it would also greatly help in the reduction in gaseous pollution in the atmosphere and prices of cement as well.

The NBRRI Director-General said that recently the institute’s collaboration with Rotary club was very beneficial to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Speaking further, he recalled that the IDPs were taught how to mold blocks using the technology of pozzolana.

He said many of the IDPs in Abuja were taken to Jos where they were trained on the technology of pozzolana.

“We trained them on how to produce blocks and the blocks they produced were so fascinating because the technology is simple to understand.

“After that we gave them certificates. They were so happy and came back to tell us they wanted to construct their own buildings using the technology,” Duna said.

The NBRRI boss spoke of various technologies of NBRRI as well as its interventions in collapsed buildings in Nigeria.

“When a building collapses, we go in to investigate. Our mandate does not give us power to arrest because we are a research institution.

“We carry out research and investigate what caused the problem, then create awareness so that the problem would not occur again,” he said.

Duna further said that the institute had engaged and trained artisans so that they could improve themselves and become more useful to the society and the industry they belonged.

He said that the artisans’ training was based on the fact that numerous artisans working in Nigeria were hired from neighbouring countries.