Progressive Planet provides results from its strength tests

Amorphization through Plasma (CNW Group/Progressive Planet Solutions Inc.)

KAMLOOPS — Progressive Planet Solutions Inc. provided the results of 28-day compressive strength tests recently completed on PozPyro.

Designed in collaboration with Pyrogenesis Canada, PozPyro aims to provide a partial replacement alternative for Portland cement.

PozPyro, a supplementary cementing material (SCM), was developed to partially replace traditional Portland Cement, using plasma technology to transform quartz silica, a widely available material, into a SCM, without off gassing CO2 from the production process. This comes at a time when the cement industry seeks more sustainable practices without compromising quality or performance. Portland cement emits substantial amounts of CO2 during its production.

After rigorous testing, which involved preparing four separate batches of cement mortar cubes, the results are in. The company says:

• PozPyro’s Strength Activity Index (SAI) averaged 110.38% at 28 days for the initial two tests (Series A) initiated in March 2024.
• PozPyro’s Strength Activity Index (SAI) averaged 140.76% at 28 days for final two tests (Series B) initiated in April 2024.
• The average particle size was modified for the Series B tests which resulted in higher strength. Progressive Planet will not disclose particle sizing for competitive reasons.

The early success of PozPyro signals a significant step forward in creating more greenhouse gas friendly building materials.

Steve Harpur, CEO of Progressive Planet, commented, “These results were exceptional and provide us with the technical confidence to take the next steps to bring this product to market. Just in the Pacific Northwest, over one million tons of fly ash will cease to be generated by the summer of 2025 at which time two massive thermal coal to energy facilities will have finished converting from burning coal to natural gas.”

“These are the best results we have ever seen in an alternative cementing material. The fact that silica-based cements do not off gas CO2 is an additional bonus to the exceptional compressive strength results” said Steve Gurney, President of PLAN.

“These 28-day test results confirm the impressive results achieved by the previous 7-day tests, and underscore yet again the transformative nature of plasma in producing materials, in both an economically and environmentally beneficial manner, that are key to heavy industry,” said P. Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis. “Not only were we able to far surpass the minimum acceptable product standard compared to 75% of the control, but when compared to a full value of the control, the PozPyro green cement additive showed a 49.67% gain. In other words, these tests suggest that not only can PozPyro potentially outperform other traditional cement additive products in strength, it has the potential to directly outperform pure cement alone. As I’ve stated before, the cement industry is a key target for us, and we have high expectations for the PozPyro green cement additive material.”