Kamloops-based Progressive Planet revealed this week that it has filed a patent application for its latest clean technology innovation.
The B.C. cleantech upstart announced a US Provisional Patent Application for “Planet LCD Cement.”
The “LCD” stands for Limestone Calcined Diatomite, and Progressive Planet believes it is the first company to develop this particular material.
Global cement companies have begun producing a type of cement called Limestone Calcined Clay Cement, which use natural pozzolans high in alumina such as metakaolin along with limestone and gypsum to replace up to 50% of Portland cement in concrete.
LCD, meanwhile, has lower amounts of alumina than LC3 Cements, according to Progressive Planet, which says it has successfully substituted up to 50% of Portland with Planet LCD Cement with strong compressive strength in tests on mortar cubes.
“Planet LCD Cement uses diatomaceous earth, limestone, and gypsum, all which are plentiful materials,” says Steve Harpur, CEO.
“We have created a highly reactive cement without metakaolin,” he continued, noting that “Waste diatomaceous earth powders sell for a fraction of the cost of metakaolin.”
“This opens up opportunities to utilize waste diatomaceous earth powders globally to replace 50% of Portland with Planet LCD Cement,” Harpur believes.
Planet LCD Cement “is a scalable solution that creates stronger cement than the status quo,” according to CTO Dr. Doug Brown, who invented the material alongside Harpur and Michael Carrell. “The reactivity of silica in these naturally occurring rocks is exceptional for the production of natural pozzolans.”
Progressive Planet also confirmed that there grand opening of a Calgary Cement Lab later this month.
The company’s Calgary-based C-Quester Centre of Sustainable Solutions open on March 26, where cofounders Harpur and Steve Richardson will be in attendance.
The Alberta lab will focus on creating various versions of Planet LCD Cement, according to a statement from Progressive Planet, and will also work on creating various versions of Gladiator SCM, another proprietary material.
Progressive’s Kamloops lab, meanwhile, will remain focused on quality control testing of PozGlass SCM as the company moves closer to commercialization, as well as developing specialty cement additives which contain nanoparticles of glass.
“As with most materials, the reactivity of PozGlass increases with the reduction in the average particle size,” says Carrell, Manager of the PozGlass SCM lab. “The ability to create incremental value from particles that are so small that they pass through the filter press that recovers PozGlass is exciting to me.”
Founded in 2018, Progressive Planet’s products are available in 10,000 retail locations across North America.