• Energy Research

Flare stacks are a key element in the safety of petrochemical and refinery industries; the correct operating conditions thereof must be ensured through a schedule for the periodic reviewing of all parts thereof. Advances in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in recent years and the application thereof to this field allow reliable, objective information to be obtained. This article describes and groups together the main applicable NDT techniques, analysing their advantages and disadvantages, updated with the new possibilities offered by unmanned aircraft or drones.

Building construction and building operations have a massive direct and indirect effect on the environment. Cement-based materials will remain essential to supply the growth of our built environment. Without preventive measures, this necessary demand in cement production will imply a substantial increase in CO2 generation. Reductions in global CO2 emissions due to cement consumption may be achieved by improvements on two main areas: increased use of low CO2 supplementary cementitious materials and a more efficient use of Portland cement clinker in mortars and concretes. The use of ground granulated blast furnace slag in concrete, as cement constituent or as latent hydraulic binder, is a current practice, but information of concrete with ladle furnace slag is more limited. Specific knowledge of the behavior of mixtures with steel slag in relation to certain properties needs to be improved. This paper presents the results of the shrinkage (total and autogenous) of five concrete mixtures, produced with different percentages of two different slags in substitution of cement. The results show that shrinkage of concrete with the two different slags diverges. These different characteristics of the two materials suggest that their use in combination can be useful in optimizing the performance of concrete.