A global leader in concrete admixtures, the Master Builders Solutions® experts have developed a new generation of polymers that offer a significant improvement in the rheological properties of concrete.
The new MasterEase product range provides:
• Superior rheology for high-performance concrete;
• Low viscosity and concrete mix stability that facilitate pumping and placing of concrete;
• Optimising of the concrete mix design and enables reduction of the CO2 footprint.
Advanced concrete mixes often demonstrate a higher viscosity due to their low water contents. Although having a high level of workability, the concrete often appears harsh and sticky, making it difficult to pump and process.
This is especially true for engineering concrete with low water/cement ratios optimised towards having a low environmental impact.
To overcome these challenges BASF has formulated MasterEase, a new admixture range developed for low-viscosity concrete, and launched this innovation at the ERMCO (European Ready Mix Concrete Organization) Congress in Istanbul in June.
With the new technology, plastic viscosity can be reduced by up to 30%, which results in a substantial reduction of pumping pressure required to pump the concrete on the construction site. Placing and finishing of the concrete is much easier, faster and hence more economical than using standard concrete.
“Innovation is what drives our business. With our new products we want to meet our customers’ needs, contribute to their success and strengthen our connectedness. This is the force behind MasterEase,” says Ralf Spettmann, president Construction Chemicals.
“The new admixture technology enabling these properties is being made available globally under the brand of MasterEase,” explains David Bowerman, regional business segment manager for Orient, Russia and Africa.
“Ease stands for easiness of mixing, pumping, placing, levelling and finishing of concrete. After pioneering concrete technology with market-leading products like MasterGlenium and Master X-Seed, we are proud to present another ground-breaking innovation from Master Builders Solutions to the concrete industry”.
Flexible and adaptable with improved workability retention
Concrete producers and users benefit in many ways from the new technology: It is flexible and can be adapted to challenging situations such as temperature variations.
Moreover, the high level of rheology and workability retention minimises the risk of jobsite addition of water: “This is a real added value for the contractors in terms of concrete durability,” explains Jan Klügge, head of marketing Ready Mix Europe. “The concrete is easy to place, trowel and pump.
Utilising this concrete saves time and cost in every single construction project. It improves the utilisation of the transportation fleet and equipment and reduces the wear of mixers, pumps and pipelines.
“In addition, it makes it possible to reduce mixing water even further without impacting the concrete rheology. It opens new possibilities for improvements in concrete mix designs: less water in concrete mixes implies higher performance and better durability.
“We have already started to supply the new technology to the first construction projects and the feedback from the field is overwhelming,” says Jan Klügge.
The new technology is particularly suitable for concrete mixes which are optimised for advanced engineering properties and sustainability. High-strength concrete with low water/cement ratios, as well as mixes containing higher levels of secondary cementitious materials, reduce the CO2 footprint and are easier to produce and place. This helps engineers and investors to improve sustainability ratings of their projects.
Starting in Europe and the Middle East this technology will be globally available as MasterEase 3000 series for readymix and site-mix concrete applications.
BASF in South Africa
BASF has been doing business in South Africa over 45 years. Headquartered in Midrand, Johannesburg, the BASF Group in South Africa consists of five companies with locations in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. BASF has six productions sites, including a world-class automotive emission catalysts production site in Port Elizabeth. In 2012 BASF invested in a dispersions production plant in Durban which is producing acrylic dispersions. Since 2013 former Becker-Underwood now BASF Agricultural Solutions forms also part of our group in South Africa. The local groups’ employee complement is 1000.
More information from BASF, Tel:+27(0)112032400/www.basf.co.za
