Amish and Russian Concrete superior and "cheaper" than Portland Cement - used by Foundries

Seriously take a look at this



I personally need written instructions  and have a hard time absorbing their instructions

I'm finding this interesting Scott, but am struggling to find good references... I did find that Sodium silicate is waterglass, which is generally considered pretty innocuous and is used as an additive in conventional concrete for waterproofing and hardening. It also seems to quicken the setting time.

Is this method waterglass + wood ash + sand to make concrete?

Poetic chemistry, I first thought.  Fascinating  stuff, thank you,  I am wondering how this compares with the esteemed Roman building materials.......pozzolans like volcanic ash make a huge difference.   Chemical reaction fans, geologists, earth aficionados, please share your ideas.

Yeah, this sent me looking for corroborating sources, but the I mostly found more AI-narrated videos that leave me wanting more.

Manufacturing 1 m3 of cement (around 1500 kg) needs around 3 GJ of energy. So 1 kg needs around 2 MJ, which is caloric energy in 0.2 kg o firewood. 0.2 kg of firewood will at best case provide 20 g of wood ash. So the same amount of energy produces 1000 g of cement and only 20 g of wood ash. I understand that the wood ash would be a byproduct of heating a house for example. If someone is using 1 ton of firewood (weight of a cord) in the heating season it would produce 100 kg of ash. Assuming 1:6 mixing ratio with aggregates, it would be enough for pouring a thin floor (2 cm, 3/4") of a small 10 m2 (110 sq ft) room.

The fact that this is routinely used in Foundries  for cast iron molds lends a lot of credit.  Some of the claims ... especially
about the compressive strengths being several hundred percent higher than concrete  AND  being cheaper to concoct than
regular portland  cement concrete is mind blowing.   From now on every spring when I clean out the fireplace,  I will have a lot
more respect for the ashes  and find a container.... maybe like a barrel  to keep the ashes in for long term.
It would be a pleasant  surprise if these techniques would allow us to make our own firebrick for rocket stoves.

Nancy Reading wrote:I'
Is this method waterglass + wood ash + sand to make concrete?

I wouldnt call it concrete but rather a concrete substitute  or   maybe synthetic manmade stone    

Concrete to me implies portland.                 I  really hate to think that a superior product  could be erased by the politics of a better money making competitor.

I  cant wait to try this  on  a small project  where I would normally use concrete.

I have researched it a bit. Usually it's recommended to use the same amount wood ash as water glass by volume. So assuming we have the aforementioned 100 kg of ash (from one cord used for yearly heating) it would be volume of 60 l (assuming specific gravity of 1.6), so we would need 60 l of water glass (40%), which is around 16 gallons. I saw 1 gallon on amazon for $20, so it would need at least $320 of water glass to make equivalent of 4 bags of cement (worth $80).
If we purchased water glass cheaper (amazon includes shipping), let's say at $10 per gallon, it would still amount to $160. So only if water glass could be sourced very cheaply ($4 per Gal), it would be cheaper than cement.  It's possible that if purchased in barrels (or tanker trucks) it would be quite cheap, after all it's a simple material made of most popular elements.
Of course wood ashes come in all flavors and they could react differently resulting in different final product.
It's an interesting topic. I need to experiment.

Another piece of a story I would love to understand.  Need to cross check chemistry of various recipes.

Geopolymer concrete aka Roman concrete is one part of the puzzle.  There again sodium silicate and ash are part of the recipe

Hot mix standard concrete which combines quick lime in the mix with the goal of encapsulating some of the lime in sealed pockets so when the concrete cracks later the CaO reacts with water and CO2 to make CaCO2 which is larger so it grows out into the cracks mating it self repairing.  One of the other advantages here is lower porosity.

Then mix MgO in the thinking which is tougher than concrete and used in Europe but almost never in the US.  There again because US building standards are not available for it.

And that leads to a mixture that is Dolomite  instead of limestone crushed and baked to achieve MgO and CaO done as a hot mix potentially with Geopolymer or sodium silicate and sand.

What happens when fiber is added to any of those recipes? either fiber glass or basalt fiber.?

Also leaves me asking what happens to cob structures treated with sodium silicate after the fact?

MORE GOOD INFO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXsaOpGF2Ow