Carbon reduction of precast concrete under the marine environment

•Low-carbon precast concrete panel for marine environment was developed.•A life cycle assessment technique was used to estimate the carbon dioxide reduction.•A significant carbon reduction was estimated.

In this study, precast concrete panel was developed by substituting blast-furnace slag for part of the unit weight of cement in the precast concrete mix. A life cycle assessment technique was used to estimate the carbon dioxide reduction. Carbon reduction in the materials as well as during the production phase was considered. Blast-furnace slag substitution ratios of 50, 60, and 70 wt.% were used to develop the precast concrete panel formulation. The steam curing time was taken as a variable with values of 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4 h. Results showed that the precast concrete panel formulation with 60% of the unit weight of cement replaced by blast-furnace slag satisfied the design compressive strength criterion when steam curing was applied for 6 h. The carbon dioxide emission was 33.8% lower than that of the control mix, which underwent no blast-furnace slag substitution and 8 h of steam curing.